If you could go back...

[jpcraw]

If you could go back to day one on your quest to get out there cruising, what would you do different. Would you buy a smaller boat that is cheaper and easier to maintain? Would you go larger and more expensive for the space and name/quality? Would you buy cruise ready or build it up your self? Would you have waited longer and saved more money or left earlier and worked as you went? Would you fully outfit the boat or go with the bare minimum?

As someone who is toying with too many questions to list, it would be great to hear back from some people who are currently out there cruising, are back from their cruise or at least have some actual bluewater experience. Help me learn from what you learned and opinions having actually gone through this process.

Thanks,
John

[Vasco]

I would have fired my broker before I left. I am not kidding, communications are better nowadays than when I first started (1990) but don't trust another with your money.

[dcstrng]

Originally Posted by jpcraw

Would you buy a smaller boat that is cheaper and easier to maintain?

Yep – back in the mid 80s, I had in mind a Westsail-esque 32… while one can debate the relative attributes of that particular genre, the 42’ I let myself get talked into, and eventually 48’+, seemed to dictate that I’d never see blue-water except on the TV… In truth, when I retired from the military I should have stuck cotton in my ears, purchased something affordable in the near 30-foot range and not taken the cotton out until I was out of earshot, well offshore…

[Delezynski]

Rick,


We are now out for about 4 years so far. We have no plans to stop and return any time soon.


We think we would not change much in the way did it. You can read most all of what we did on our WEB pages. We did NOT sell out to go cruising. We still own a home and property in the USA. Indeed, the house is now rented out on the positive side and that helps the cruising kitty.


We cruise on a small boat that does not trap us. We can always get in to a marina when we want to. We have anchored out for months at time. When we want to do inland trips, we have the funds to do it because we did not sink our life savings into the boat. The maintenance is less also.


We did wait until we retired to go. That was the biggest “crap shoot”. We bought a boat that would fit on a trailer, or cross any ocean. That way we could sail her until retirement, then head out and not look back. It worked for us! But we always worried (in the back of our minds) about a major medical item stopping us as we got older. The big payback is that now when we see people heading back to go to work after 1 or 2 years, we know we can just keep going. We have no rush, other than the weather, to our cruising.


Good luck, IT'S GREAT OUT HERE!


Greg

[gonesail]

i would not have sold my boat. don't kid yourself saying you will charter for a while .. that did not work for me.

[JiffyLube]

All I would have done differently was go much sooner.

[Weyalan]

If, when I was 21, I knw what I know now (at 41), I would have worked a bit harder, partied a bit less, planned for the future more and would, as a result, bought a boat 10 years earlier and been pretty close to retiring.

But, without the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, I'm pretty happy with my choice of boat and what I am doing.

[JiffyLube]

I agree with everyone on waiting until the survey is completed, and you can talk this over with your surveyor. This is a good time for buyers, so your position is good. Determine everything on the list that needs attention, figure out a dollar amount to repair everything, and negotiate the price based on this. If you can get the price down enough so that the negotiated price covers all the repair work, then you did good. The items you can't get the money to fix in the negotiating, will be coming out of your pocket later. If the deal doesn't make sense to do, then don't do it...and move on to the next boat.

[Charlie]

I think I would have looked at boats below 12 meters (~39') There seems to be some benefits in having a boat that is that small in cost savings for rigging, sails, berthing fees. My boat is 41' and they seem to ding you for that extra two feet. They won't let me in 40' slips so I usually have to pay up for a 45'er. The difference in re doing my running rigging from a 35 footer was almost double. OTOH she sure is comfortable and I enjoy the heck out of her.

[Pblais]

If you could go back to day one on your quest to get out there cruising, what would you do different.

It's mostly about showing up and you have to be present to win.

That includes not going or going. The dream of leaving it all behind is not the same as leaving it all behind. Things need to happen on your own terms with a clear head. You might change your mind. If you can do it once you can do it again.

It would be nice if evryone was the same and we could all be like each other. People have a lot of complexities to them. Not everyone can do or see what they should have done or not have done.

If you need someone to tell you to leave then you probably need to stay. If too many people think you need to stay maybe they are wrong.

[JiffyLube]

Originally Posted by JiffyLube

I agree with everyone on waiting until the survey is completed, and you can talk this over with your surveyor. This is a good time for buyers, so your position is good. Determine everything on the list that needs attention, figure out a dollar amount to repair everything, and negotiate the price based on this. If you can get the price down enough so that the negotiated price covers all the repair work, then you did good. The items you can't get the money to fix in the negotiating, will be coming out of your pocket later. If the deal doesn't make sense to do, then don't do it...and move on to the next boat.

How did this post get in here?...it was suppose to be somewhere else!

[exfishnz]

Originally Posted by Vasco

I would have fired my broker before I left.

You know why they call them a broker? Because they're generally more broker than what you are.

Originally Posted by Vasco

don't trust another with your money.

Agree 100%.

[SkiprJohn]

Just a humble opinion on the question asked. Go smallish 32-36 LOD, best quality and condition you can afford and make necessary repairs then go cruising. Don't get any big loans maybe a small one.
If what you want to do is sail and not fix a boat then buy something sailable, not a project. If you can get out sailing sooner and cheaper with a boat with a gas engine instead of a diesel then go ahead and buy it and go cruising. If you come into more money later you can replace the engine. Sometimes engines become available at a real bargain price as others upgrade.
I'm doing it the hard way. Big boat project with too much to do and not enough time. I'll sail on club boats or crew for others until mine goes in the water but it really has been way too long getting done.
Kind regards,
JohnL