Quote:
Originally Posted by Ralph71
Which are "bluewater" fin keel boats. And how did you narrow down the choice at first? I'm looking for 34-38ft and have $100-150K to spend... Where do I start??
|
I think when you make a long list of what you want to do with the boat, the perfect sailboat will present itself in the end. Maybe that sailboat is already there, right in front of your mental vision, and you're just looking for verfication from seasoned sailors, which is wise.
First thing first, I believe that you'll get there fast. You have the most important thing figured out; you have a good
budget for a reliable used
monohull. I've met people who did what you want to do with a fraction of that
budget - on older boats though, 80s - 90s / saying this disregarding the future
maintenance costs. This portion of the post is a little blur for me, but I think you should be fine.
You've been on an IP 350 as a passanger and loved it. You want to
cruise around the shallow waters, so IP's
shallow draft will help. You don't care about speed. You are fine with it's limitations in regards to manevouring in the
marinas... Then you want to sail across Atlantic, and the specs and
reviews say that it very well can. On paper, it appeares to be the right boat, but now, you wonder if it really is...
I can only tell you my own story so far, and I hope it'll help you a bit. You have more exprience than I do with sailing. I've sailed a bunch of various dingies, and very recently started looking for 27 - 32 ft full keel sailboats. After listening to the wisdom of experienced sailors here, I'm set with a
Catalina 22 as my first sailboat. These days, I'm debating if it should have a fin keel or a
centerboard - far from what I had been looking for initially. You see, while investigating my future sailboat options, I've decided that I'd rather buy a well designed fin keel in good condition than a badly engineered full keel or a good full keel in bad condition.
Especially, looking for a used sailboat, I believe the
used boat market will dictate what you'll have to buy more than what you want - and widening your options by including the other types of keels in your list, you'll end up spending way, way wisely. My concern was, just because you are only looking for full keels, your buyer radars probably will be excluding some sailboats that might very well do everything you need with a fraction of your budget.
My
Catalina 22 choice might turn into a bad, bad decision, but if I buy it used, then it'll be a decision I can walk away from with a smirk on my ugly face and a long tale to tell when I'm drunk. Regardless of my bad joke, I don't think I'll ever regret
buying that sailboat. Thousands of them have been produced.
Parts are avaliable, everywhere. Dozens of them are on
sale; it's buyers market. It's simple, not many things to breakdown, so as a newbie I can easily handle the issues. It's sailing capabilities are well known and proven; I've not met a
single folk who had a negative thing to say about it. It's like
buying a Corolla; it's hard to go wrong with it.
Hanging around here, in no time, you'll have a long list of ~38 ft bluewater sailboats. What I mean is, your list will expand from one sailboat to a dozen - just because you added the fin, bulb and other type of keels on it...
One advantage you have is the fact that you've already
single handedly sailed a fin keel,
Hunter 28. Did you like it? Or hated it? What is your opinion on that boat? I think it's a fine example of fin keels; maybe one of the expert folks here is kind enough to enlighten us all more on the subject, which might help you with your decision. Is what you will experience with a let's say 38ft fin keel sailboat that can safely sail across Atlantic similar to what you've experienced on Hunter 28? Probably, this question won't have a straight answer, but might help.
You can also ask your friend to give you another ride on his IP350, but this time you can take over the command a bit, and that way, you can compare the experience with Hunter 28. What better way is there than hands on experience? Next year, you'll be sailing bigger sailboats that can probably do the job, so you'll be comparing a bunch of sailboats with your friend's IP. I'd ask tons of questions to the instructors if I were you.
Just take a look at this one,
https://amel.fr/en/amel-50/
I'm not recommending it or something, but just study it a bit. Here, I'd like to ask a question to the sailors who have acrossed the oceans, would you rather do that on an IP or an Amel? I've talked to many folks who sailed everywhere on a mainstream 38ft something production sailboat.
I hope my story will help you; just go back a few weeks here and see my earlier posts. I wanted to start with an IP27 and eventually graduate to a IP349. Now, I'm in the market for Catalina 22 and very confident with my decision
Covid postponed my sailing plans. Right now, I'm building an outrigger canoe with crab
claw sails to sail on a lousy Midwest lake; it's sad really...