Charter Boat to Bluewater Crusier

[dazed321]

Hi Guys,

I'm a newbie here,

SORRY this is going to be a bit of a vague question(s). I'm looking at buying a charter boat, something around 40" and 10 years old or so.

If I wanted to set it up for blue water cruising ie: crossing the pacific, what are the essential lacking from a typical charter boat?

And roughly how much would they cost?

Any advice would be great appreciated,

Thanks in advance,

Rob

[Reefmagnet]

It's very broad indeed, but a typical charter boat will be a coastal cruising design with a basic sail plan. It will usually have more cabins and heads than actually needed for cruising and may lack additional equipment such as mfd, autopilot, ais, radar, ssb, wind gen, solar panels, watermaker, genset, dinghy davits, etc as charter companies tend to keep these boats as simple to operate as possible and the owners get to buy a cheaper boat as a result. The motors will also be inclined to have heaps of hours on them as a result of battery charging practices and lot's of motoring from anchorage to anchorage.

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[UNCIVILIZED]

Hi Rob, & welcome.
I can only give you rough feedback on your idea. But from the threads which I've read about the guys who go looking to pick up used charter boats, they tend to find the majority of them pretty used up.
Meaning that they have to look though quite a number of them in order to find one which isn't fit for the scrap heap, or only good for day sailing.

Also, IIRC, many find that in order to get them into shape for use as a cruiser, it'd be better to look for a boat that's either designed for such. Or has been already fitted out for such, but only perhaps lightly used. That way, some or most of the cost of fitting out of a boat has already come out of someone else's wallet. Even if some of said gear needs a bit of wrenching on, etc.

As the cost to outfit a boat with full on cruising gear can easily cost as much as the boat itself. Do a bit of digging on www.Mahina.com as they assist a lot of people in selecting boats for cruising. As well as having a wealth of wisdoms on both boats, & cruising gear on their site.

Also, if you tune up your computer, to do some customized searching on here, I think it'll yield you some good results. But for just finding some of the threads on used charter boats, likely the basic, built in search function will do the trick for you.

Good luck!


PS: It's not meant as a warning, but don't get into a boat thinking that with a bit of sweat equity, you can bring her back to like new again, for cheap. http://www.cruisingworld.com/how/refit-reality-check

[hoppy]

Assuming the rigging, sails, engine, etc are up to scratch, you can start with a minimalist cruising setup with Liferaft, Epirb, GPS, autopilot(if not fitted) & perhaps a satphone. AIS, Solar, windgen, watermaker, etc are more "luxury" extras and are not needed but can be nice to have.

MarkJ bought a Bene 393 ex charter and started his circumnavigation with it pretty much as purchased.

[Bulawayo]

I'm assuming you mean 40 feet and not the 40 inches you posted?? !!

Originally Posted by dazed321

Hi Guys,

I'm a newbie here,

SORRY this is going to be a bit of a vague question(s). I'm looking at buying a charter boat, something around 40" and 10 years old or so.

If I wanted to set it up for blue water cruising ie: crossing the pacific, what are the essential lacking from a typical charter boat?

And roughly how much would they cost?

Any advice would be great appreciated,

Thanks in advance,

Rob

[Mithril Bham]

I think you are going down the wrong path. Although many have crossed oceans on all types of boats I would prefer not to do it on a Bene, Jeaneau etc which is are typical charter boats. There are many great boats available that are already set up for blue water and priced in the same range. I prefer steel but that's me.
If you are bent on a charter boat look at Sunsail & The Moorings in the BVI. They have lots of good ones available.
Good luck

[Lizzy Belle]

Originally Posted by dazed321

what are the essential lacking from a typical charter boat?

As posted already, if you can find a decent ex-charter boat, the 'essentials' are mostly a personal choice.

You can sail happily with just the basics, or add luxury items (that some people consider essential to be happy and comfortable) as wanted.
What they costs depends on if you're buying new or 2nd hand etc. etc.

[Alec H]

To echo magellanyachts; over the years, charter boats have become more specialized in design; emphasizing volume, light, ventilation, and easy handling. They function very well, but they are not designed to sail in full storms. I would not hesitate to use an ex-charter boat for coastal cruising. These boats certainly have crossed oceans, but I would be concerned about the deck to hull interface and keel attachment.

[mcneilms]

I think both R&C and Lagoon Cats are both designed for blue water. They are also used for charter by Sunsail/Moorings. I believe the R&Cs still come from SA on their hull, not sure about lagoons. Also not sure if there is a under-design of the Moorings design of the Leopard or the Lagoon's charter version. Maybe y'all can enlighten me on this point.
I plan on the same thing, BTW (charter to bluewater). So this is all interesting.

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[Don C L]

Try:
MORGAN OUT ISLAND 41 sailboat specifications and details on sailboatdata.com
Used to be fairly common in charter trade

[Stu Jackson]

You may also want to do some searches on the economics of this idea. For example, type in "project boats" which is parallel to what the work required on some ex-charter boats might well turn out to be.

[Highland Fling]

[QUOTE=Reefmagnet;2016516]It's very broad indeed, but a typical charter boat will be a coastal cruising design/QUOTE]

ABSOLUTE BOLLOCKS......................would you like to try and justiy that statement.

Let me help you ALL the Beneteau's Jeanneau's Island Packet's, Bavaaria's, Dufour's, Lagoon's FP's Catana's and R/C's are all coastal cruising designs. HMMMMMMMMM.

[Reefmagnet]

The OP didn't mention where he was looking for his ex charter. Where I'm located the boats are very much coastal. For example Sunsail catermarans have a "front porch".

Hardly serious blue water material.

I see you missed the word "typical" in my description. Are you suggesting all charter boats are designed for blue water?

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[Highland Fling]

Deleted

[Reefmagnet]

[QUOTE=Highland Fling;2016962]

Originally Posted by Reefmagnet

It's very broad indeed, but a typical charter boat will be a coastal cruising design/QUOTE]

ABSOLUTE BOLLOCKS......................would you like to try and justiy that outrageous statement.

Let me help you ALL the Beneteau's Jeanneau's Island Packet's, Bavaaria's, Dufour's, Lagoon's FP's Catana's and R/C Leopards are all coastal cruising designs. HMMMMMMMMM.

Repeating yourself doesn't make your statement any more correct as "typically" <> "all"

Do you know the pure definition of a "true" blue water vessel, at all? There's plenty of information out there on the inter webs if you don't.

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