It's fun to read you guys talking about picking new cats.

[nimblemotors]

I'm still looking for others that want to build a catamaran...

To me it makes a lot of sense to spend your time (free) to build a boat,
as the majority of building cost is labor.
Buying an older one to refit just takes perhaps just as much time.

If it takes 3-5 years building, then for me it does take too long,
but 1 year is not much of a burden, and you'll know the boat inside and out.

[salticrak]

Nice work scubatony, that's the ticket. Debt is one thing, the cost of it is another.To this point I have never had a credit card/loan etc. It does mean i may not have a lot of assets but those that i have I own outright.Maybe it's just that i am not smart enough but i do sleep better.

[Sundancer628]

Congrats!! Scubatony

May you always have fair winds

[Mr B]

I was building a 40 foot steel sailing Cat, I have almost one hull complete, It is totally my own design, with 45 years of thought gone into it, Engineering Blacksmith by trade, and a Practising Engineer,

No money so it was slow process,
Then along came an Estate Agent and offered to get me an Astronomical price for my one and only second house, ( My Super, I like it in Bricks and Mortar)
Markets collapse, I still have my asset, It survived two of them, And I still came out in front,

The house sold for the ridiculous price within a month,

Big Decision Time for me,

I am 63, My eye sight is failing, If I want to go to sea, Its now, Not in 5 years time or so,

Finish my own boat, Thats still a few years away, Or, Buy a boat and go sailing now,

I can buy a suitable boat in OZ, But that wont leave me enough left over to retire and live on after I buy the boat,

I can buy a suitable boat in the USA, ship it or sail it to OZ,

Shipping doesn't leave me enough left over to retire on,

12,000 miles for my first Solo Sailing Endeavor on a boat I dont know any thing about, San Diego

to OZ, Hahahahaha. I Dont think so,

Done some rash things in my past, And that is not going to be one of them, Hahahaha

Fiji to OZ, Yep, I will go there first and think about it, A few weeks sailing on my new boat to learn it thoroughly first,
Then it will be either hire a captain or sail it myself,
Well my Capabiltys and confidence in myself won out, and I solo'ed it to OZ,

Buying in Fiji, And sailing it home, Allowed me to buy the boat and retire at the same time, Which I did, It also allowed me enough left over to retire on as a self funded retiree,

I retired as I stepped onto my new, 2002 Second Hand Gemini, With all the Bells and Whistles, and more spare parts than Google on board,
Fully enclosed for the Cold, Wet and Miserable conditions we get down here in Victoria, Australia,

I had a day and a half to learn all about my new boat, then he flew out to Hawai,

6 weeks later I sailed Solo out of Fiji for Bundaberg in Qld, OZ,

A retired very happy man,

14 Dec, My Gemini got thrown bodily up onto the rocks on the beach after a wind change chanelled a storm up the inlet I was in,
Hiding from a storm from the other direction, The night before,

I Bought it back from the Insurance company, Trucked it to Western Port Bay where it is currently getting two new hulls replaced, Top of Bass Straight,

The repairer is slow as a wet week, Then I want to sail it to the Kimberlys in North Western Australia,

Thats all I am waiting for, My boat to be fixed again so I can Sail it,

My 45 year ambition, Since I was up there last, in a car and a bike,

The steel one, I may finish it one day, Im Sailing now, Not later,

[salticrak]

Mr B you are doin'it, good work.

[krafthaus]

Originally Posted by Scubatony

So we sucked it up and found an older well equipped and cared for Gemini that we can live with. Great starter boat and we may find we don't need more.

Best of luck to you and could do you just fine. Slapdash circumnavigated on a Gemini. You can Google them. Interesting reading.

[gwmort]

Originally Posted by Sundancer628

Vary interesting reading about everyone who is going to take up sailing and purchase and upgrade a boat after they retire. Hope you all are retiring early. Not an expert here, but been sailing for over 40 years. Isn't starting this hobby at 60ish a bit of a bold move for a newbie? How old is the average sailor on here that started this in later life??

Just curious.

I sailed a bit in college, Lasers and Sunfish, I owned a Hobie 18 for a few years. I've also been taking some sailing classes.

We don't live on the water and it was getting to the point that trailering a boat to the water setting it up, sailing a bit and then taking it down and towing it home; we spent more time setting up and taking down than sailing. Then came the kids and my career started taking more time.

I have a couple of hours every weekend I could be sailing, but to accomplish that I'd need a boat ready to go waiting at a slip somewhere, which means boat costs, and marina costs, and finding time to maintain it. I've looked at Sailtime and some clubs but haven't found the right fit for my budget and time constraints yet.

We took a charter vacation this past summer and I'll take more in the future. However, until I retire and have more time to enjoy it I have trouble justifying the expense, particularly where pre-retirement it would involve going into debt, where after we can sell the house and pay cash for something we really like.

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by SpeedsterX

While I sit here and read you guys talk about how to choose $100,000-$300,000 boats and discussing the pros and cons of each model and make has me daydreaming about being able to go through such a process and being able to choose things. lol You're very fortunate and I'm sure you who can do this has worked hard to be able to do this.

I'm a police officer in a medium size city and my dream is to sail in a catamaran through out the ICW and the Bahama's. I am retiring in 7 years with a very modest pension and starting now to save. I now have my home for sale to get my budget down to be able to save for a boat. I predict that I'll end up with about $60,000-$80,000 for the boat and start up expenses. After that, I will have approx. $1,500 a month to live on from my pension.

