Partner and I have had our first sailboat, a 1980
C&C 32 for 1.5 years. Done a ton of upgrades and had a great time
learning and making
mistakes while doing some multi-week trips. Based on southern
Vancouver island. The biggest thing we've learned is we love the lifestyle and only want to embrace it more so. I have been transitioning to more and more
remote work to make this happen.
We are looking at 2025 for doing some extended full-time cruising in the
PNW. Tentative plan is
work our way north for 3 months, and then come back over 3 months, with the mindset that if we continue to love it, we'll go further afield for more of a multi-year or indefinite adventure, with
kids being a possibility and the desire to bring them along.
We want a
blue water capable sailboat in the 40 - 60 foot range that is more
family oriented (2
kids, 2 adults), and ideally less than $200,000. Loosely we are thinking of owning this
boat for around 10 years before moving on. I have a bit of a dream of high latitude sailing and so am drawn to
shallow draft steel and
aluminum hulls but that's not a priority and most of those are beyond our
price range if they're well equipped. We don't necessarily want a
project boat, but have the skills and support to take on almost any
project, especially in
wood or fibreglass (partner's father is a shipwright with his own shop).
What are some sailboat models to keep an eye out for? We are searching up and down the western seaboard of North America, but there is the small possibility we'd consider something on the
East coast too - and if we did that we'd be aiming to bring the boat back to the
PNW over 2 years.
Thanks.