Hello there! My husband and I are new to sailing (though my husband has
power boat experience) and are beginning the process of researching and
buying a
catamaran (OK, this process has actually been ongoing for about 6 months now). Our immediate goal is to place the
boat in a Captain'd
charter fleet (I've read the horror stories about bare
boat charters and what happens to the boat), then in 7-10 years we want to do a
circumnavigation.
We are both 48 years old and both still working, thus, the
charter thing since we won't be able to use the boat full time.
The reason my husband suggested that I join is because I have about 3 hairs left on my
head from
research I've done so far. I think I find a boat I like (we've been to 2 boat shows and have seen the models we thought we liked), and have been out on a
Lagoon 440 and a
Leopard 39 so far (day trips with friends). Here is the issue I have. I like the Fountaine Pajots, the Lagoons and the Leopards. Our
budget is about 350-370K (so we are looking at a
used boat, obviously). Depending on who you talk to, any and all of those are either the "best boat out there" or "trash". One is a "Caddy" the other a "Hyundai". This is why I have about 3 hairs on my
head, LOL! How in the WORLD does a
new boat owner know where to turn? I think, "Well, if we buy boat X and it turns out [whomever] was right, and it really is a piece of crap, well, now we're stuck with a horrible boat." It seems to me that a weekly charter is not going to tell me what I want to know about the long term
ownership of the boat. After being on several boats, we do know that the minimum length that will
work for us is 39-40ft and we are looking at a maximum of 44-45.
OK, that's the basics I suppose. This site is a wealth of information, alright. But has also contributed to that loss of hair thing, as I pull out more each day with each subsequent contradictory thread, LOL! Sigh.