Four Boats: Your Thoughts?

[NDSinBKK]

I will retire in less than a year and be able to finally take to the sea. I live in SE Asia (Thailand) and intend to remain in, and sail in, this part of the world.

It would be easiest to buy a boat in this region, rather than elsewhere, though the choice is more limited than in Europe or North America. I will live on the boat part-time and intend to do blue-water cruising with a single female crew-member. I'm aiming to stay below $150K for the purchase and any refitting, and have come up with four options presently available. I realize that they are very different boats, but they should all be blue-water capable. I'd welcome any thoughts any present owners might have about these boats for use in the warm water and weather of SE Asia.

1982 Wauquiez Hood Mark 1, retractable keel
1980 Rival 41A, deep fin keel
1982 Whitby Brewer 42
1999 Roberts 44, steel

Thanks in advance for any help.

Sandy

[Celestialsailor]

Aloha NDS...Been to your area a number of times. I would love to retire there on my little ship.
I think your first 3 choices are excellent ones. There are a number of threads regarding both steel boats and Bruce Roberts designs in general. I built a Roberts 34 Steel. I sail in Fiberglass today.

[NDSinBKK]

Thanks, CC. Interestingly, people usually recommend what they have. I note that in your case you are not recommending what you HAD, is that just because of steel vs. glass? Or other issue? Tks much.

[Celestialsailor]

Steel can be a lot of maintenance. Fiberglass is much easier to repair.

[Joli]

Hood 38, hands down.

[Sailormann]

The Whitby 42 is a good bet

[NDSinBKK]

Game over. Despited intending to spend several months searching, it was love at first sight with a gorgeously restored Wauquiez Hood Mark 1. The deal is done, thanks for your advice.

[Pblais]

The list isn't a bad one on paper. With all these boats what they were is not what they are when you come along. A lot happens over time and even a great boat from these years needs whole lot of replacements. Boats don't age well.

I would make a long list of boats and start checking them out to find a list of actual boats that you have seen and can then decidee which to survey. If two boats in a row fail to survey well it means you are not choosing wisely.