Needed : Suggestions for a first, 1-month adventure

[jmumper]

Hey CF, I'm new here so I hope I'm posting this in the right location.

I've been out of college and working now for close to 10 years and have a bit of money saved up. I, along with a few friends are pretty bored with the same old same old and are looking for a big adventure. A group of three of us are prepared to take about a month or so off of work to cruise somewhere. However, that's about all that is planned so far :-)

Do you have any areas that you would recommend for a one-month adventure? We're based out of Maryland and willing to fly anywhere in the world. I'm very familiar with USVI's and the BVI's but I'd love to see what else the Caribbean or rest of the world has to offer for cruising. We'd ideally like to explore somewhere that is friendly, has a bit of night life, fairly easy to sail, and easy to get by only knowing English and a small amount of Spanish. We'd like to keep the overnight passages to a minimum as we are not pro-sailers.

We are thinking our best bet would be to buy a sailboat (Catalina 27?) somewhere convenient to our trip and sell it when we're done. Would you recommend this plan, or are there other ways to do it? I'm a liveaboard, so I'm pretty handy with old boats and fixing systems.

We have a bit of cruising experience (college race team, a bit of off-shore racing as crew, and have sailed the BVI's on a bareboat charter) but we are by no means sailing professionals.

Any tips for the best way to pull this off would be greatly appreciated. We haven't chosen a date yet, but probably shooting for the end of 2019 or early 2020.

Thanks!

[JPA Cate]

Charter in the Whitsunday Is. in Australia. Some night life, great fishing, some really good snorkeling, some hiking, some beautiful beaches, lots of young people.

You can't buy and sell a boat and use it to cruise in the time frame you have. I feel guilty saying that, 'cause almost anything is possible, but I do think it would be very difficult. A boat for sale that was really ready to go, you might find it, but selling it afterwards, looking at your flying out date approaching and still no nibbles..... well, it wouldn't work for me.

Puerto Vallarta is another place you might consider, but, there again, unless you bought in San Diego, you'd still have the selling problem. It took us 18 months to sell our old boat. I know someone here who took his boat off the market, it is really soft here in Oz, after 2 years, decided to do some more sailing.

Ann

[Fore and Aft]

Your one month time frame is pretty tight to do what you want. But I have surveyed a yacht that a German guy purchased in Brisbane Australia, he then did three months cruising and sold it back to the original owner at a big discount. They had it all worked out so the German guy could leave her wherever he finished the cruise. So it is possible.
I am not sure you have to go far for fun and adventure. The wife and I cruised the 30,000 islands in Canada when we were 21. We had no problem finding a bit of nightlife in the small towns and Canadian chicks are so friendly. It’s probably the closest I have ever got to being divorced!
Cheers

[psk125]

Three friends on a Catalina 27 might find it rather too friendly after a couple of weeks, let alone a month. Buying and selling boats take big swaths of time, which make the one-month voyage a big hurdle. Chartering something bigger would be cheaper than paying purchasing, maintenance & yard costs for a boat that might take a year or more to sell after you're back at work.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, jmumper.

[jackheape]

Maryland? Take a month and cruise the Chesapeake. Its close to you. Lots to do there and plenty of places to see. You can easily find a boat of that length in the area, or go down to NC and sail it back up if you really want to save some money. Spend the last week in Baltimore. We spent a couple of months there 2 years ago in the Anchorage marina and had a blast.

[TrentePieds]

Unless you are bound and determined to head for where the coconuts grow, you might consider the Salish Sea, either outta Vancouver, B.C. or Seattle WA. Beautiful, beautiful scenery. Sails as long or as short each day as you want them. Friendly natives, exotic in their own way, but who walk, talk, and behave almost the same as Yanks. Plenty of nightlife (and history for the intellectually inclined) in ALL the cities and towns in the area that you can cover in a month in a Catalina 27.

Contact Cooper Yachts in Vancouver:

Cooper Boating - Charters

to see what they have to offer. That way you won't have to bother with buying and selling which just isn't a realistic option within your time frame.

TrentePieds

[skipmac]

I will very strongly second the comment that a month or so is far too little time for what you propose. It would easily take a month or two to get a boat ready to go on such a trip, even one that is supposedly already ready to go.

Depending on where you buy the boat it could take another month or so to get to the Caribbean. Really a month or so is barely enough time for a decent cruise to the Bahamas and they start just 50 miles off the Florida coast. The USVI is about 1000 miles. At cruising speed of a 27' Catalina it would take you a month just to get there.,

[YachtBroker]

Work out a discounted one month charter for a boat in Florida and go to Bahamas. Or charter one at marsh harbor or Nassau and see either the Abacos or exumas. A month is minimal but doable.
The costs of charter will be cheaper than buying, outfitting, and selling a POS 27-30’.

