Newbie!

[rjacober]

Howdy from the landlock! I'm new to the forum and wanted to say hi! My wife and I are planning on moving aboard in 2009 or 2010 with our two kids (Wilder, 4 and Montana, 3). Yes, we are a little nuts!
I have cruised the Sea of Cortez on my Dad's 36' Southern Cross (very nice boat!) and the Med, Canary Islands, cross-Atlantic, and Bermuda in a VERY sweet custom Swan, 50'. (Not mine... I wish!)
We are starting our research and planning for a 1-2 year live aboard with stops for my wife to teach and kids to get a little edumacation. I will be asking lot's of questions over the next year or two, and would LOVE any and all advise from all you salts and saltresses who have experienced the ups and downs that we are bound to encounter.

Great Forum.

Thanks!

[rjacober]

First item of contention: I love monohulls, clean lines, ketch or cutter rig, rear cockpit, blue water boats. Wife is thinking Cats. She does get a little motion sick in larger chop, especially when pounding into weather. Also, with two hulls, maybe a better live aboard situation with kids? Any comments? (If I should be posting in certain areas, please feel free to school me in appropriate use of the site. Thanks.)

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha RJA,
Welcome aboard!! Good to have you here and asking questions. I like the boats you like but to make the 1st Mate happy you might also look into catamarans. After a few years of marriage I have determined that you'll get aboard a lot sooner if she is happy with your decision and gets to give an opinion. It really would be good to go sailing on a cat a few times and see if the motion is better for her. Maybe you could charter a cat somewhere for a test. I don't care for multihull motion but some do. In my point of view it truly depends on how much sailing you will do vs living aboard at a dock or anchored.
Another consideration is that some docks aren't set up for the beam of a larger cat.
Kind Regards,
JohnL

[rjacober]

Thanks! I never had been on a multi-hull, I will definitely get on one or two in the next year. I know I don't like the price or looks of most of them! (Cush accomodations it looks like though!) Good point on the dock/ mooring options, that will definitely play into it.
Our forseeable plans include helping to get my Dad's Southern Cross from San Carlos to Costa Rica by next spring. Any experience cruising that route? We will also be looking for reasonable dry-storage there, maybe in the Nicoya Gulf?
Thanks again.
By the way, i spent one of the best years of my life in Hawaii, Oahu. Would love to get to the Big Island one day... not without a boat though.
Do you have a pilot-house Cascade? Have you taken it to the higher lats? (Is the Cascade a Bruce Robert's?)

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha RJA,
You might want to post your question about Costa Rica on a different thread. Just go to discussion board and see which one fits best then hit new thread and type away.
We had one fellow that was in Costa Rica but I haven't seen his posts in awhile. Nope mine is not pilot house and a fellow named William Smith drew the hull lines. Most all the rest of the boat was finished by amateurs (like me) so you never know what you'll see when someone has a Cascade. Mine's set up to be a cutter.
I was on Oahu in 63-65 and from 81-84 and then again from 87-91. I liked it too until it became very crowded and the traffic at a standstill.
Kind Regards,
JohnL

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by rjacober

...Our forseeable plans include helping to get my Dad's Southern Cross from San Carlos to Costa Rica by next spring. Any experience cruising that route? We will also be looking for reasonable dry-storage there, maybe in the Nicoya Gulf? ...

There's a little information at:
Costa Rica