Island Packet: the right boat for remote voyaging?

[Lawnmower]

Hey everyone,

I'm new to sailing and looking for a boat that I can grow into and take me and a couple of (intermittent) guests around the world, I'm particularly interested in spending a long time cruising the Pacific and exploring remote reefs and atolls, living at anchor and going for months without significant re-supply.

I'm not particularly interested in sailing for the pure joy of being pushed around by wind, rather I see sailing as a means to go places that would otherwise be very difficult/more costly.

I think the storage, tankage, shallow draft, overall construction, cockpit size, headroom (I'm 6'3") of the island packets could be ideal for my needs. I also think the interiors just look fantastic! My budget is $125k at the top end and I love the look of the 380 (maybe out of budget) and the 350 (perhaps too small?). Older models are also of interest too however I'm keen to avoid having to replace tanks and chainplates as I hear these are common issues with pre-1997 models and tricky/expensive to fix.

I'd love to hear from Island packet owners, particularly what your thoughts are on the suitability of these boats for my purposes (inc. any particular models) and also just general comments about your experiences living aboard and long distance cruising on an island packet.

The other option I'm considering is a Jeanneau Sun Odyssey (around 40ft) from 2000-2007, basically for the sole reason that they're just so much boat for the money and seem to be built fairly solidly compared to other similar boats.

(Also for the well intentioned folk who want to say - get some more experience etc before deciding to sail RTW and buy a boat etc - thanks in advance for your comments).

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by Lawnmower

I see sailing as a means to go places that would otherwise be very difficult/more costly.

I see you have never owned a boat before.

[Lawnmower]

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

I see you have never owned a boat before.

I don't think you understand where I would like to go and the costs involved in doing that without an (owned) yacht.

[Chotu]

i’m going to have to agree with celestialsailor on this one.

The places you want to visit in the South Pacific are incredibly cheap. The food. The housing. Hotels. You could live there nearly the rest of your life on your boat budget.

bringing a boat will be the most expensive way to go there.

not to mention getting that boat ready for a safe Pacific Crossing will be extremely expensive.

if you’re not in it for the sailing, you might as well fly over there and use all of this money to live. It will be much more enjoyable actually.

And if you are going to out-of-the-way places like you are describing that you want to anchor at? just rent some traditional housing there. It will cost next to nothing.

I think you should do the spreadsheet again. Put everything in there for a boat and this journey, then put everything in there for the expenses that you look up about visiting these places by airplane. I think you will see a huge difference in price.

[Lawnmower]

Originally Posted by Chotu

i’m going to have to agree with celestialsailor on this one.

The places you want to visit in the South Pacific are incredibly cheap. The food. The housing. Hotels. You could live there nearly the rest of your life on your boat budget.

bringing a boat will be the most expensive way to go there.

not to mention getting that boat ready for a safe Pacific Crossing will be extremely expensive.

if you’re not in it for the sailing, you might as well fly over there and use all of this money to live. It will be much more enjoyable actually.

And if you are going to out-of-the-way places like you are describing that you want to anchor at? just rent some traditional housing there. It will cost next to nothing.

I think you should do the spreadsheet again. Put everything in there for a boat and this journey, then put everything in there for the expenses that you look up about visiting these places by airplane. I think you will see a huge difference in price.

You don't get it, there aren't any houses, hotels, airports, restaurants or people at the types of places I want to visit.

This is not useful advice.

[boatman61]

I would forget about a monohull and go for a Prout Snowgoose, shallow draught, stable, plenty of accommodation, 2 doubles, 1 single not counting the salon.
Fit a water maker and your independent to a large extent.
If you eat fish that helps with food.
With the cat you can beach it and carry out Hull work at low water.
They're going for between $60k & $80k on Yachtworld so that leaves a fair bit of change for your watermaker/solar etc fit out.
https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/snowgoose-37-prout/

[Statistical]

If you don't like sailing why buy a boat with sails. They do make boats without all the annoying (and expensive) sailing junk on them.

[Eder]

My first and only boat is a Island Packet 460. Learned to sail on it and have over 20,000 nm's on her. She's crossed the Pacific in comfort and sails nicely when equipped with proper sails.
Spent a couple seasons on her in French Polynesia gunk holing many different atolls...5' draft is nice.

Lots of IP's out there as well as every other make and length of sailboat.
Get the boat you fall in love with.

[gonesail]

for me the best designs by IP were the 32 and 35. no doubt .. but finding one of these in decent condition is almost impossible. then there are the usual culprits like tanks and chainplates

[Starbuck]

The OP made it clear he wants to visit remote places.

So the question to be answered for this guy, who is researching, is: is a 35ft.-ish IP suitable for remote single-and short-crewed voyaging?

The fact he's looking at IPs indicates he's done some preliminary research on "capable, or sturdy, (or whatever) long-distance cruisers, so it's not as if he's going off in the wrong direction.

Perhaps other actual IP owners will respond to give advice based on first-hand experience with Island Packets.

Or there could be more posts trying to tell him how to do something he's indicated he doesn't want to do.

[Lawnmower]

Originally Posted by Statistical

If you don't like sailing why buy a boat with sails. They do make boats without all the annoying (and expensive) sailing junk on them.

Did anybody actually read my post?

"I'm not particularly interested in sailing for the pure joy of being pushed around by wind, rather I see sailing as a means to go places that would otherwise be very difficult/more costly."

[Lawnmower]

Originally Posted by boatman61

I would forget about a monohull and go for a Prout Snowgoose, shallow draught, stable, plenty of accommodation, 2 doubles, 1 single not counting the salon.
Fit a water maker and your independent to a large extent.
If you eat fish that helps with food.
With the cat you can beach it and carry out Hull work at low water.
They're going for between $60k & $80k on Yachtworld so that leaves a fair bit of change for your watermaker/solar etc fit out.
https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/snowgoose-37-prout/

That is an interesting suggestion - I didn't realise quite how cheap they were. I saw one in a marina recently - kinda thought it looked like a weird toy (not that island packets are the prettiest either haha).

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by Lawnmower

You don't get it, there aren't any houses, hotels, airports, restaurants or people at the types of places I want to visit.

This is not useful advice.

Ok. Understood. Atolls and extremely remote places. Sorry.

in this case I would agree with boatman61. it will be nice to use the budget for a cat you can beach, with a nice shallow draft and have extra money left for all the remote living essentials like water maker, etc.

also, if you end up running up on some uncharted thing, the odds of the prout hull breaking open are a little bit lower. There’s nothing to catch. It will slide right up it.

[Lawnmower]

Originally Posted by Eder

My first and only boat is a Island Packet 460. Learned to sail on it and have over 20,000 nm's on her. She's crossed the Pacific in comfort and sails nicely when equipped with proper sails.
Spent a couple seasons on her in French Polynesia gunk holing many different atolls...5' draft is nice.

Lots of IP's out there as well as every other make and length of sailboat.
Get the boat you fall in love with.

I do love the styling of the IP's. Did you find you stopped in a lot of places where say a 2m+ draft boat might not have ventured? Were there a lot of places you would have liked to have gone with an even shallower draft?

[Lawnmower]

Originally Posted by gonesail

for me the best designs by IP were the 32 and 35. no doubt .. but finding one of these in decent condition is almost impossible. then there are the usual culprits like tanks and chainplates

Viewing a 32 tomorrow! What do you like about them in particular?