What do you think of our "start cruising" plan?

[fursoc]

Hello again!

We are a family of 4 looking to start our cruising adventure next year. Kids will be 6 & 9 when we leave. Our primary goal is to travel to new places, experience new cultures, meet interesting people and teach our kids something real. This will be our first cruising trip, but not our first time travelling. Pre-kids we travelled for 6 months in Europe, 4 months in Mongolia, China and South-East Asia and 7 months in South America. We were young and carefree in those times, but the feeling of ultimate freedom has never left us.

We have agonised over where to start this adventure for months now. I asked you a while back for your opinions on that matter and the majority of you said that we should start from home. We have decided to disagreed with the majority . Mainly because of what I wrote in the introduction to this thread. We are here to experience new things, and we don’t know how long we’ll have on this adventure. We looked at a map of the world and listed the cruising grounds in the order of which they appeal to us most. It turns out that Australia is on the end of that list and South Pacific, Carib, North Africa and Med is at or near the top. Once we saw that it just made sense to start in the Med then make our way back to Aus. If by the time we get there and want to continue, then by all means we will keep going.

So anyway, the very loose plan:

December 2017,
Start seriously looking for a boat to buy in the Med, make a trip over there to inspect, purchase and store.

March 2018
I go over to the boat to ensure it is all ready to be lived on.

April 2018
The rest of family joins me and we cruise the med for a season.

Oct/Nov 2018
Store the boat for winter, head home, debrief and work 6 months.

March 2019
Head back to Med and do it all again, except in November we hit the Atlantic and head West. Then who knows.


I think our biggest concern is the fact that we have never lived on, owned and therefore bought a boat before. I wonder whether it is a good idea to buy a small weekender here at home now and just sail around the local grounds for 9 months. Do you think this is a good idea? The problem with that is we would then have the overhead of selling said boat when we leave, which is just one more thing to deal with. But maybe it is worth it?

Anyway, thanks for listening. Any comments are appreciated

PS. We have been getting plenty of sailing practice over the last few months and we have an ocean passage as crew lined up for later this year. So the issue of experience is slowly being dealt with and is not an issue for us anymore.

[surf_sail]

I don't see major issues with your plan, probably depends mostly on your employment/financial situation (sorry didn't read the prior thread in detail). But FYI, I will also start and buy in the med simply because I don't think it makes financial sense to buy a boat anywhere else right now. EU boats are currently 20-30% cheaper vs. North America by my estimates....

[fursoc]

Yep, boat price is another great reason to start in the Med. They are ludicrously cheap compared to here in Australia.

[Joe578]

I found a great site called rightboat.com that seem to have very selection of boats world wide. If that helps

[fursoc]

Thanks! I'll check it out.

[fursoc]

I was hoping to hear from people who have done this very thing. I actually thought this would be quite common.

[SV Bacchus]

Originally Posted by surf_sail

But FYI, I will also start and buy in the med simply because I don't think it makes financial sense to buy a boat anywhere else right now. EU boats are currently 20-30% cheaper vs. North America by my estimates....

We've noticed the same and have the same plan in mind. Our final cog is getting the house sold, last contract fell through 5 days before closing. Grrrr!

[SV Bacchus]

Originally Posted by fursoc

Kids will be 6 & 9 when we leave. Our primary goal is to travel to new places, experience new cultures, meet interesting people and teach our kids something real.

Our son is 12 and agree completely, this will be an education you simply can't buy in any school system!

[zedpassway]

I guess that you are independently wealthy. I always wonder where the money comes from in these kinds of adventures.

[Nikki S]

Originally Posted by fursoc

I was hoping to hear from people who have done this very thing. I actually thought this would be quite common.

We almost did that very thing..... in 2014 we headed to France with our 6 and 9 year olds to an awesome boat that we had had surveyed and had a deposit on. Then we spent 3 months fixing things that the surveyor had missed and the owner had lied about, re-negotiated the price, only to walk away as our shengen visa was running out and we discovered a problem that needed time to investigate (luckily we managed to get our deposit back - after learning some French consumer law).

As our return flight was not for another 8 months we went travelling including renting a boat in turkey which was fab!

Ended up buying a boat the next year back in Australia. In many ways that is easier - but there are definitely people who have/are doing what you plan. Our friends started in the Seychelles because they found a good boat there, and spent 6 years sailing back to Aus with their 2 kids.

good luck with your plans. make sure you get your radio operators licence before you go, get an australian registered epirb at some point along your journey, and stuff like that. we even took medicine for the kit from australia as we thought it would be easier to go our normal doctor than try to get it in europe. what else.....can you get a long stay visa? that would help take the pressure off and avoid a situation like trying to get out of the shengen in heavy weather or something.

[SV Bacchus]

Originally Posted by zedpassway

I guess that you are independently wealthy. I always wonder where the money comes from in these kinds of adventures.

Ha, good guess but wrong subject matter!

No, not super rich but do have a good retirement and properly invested savings. The guess should have been "How does a 63 year old end up with a 12 year old son?"

The answer is marrying a younger woman! Dang, it will get you in trouble every time. The upside? She is the one that first brought up full-time cruising. So you see, there is a silver lining in every cloud.

