Good luck to you! I may even bump into you if things
work out ok for me, all things being equal I should be down around
Florida sometime around April 2016 (aiming to get back to the UK at least 6 months after
purchase, so I need to cast off about the end of February/early March), doing the same sort of thing
single handed. I may even have some beers on board.
I have been looking around online at
boats a lot, but I have to admit that what you can manage with 3 of you, is an entirely different ballgame to what I will need (for example I will need a
windlass for handling the
anchor, need foresail
furling rather than hank on, and I will have to have everything run back to the
cockpit for easy handling).
With care, and the
advice of those here that know far better than me, you should be able to find something suitable in your
price range (don't let asking
price put you off, it's a buyers market, and sadly lots of people are under pressure to dispose of their boats).
Three of you should be able to do all manner of necessary TLC jobs really fast and at reasonable prices, but make sure if your
budget is $6.000, that the
boat purchase leaves you enough left over to get essentials done. Cosmetic stuff can be done pretty
cheap with plenty of applications of brainpower and
elbow grease, and at your age, with three of you, there shouldn't be a shortage of either.