Charter a cat and you’d have 4 cabins and enough room and still be friends later!

[Sailor 99]

There are better 27's than the Catalina which is very small IMHO. You could look at a C&C 27. One of the older hull versions. Some were almost 29 ft.



That said I would not want to go to sea in either boat. I been out 150 miles from shore in a 50 footer and felt a little insignificant.

[guyrj33]

Charter a cat and you’d have 4 cabins and enough room and still be friends later!

worth repeating

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by jackheape

Maryland? Take a month and cruise the Chesapeake. Its close to you. Lots to do there and plenty of places to see. You can easily find a boat of that length in the area, or go down to NC and sail it back up if you really want to save some money. Spend the last week in Baltimore. We spent a couple of months there 2 years ago in the Anchorage marina and had a blast.

This is a good idea and instead of buying you can charter a boat up near Annapolis etc. A good size boat

You can sail down to the southern bay and if you want some ocean time cruise out and around Chesapeake Light which 16 miles offshore almost due west of Va Beach

There are lots of places to anchor along the way and if you want some city time, you can get a slip in downtown Norfolk.

For a relaxed small town atmosphere, you can anchor just off the wharf in Onancock VA, Eastern Shore side, lower bay.

[SouthernPride]

Fly to Costa Rica.
Rent a catamaran
Hire 3 young ladies to cook, clean, etc...wink wink nudge nudge. Good clean ladies and a lot of fun
Sail around from there.

We have been doing the trip every year at least twice. Golfing trip and a boating trip.

Good luck

[hamburking]

You don't need to go far to have an adventure. Save the airfare, and spend the money on fun instead.

My suggestion is a circumnavigation of Lake Ontario. Buy a cheap, ready to sail boat anyplace on the lake and start there. Make sure you allocate lots of time in the 1000 islands. You can easily day sail between ports around the lake. There are plenty of towns and cities, whatever you like. Your USD go a LONG way in canada with the current exchange rate. We speak english, and did I mention pot is legal in Canada? In Kingston there are two legal pot stores about 3 minutes away from our downtown marina. One month is plenty of time for this adventure. And there are lots of CF members along the way for local knowledge or to visit.

The water is fresh and clean.The sailing is easy. Great swimming. Friendly people. Good beer. You won't be disappointed.

Here's a few boat suggestions:

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-sailboat/kin...ationFlag=true

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-sailboat/bel...ationFlag=true

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-sailboat/cit...ationFlag=true

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-view-details...equestSource=b

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-sailboat/oak...ationFlag=true

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-sailboat/bar...ationFlag=true

As you can see, there is no shortage of cheap sailboats available suitable for your task. When you are done, you could sell cheap wherever you are, donate to a charity that accepts boats, or auction it off...lots of options.

Although you could do the trip on a small boat, like a Tanzer22 or Catalina22, I would recommend a larger boat like a C&C27 or Catalina 27.

Another option is to buy a boat on one of the upper lakes, like Georgian Bay or Lake Huron, and sail down to Lake Ontario via Lake Erie. This actually increases the value of the boat and you are likely to get all your (boat) money back.

Perhaps find the cheap boat you like, and let its location determine the specifics of your adventure. After all, adventure is the unknown...otherwise its just a vacation, right?

Good luck...and please post afterward and let us know what you finally decide and how it went.

[David1033]

Originally Posted by jmumper

Any tips for the best way to pull this off would be greatly appreciated. We haven't chosen a date yet, but probably shooting for the end of 2019 or early 2020.
Thanks!

I agree with some of the other comments that the time scale is too short for your plan, especially the reselling of the boat - there are loads of boats in that size class already on the market. A month charter would give you the same freedom without the hassle of trying to sell.

Chartering would probably also enable you to choose a larger boat than what you now envisage.

With regard to locations you haven't sailed before, what about the Med? Generally easy sailing, plenty of night life in lots of the harbours and ports along the way.

I'll be moving to Portugal soon, and also buying a Formosa 51.

The boat is in Italy, near Venice, so I will be sailing her from there, down the Adriatic (calling in at an Italian port, then a Croatian one, then Malta. After that I'll be hopping from place to place along the length of the Med, including the Balearics, the Spanish Costas, Gib., then my new home harbour in Portugal.

I reckon on a month or so for the trip, so it occurred to me that something like that might appeal to you and your friends. There are plenty of charter services available, from bareboat to skippered to fully catered.

Just a suggestion that might appeal to you. Good luck.