[Chalifour]

Hi, this is what we precisely did. Canadian citizens, we bought our ship in the Med (Croatia) in 2011 and are sailing there since then every year between April and September for a maximum of 180 days. Your plan is quite realistic. A few advices based on our own experience: get a good agent to help you find your ship. Adrian Nicolle & associates, Back Yachting and SK-Yachting.com in Turkey are reliable company we know. Countries to look for good deals are Croatia and Turkey. Make absolutely sure to conduct a survey on the boat before you buy her. Ex charter boats are sold at attractive prices but you need to enquire on the quality of the maintenance provided by the charter operator and in any event put aside 25% of the purchase price for further repairs and upgrades. Turkey and Greece are incredible sailing grounds with rich cultures and history. The whole famely will love it! Those two countries offer each 90 days out of 180 days therefore allowing you to sail 180 consecutive days each year by google ng from one country to the other. Yacht marina in Turkey is one of the largest marina in the Med with all the resources you need to decommission you boat and yet one of the cheapest! So go for it and good luck!

[zeehag]

plans are awesome.
however--best laid plans of mice and man oft go awry.
make sure you have backups and backups for the backups.
i still have no plans for cruising,i am only out here doing it.
i DO have plans for my repairs, which i found necessary as i cruise....
repairing boats in exotic locations is definition of cruising.
is so much more fun with a higher level of spontenaiety.

[akprb]

We've done this very thing.

I'll make the assumption that your experience at departure will be adequate.

First get Cornell's "World Cruising Routes" and know the timing for each leg. Must be in Panama in the spring to make the Pacific crossing.

Second, with respect to the kids. Ours were 1 and 4 when we started. 3 and 6 when we crossed the Pacific. In hind site our youngest missed out on the memories. She has them but not like the six year old. Your ages now are perfect. One or two years older may be getting too old for the eldest. Just an opinion but anchored in talking with a lot of cruising families that started at various ages. The ones that started the longer bits with pre-teens generally wished they had started a little earlier. PM me if you want more on that.

So your question was "what do we think?"

My two cents buy the boat in the Med with an eye to cross the Atlantic that season (sooner rather than later so your 10 year old can enjoy the Caribbean season one and onto the Pacific season two. Saint Martin has all you need to repair/upgrade/restock. It is a magic part of the world for kids, great anchorages and more kid friendly than the med (but I may be wrong on that point). You'll still have a month or so in the Med shaking things down before arriving in Gibraltar.

Then get them into the Pacific which is more magic away from the world. The other thing we would have done different is break the Pacific into two seasons setting out the off season in Tahiti or nearby. We, and many others, sort of rushed through the Marquesas and Tuamotus. That was a mistake. Season two in the Pacific you can explore the Cook Islands, Samoa, Tonga and Fiji at a nice pace before making the jump to NZ in October.

Next time we'll slow down and really explore. So many kid boats, at least the year we went. By the time we got to Tonga we were having beach parties with over 40 kids. A lot of fun for all.

So there you go! What an adventure awaits!

[yachtgemini]

We travelled on our boat for about 14 years and covered Asia , Indian Ocean, Med, Atlantic Europe and then crossed over to the Carib and then cruised the east coast of North America up to Novia Scotia before crossing back to the UK where we have been living for the last 6 years.Our kids are now 5 and 9 years and we are probably going to hit the cruising track again next year and revisit Atlantic Spain and Portugal then return to cruising Italy and Greece for a year. We are also Australians although we also have UK residence.

In spite of the above experience I would hesitate to give to much of the more technical advice as individual circumstances and mileage will vary greatly.

Some observations...

buying a boat in Europe like most places can have its pitfalls but prices are generally good and having a Vat paid boat can be helpful.

a good surveyor will cost lots of money but is an excellent investment, spend as much time picking the surveyer as you do picking the boat. Your probably a better judge of character than a judge of boat!

the Med is an excellent place to learn the cruising art and is rich in culture and learning experiences. (food can be bloody good as well)

don't pay a premium for a boat 'loaded' with cruising gear.... look for a simple boat that is mechanically and cosmetically in good condition with a focus on the hull, spars, sails and engine.

don't spend too soon and buy lots of gadgets you think you may need..

good wind, depth, gps, vhf and AISB and an Australian registered Epirb from day 1.

Also make sure you get a good hard bottom RIB and a small outboard... it will make life so much easier.

I may be out of date but registering the boat in Australia has always been fairly easy and as a flag it is well respected in Europe.

Pre trip I would book in as Saturday race crew at your local yacht club and learn about sail trim and crew management. It is amazing how an afternoon or two with a screaming race skipper will make you realize how unhelpful it is and hopefully stop you doing it to your own family.

I would go to your local tech college or yacht club and do some courses in radio, coastal navigation and meteo.

Trust and confidence in each other is critical to a happy and safe family adventure. A big contributing factor in this is not doing dumb things beyond your skill level and scaring the hell out of everyone. Building confidence through a series of incrementally bigger adventures is a great way to grow.

Lastly it should not be camping! The boat should be comfortable with a personal space for each of you. That also means a good galley and lots of water and power.

I hope this hasgiven you a few things to think about and feel free to email me if you wish.

Ross