ahhhhh help!!!

[Finditsurfit]

Looking for a boat is scaring tha crap out of me. I want a tri or cat that i can take two other couples on for surf trips up and down west coast with storage for our 12 boards. And in 2 years I want to cross through the pacific back to new zealand where my wife and i lived. the problem is I need to find a boat for under 150000 and perferably 135000. that is well equiped. I can buy anywhere on west coast, Mexico and florida/carribean. I just feel overwhelmed with it and am in need of advice. also we will be full time live aboards.

Also does anyone have info on how a 41 lauren williams sales I found on in la paz it just interested me. and I liked the outside deck.
Thanks for the help!

[Steve Rust]

I think with your budget you may be hard pressed to find a cat in the 40+ foot range that that has the space to accommadate your needs. It should be easier to find a tri at that price but it may not have the interior space for all your friends and their gear. My advice would be to buy the boat that best suits the needs of you and your wife whether cat or tri. Your friends can drive to the surf locations and either stay in a hotel or spend a few nights aboard. It seems that when boats, cruising plans , and friends are combined, the frienships are the first to go. Think long and hard about buying a boat bigger and more expensive than you need because you want to haul a bunch of friends around.

[Finditsurfit]

Hey thanks for the advice we have decided if we find a boat in the 36 to 39 tha it would be very sufficient still not sure wich one will be good for us. are their boats below 39 that are still good passagemakers. and what do you think of tha tri in my first post?

[Yotboss]

Findit,

That looks like a lot of boat for the $$ if it surveys well and is in as good a condition as the listing photos seem to indicate. Somebody has obviously put a lot of love into that vessel. Seems worth further investigation.....

Do you know where in La Paz it is?

[TaoJones]

Originally Posted by Finditsurfit

Looking for a boat is scaring tha crap out of me. I want a tri or cat that i can take two other couples on for surf trips up and down west coast with storage for our 12 boards. And in 2 years I want to cross through the pacific back to new zealand where my wife and i lived. the problem is I need to find a boat for under 150000 and perferably 135000. that is well equiped. I can buy anywhere on west coast, Mexico and florida/carribean. I just feel overwhelmed with it and am in need of advice. also we will be full time live aboards.

Also does anyone have info on how a 41 lauren williams sales I found on in la paz it just interested me. and I liked the outside deck.
Thanks for the help!

It can be a bit overwhelming, FISI, but hang in there.

It's good that you are willing to look far and wide for a multihull, but I would suggest that buying one in the Caribe and relocating it to the west coast would be an adventure, to some extent, but mostly it would be an ordeal. Others have suggested that bringing four other people aboard to share your liveaboard quarters will seriously strain your friendships, and I agree. But I would maintain that after sailing a used boat (that you won't know very well) from the Caribbean, through the Ditch and all the way uphill to the US west coast, you won't even like yourself.

The vessel in La Paz looks pretty decent, and the price is attractive, but only a thorough survey will ascertain its worth. Otherwise, I would say your budget is unrealistic for the size vessel you're thinking of, and the multihull market on the west coast is pretty thin. If you do get the La Paz vessel, you will still need to move it quite a distance to get it back to the US west coast, even if San Diego is your home.

The suggestion of Steve Rust to have your friends drive to the surfing locations you have in mind is the best way to preserve your friendships - maybe even your own relationship. You would have more privacy in a 40'+ catamaran - you will have none, virtually, in a tri of similar length. Privacy may seem trivial to you, but most women don't see it that way at all.

It's a bold dream you have, FISI, and "fortune favors the bold," so I wish you the all the best in your sailing and surfing adventure.

TaoJones

[Finditsurfit]

Thanks guys do you think the la paz boat will sail good or be a blue water vessel anybody been on one. I have looked at a lot of cats on line in florida its frustrating how they have such better selections and how hard it is to get back to the west side. I also found a tri star in sonora but I have no idea if it would be a good sailer or blue water capable, any advice would be much appreciatedand thanks so much for you guys.

[Steve Rust]

I took a look at the boat in La Paz and from the pictures it does look quite nice. It is not a new design despite the recent build date. Lauren Williams may have been a contemporary or Art Piver(the father of the modern trimaran) as the boat seems similar to some Piver desgns. I am not saying this in a negative way as many of these early designs are still around and have made many safe ocean passages. If the boat is well built and passes a survey it should be capable of taking you anywhere you want to go.

The Horstman Tristar is most likely a bit newer design. The Horstman 38 Tortuga Too rounded Cape Horn and in the process survived a storm that had winds in excess of 80 mph and huge waves. The Horstmans are very roomy inside. As with anything we all have our personal tastes and there are a few things I do not like about this design but it has little to do with the seaworthiness of the boat.

Other designs to check out would be trimarans designd my Norm Cross. The Cross 42 Mrk II is one of my favorites. Quite roomy and offers a fair amount of privacy and is a beautiful boat to boot. My own Searunner 40 designed by Jim Brown is another popular design. While not as roomy as some of these boats previously mentioned it generally has better sailing performance. One thing about the Searunner is that it has the best cargo and storage areas of any trimaran out there.

John Marples Constant Camber 40CC and 44CC are even newer designs and would be worth checking out.

I don't know how familar you are with multihulls but you do have to be careful and not load them up to much. A cat may have a little better payload capacity but neither will carry the load of a similar size monohull.
Still plenty for 2-4 people but you do have to travel a little lighter.

[Finditsurfit]

thanks I will look in to those, if you know any in california for sail hit me up. also I gues I was scared of the tri star because it is so boxy and just doesn't seem like it would be to fast but I don't really know much so ha,

[Finditsurfit]

there is a 46 norm cross in the bahamas that look perfect for me but I don't know about brinng it back to the west coast?

[scotte]

There are a couple of Solaris Sunstar's for sale in California. If I recall, one in SF Bay area and one in Morro Bay. They should be in that price range. Like others have said, it's going to be a tough price range for a good cruising cat in good shape.

[David M]

I don't know if you are aware of yachtworld, so here it is: Advanced search for new and used boats and yachts. - YachtWorld.com

There are plenty of cats in your budget range. Adequate though? ...you will need to be the judge of that.

[kevinmac]

You could ship it from Florida to Ensenada via Yachtpath for maybe $15,000...have to check with them.

Kevin

[Finditsurfit]

i am going to look at the suncat in Morro bay do any of you know if they are good sailing boats and bluewater capable. also has anyone sailed a boat similer to the tri in la paz. If the la paz boat was a good sailer I would probly buy it Just not sure if its sailing qualities. I really like the norm cross and there is a racer cruiser trimaran in florida by the name of diamana I would trade a little room for speed I think since I will only have friends on a couple weeks a year. so many things to think about If all else fails I will just get a peterson 44cc and be fine but I really wnated to try the multi hull world, thanks for the help so far!

[mikereed100]

Just a thought.
I have done a lot of traveling in search of surf, alone and with friends, as I am sure you have as well. It has been my experience that in general, surfers make terrible traveling companions. It's great to have some company to surf with but as you know, most of your time is going to be spent getting to and waiting for surf.

[Wildrice]

Finditsufit Have you checked you private messages
keith