newbe family

[oceancrossroads]

Hi all ! we are a family of 5 french canadians , we are new to this world even tho we have been reading and gathering info from everywhere we can ! We plan on going for a year long of sailing in about a year and half -+. Carabean seems the right destination for us ( we would love to be around indonesia-thailand area but it seems more difficult ). I have a good mecanic background and good manual skills . We are dreaming of the days on the sea for quite a while now but.... still dont have a boat nor a budget figuered out as i know a lot of stuff but none about sailboats , like everybody else we will try to figure out what the lowest for the most we can get ok i sound silly ! but we dont need perfection and luxury we need safe and good shape . A cat would be great but again dont know who to listen to , i have seem numerous person talking of the same boats with millions of diferent views so its very difficult right now to make right ideas on some boats ...exemple i saw discution about solaris 42 cats , some say they are totaly unstable and slow and some say they are so great and very nice to cross oceans !!! oh yeah forgot to mention our kids are now almost 2-8 and 10 !

anyways hi to all and its great to have a place like cf to be able to read and gather info and comments from experienced pple !

btw if my english sound weird sometime ...remember we are french heheh !

[Lizzy Belle]

Welcome to CF!

Originally Posted by oceancrossroads

exemple i saw discution about solaris 42 cats , some say they are totaly unstable and slow and some say they are so great and very nice to cross oceans !!!

I know 0 about cats - I only like the fluffy kind with 4 paws but I'm pretty sure everybody is right.
It's an opinion, not an absolute truth.

Some people wouldn't take anything under 40' off shore, others happily do so on less then 30'. Some people love cats (the kind with 2 hulls), others will always go monohull.
Some people like a fast sailor, some are happy with simply being safe aboard.
Nobody is wrong or right - just different people wanting / preferring different things.

In the end we all anchor at the same spots and watch the same sunsets, so figure out what sort of boats fits best with you and your family, and go with that.
Pretty much any well built and maintained boat will get you where you want to be.

Just remember: both you and your wife have to be able to sail the boat alone, and not just under perfect conditions. And: the bigger the boat, the more money, time & maintenance she'll need. Not just on purchase, but every single day.

As to refitting and upgrading: opinions, opinions ...
Some people want all the bells and whistles, others go with a handheld GPS and not much else.

A good place to start is to crew with people, and/or (later) rent / charter the kind of boat you'd like to buy at some point.

Edit:
As to the budget: even if you know 0 about boats, you should probably be able to figure out how much money you have and can afford on purchase - and how much you can set aside for monthly costs.

[oceancrossroads]

thanks Lizzy ! those words are filled with alot of wisdom ! Our budget is not really a big issue , since i have 3 companies ( small ones im no big shot or i wouldnt be worrying about the budget )i could sale one or 2 but only if needed , yes i want to go sail with the family that bad and the rest of the family want it as much as i do . so we have good options in front of us but not sure HOW to make the best of it !

you are super right on : In the end we all anchor at the same spots and watch the same sunsets, ! ( i love the image it brings to my mind !!!)

i guess there is always the right boat for the right person !