Hello Fron St Lucia W.Indies

[sailingspiders]

Hi there ,
I just bought a 26foot Texas Marean sail boat. I have sailed several small boats like the Enterprise and a Flipper Scow,but thise is my first cabbin cruser.The proble is the boat is in michigan and I am in the west indies.I wanted to know if any one out there knows about the Texas Marean 26 built in 1981,also what would be the best way to sail it down to the west indies.also what is neaded to as far as licences to sail that boat in us waters

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha SS,
Welcome aboard!! I've never heard of the Texas Marean. You don't need any special license to sail but you do need proper boat registration and documentation as well as passports and ID etc for you and any crew.
Kind Regards,
JohnL

[Pblais]

Welcome to cruisers forum. I had lunch at the Rodney Bay Yacht Club this past February. My wife and I like St Lucia just fine.

Not sure of the best way to get a boat from Michigan all the way there in one piece. I would be more worried about it being suited for such a long hard journey since you have not used it much as yet. It's a long trip no matter how you do it unless you take off the mast and put it in a container and ship it.

To get it home you'll need as noted personal papers and documentation to prove ownership. This will be the key problem you need to deal with. You won't require a Visa but will require a passport. You'll also need to deal with importing a boat into St Lucia (assuming you are a St Lucian) and I can't say what that process would be. The US won't have a problem with you leaving with it however the trip may take you longer than you might expect given the weather in Michigan and hurricane season it leaves a narrow slot to go a very long ways. It's about 2000 nm to New York to St Lucia and almost 1000 more from Michigan to New York. The alternative is out Chicago down the Illinois River to the Ohio and Tenn Tom Waterway to the Gulf of Mexico for the last 1700 nm home. In any event you will need a decent engine and fuel capacity to do a large number of those miles.

[Ex-Calif]

At 26 feet I would demast and ship it. By the time you get to the boat, figure out if it needs any significant prep for the journey, stock for the journey and take the journey you will likely save money by shipping it.
This boat can be deck cargo or go in a container.

Just my humble opinion not backed up by any significant research or fact - :-)

[sailingspiders]

Thanks for the insfo.Yes st Lucia is a fine place.My first plan was to ship it but,at 5,000 to trailer it to the east cost and about 10,000 from there to St lucia I am looking fo a moe ifficent method.I spoke with some one from the erir canals this morning and she thinks if I de mask the boat it shouldnt be a problem.I am Airoplane pilot in the caribbean so I know very well about the huricanes.So far my plan is to get the boat to the hudson in the midle of summer next year and after the huricane season find my way down the east cost to miami, then through the bahamad .From there to say antigua I cant figour out.from antigua to stlucia shouldnt be a problem .

[little boat]

its a great trip spiders, i singlehanded a 27 footer from florida. but i must tell you it took all my courage and months to get there with some stops. its actually triple the miles pblais quotes, with tacking, and its uphill every inch of the way! that was over a decade ago and i met only one other little boat who did that, (a sadler 28 who cheated and motored ALOT and lost their forestay), though i did hear of a couple others. i can tell you it is VERY hard on the boat so make sure the rigging is strong! good luck!

[scallywag]

Welcome sailingspiders to the forum. You will encounter varied views to any topic. It might be better if you sell the boat and buy one from a disgruntled liveaboard in the islands. I read on this forum about a guy that bought a 38 footer for 3k. Yes it needs a lot of TLC and upgrades but 15k to get yours to St. Lucia is a lot more. The trip down should be great but you need to factor in the costs.

John

[bearphish]

welcome spiders!

i would have to agree with scallywag, in that it seems a monumental task to get that boat from michigan. i just sold a Pearson 26 in S. Florida, that i would have delivered to Antigua for a fee. Went for a good price too.
I would look at some of the deals here in Florida, as that would negate an extra 1000mi. or more of trip time and money. Search craigslist.com, or some of the "trader online" sites. the closer the better, eh?

again, welcome. and good luck,

Dale