The whole point here is that I am in awe at how some of you guys/gals can shop around for new boats and I can live vicariously through you and daydream. I assume it's like how someone on welfare may find me shopping for a brand new car. I have the reality that when I am able to purchase, I will not be able to shop around and get that "perfect" boat of my dreams but will be getting the best possible boat in my price range. No matter, I am sure I will be ecstatic when the time arrives and I find something nice and new-to-me. When I see pictures and discussions of those beautiful NEW catamarans, I just think to myself, "Damn! I should have went to college and realized this dream sooner!" lol Here's to hoping in 7 years, prices go down on nice used cats!

Who knows what will be out there in 7 years.

But today a 60-80k cat of any size will need some serious work. Probably another 30-50k. Given your budget you are going to learn electrics, mechanics, rigging, wood work, glass work, sewing, etc whether you like it or not. Or you won't be using a boat.

Anybody heard from Gringo lately? He was buying and replacing right and left.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by SpeedsterX

While I sit here and read you guys talk about how to choose $100,000-$300,000 boats and discussing the pros and cons of each model and make has me daydreaming about being able to go through such a process and being able to choose things. lol You're very fortunate and I'm sure you who can do this has worked hard to be able to do this.

I'm a police officer in a medium size city and my dream is to sail in a catamaran through out the ICW and the Bahama's. I am retiring in 7 years with a very modest pension and starting now to save. I now have my home for sale to get my budget down to be able to save for a boat. I predict that I'll end up with about $60,000-$80,000 for the boat and start up expenses. After that, I will have approx. $1,500 a month to live on from my pension.

The whole point here is that I am in awe at how some of you guys/gals can shop around for new boats and I can live vicariously through you and daydream. I assume it's like how someone on welfare may find me shopping for a brand new car. I have the reality that when I am able to purchase, I will not be able to shop around and get that "perfect" boat of my dreams but will be getting the best possible boat in my price range. No matter, I am sure I will be ecstatic when the time arrives and I find something nice and new-to-me. When I see pictures and discussions of those beautiful NEW catamarans, I just think to myself, "Damn! I should have went to college and realized this dream sooner!" lol Here's to hoping in 7 years, prices go down on nice used cats!

well.... the discussion has gone off track into building catamarans from scratch... haha... maybe you want to go cruising this century?
Your budget is fine. Alot of us talk the merits of various new, expensive designs out there, but not many end up with those!
For your stated trip there are options out there and your dream is attainable.

[FSMike]

Not all multihulls are catamarans. As Sand crab posted earlier, just buy a tri. There are great bargains out there in used trimarans. You give up the space available in cats, but tris can be great seaworthy, economical vessels.

[Wraith_Mac]

Originally Posted by FSMike

Not all multihulls are catamarans. As Sand crab posted earlier, just buy a tri. There are great bargains out there in used trimarans. You give up the space available in cats, but tris can be great seaworthy, economical vessels.

+2 FSMike,
I was just looking at some tris on a brokerage site, the $25m monster is probably a bargain for some, but not a good example here?

On Lat 38, Multihull Anarchy and other places really good bargains regularly crop up.
Sure they usually need some TLC but most tris are pretty simple to work on and the end result is a comparatively fast blue water capable vessel.

More tris were making good passages for a long time before cats [for the masses] began to grow in numbers weren't they?

They still offer the best 'bang for buck' IMO up to approx. 40' if speed comes into one's fancies.

Cheers,
Mac

[Sand crab]

Yep. Lotsa good tris for under 100K, maybe way under.
Somebody posted on another thread that you can learn 90% of sailing the first week, 9 more percent in the next 10 years and that last 1% takes the rest of your life, Sailing ain't rocket science. Read some books, watch Youtube, join forums and most importantly have a clue. The Bums went around the world on a cat with absolutely no experience.

[Seadog54]

Dear SpeedsterX, We too are planning on retiring in between three and five years time and will not have a great pension. We will sell our home and use most of the dosh to buy a second-hand cat. We are carefully planning throughout the years leading up to retiring. I have my skipper's ticket and have sailed quite a lot. We are saving, researching and most important of all are going for it 100%. Please don't be put off visualise your dream go for it do the same there are cats out there if you're careful. and do your research. Its the only thing which keeps me going as I too am in Criminal Justice! Its pretty tough in there aint it!

[SpeedsterX]

Originally Posted by Roy M

SpeedsterX, Seven years gives you enough time to get some experience and training so you can hit the ground running with retirement. Get to know some folks at a nearby yacht club who can take you out sailing on ANYTHING that floats. The skills are the same that you will use on a multihull, except you will be happier with the speed of the multi. Learn how to trim sails, anchor, navigate, communicate, repair broken gear, how to choose which sail for the weather conditions, how to row a dinghy, become a better swimmer or diver. Learn how to fish, repair a diesel, change a boat battery, tie the boat up at the end of the day and drink beer like a sailor (cursing like one is probably not going to be a challenge). Don't sit idly by and wait for the time that you can drop some bucks and untie the docklines. This is a good time to get ready.

Exactly! I am 48 now and plan this for when I turn 55. I am doing and plan to do everything you say (and then some) during my waiting years. I plan on purchasing a Hobie Cat come next spring and have already ordered a few sailing 101 books. I have lived for a summer on a friends 46 foot Pacemaker (I believe) motor yacht and had no problems.

[Roy M]

SpeedsterX, find an old copy of SAIL POWER, by Wallace Ross. It's a great textbook on how sails work, what we do to them to make them work better, and how to look at a sail and make some powerful judgements. It's not a book that is a page-burner, so take it a chapter at a time. The lessons learned will put you in a completely different class of sailors, ones who understand the why of sails.