Hi Ann~
I have doubts that we will have our forever boat on the first
purchase, it would be nice but I doubt it beach use I want to cross an ocean or two and visit countries outside of the
Caribbean..eventually. And yes, most of what I read says to get a shallow
draft. I was actually curious about centerboards. I haven't researched them too much though so I want to my due diligence before asking around on here.
We have SO much to learn... hopefully the lessons won't be too hard on us though. Time will tell.
I never thought about looking into the designers and why they made their choices. I like this idea a lot! I think looking at it this way will definitely help, thank you!
I wish we could find a forever boat, that would be great in a perfect world. We were looking at boats at the high end of our
budget and I'm thinking about taking it down a notch. I think if we shop smart, we can compromise on a solid boat that meets our needs. We have always lived below our means and spend our
money on experiences more than 'stuff'. It's a double edge sword, we don't want to spend all of our time fixing something or doing some major
refit, we do not want any type of
project boat. Someone had mentioned that we get what we pay for and I do believe that to be true. However, because of our lack of experience What one considers top dollar is some else's bottom dollar. It all seems relative. We don't want to eat up our savings and investments so much that we can't continue to have wonderful experiences. In order for us to do this for a longer time than our bodies will probably be able to, we have budgeted $3000 a month, with no loan on the boat. Maybe I shouldn't divulge that but it is what it is. I hate hearing it's not enough or that it's too much, as I have seen on some posts. It's our
budget and that is that. I don't know if we will find the best boat but I am hopeful we will find the right boat for where we will be and what we will be doing. I have to believe that. Wow...I am totally going off of the op but those who have responded here make it easy for me to be transparent.
Thank you so much Ann~ I apologize for the novel
Oh and yes, I believe
storage space ranks very high on my list!