So the admiral and I are thinking of
buying a vessel to move aboard. We are the kind of folk who under ideal circumstances would live in a small town 100mi away from a city but have the kind of degrees that find
work in major metropolitan areas. We both have the sailing itch and in my case I've sailed, repaired, and rebuilt vessels since childhood. We already know the life aboard is for us as we consider any time not spent bare
boat chartering to be a joint
work trip. Thus a home that can be close for the commute but can get over the horizon as necessary is highly attractive to us.
At this point we've crunched the numbers and the gas savings alone from living at a marina would fully cover the slip cost for a vessel up to 80ft in places like Charleston, Tampa, and
Houston.
So the task we find ourselves with now is seeing if we are using a reasonable specification when searching for boats.
Currently our spec is as follows:
New or used: Definitely used as the initial depreciation on these
money pits is ruinous.
Hull material:
Aluminum, synthetic
core FRP, or solid FRP (After watching the speed at which balsa degrades first hand I'd only tolerate it on a
new boat and I won't eat that much initial depreciation)
Rig:
sloop,
cutter,
ketch, or yawl
Maneuverability: Has or can have thrusters fitted or is a
catamaran.
Tacking angle: 100 degrees TWA
max speed: min 10kn through the
water in 20kn TWS
light
wind speed: min 50% TWS on most points of sail with all applicable
canvas deployed.
Comfort under way: Able to go #2 sans excessive effort on a close haul in 20kn TWS. Able to at least mostly
weather proof the
cockpit. Ideally able to trim
sails from the
helm without needing foul-weather
gear.
Age: Not a priority provided the
hull and
rigging has been well kept and
insurance will cover it.
Accommodations: At least 4 cabins and 3 heads.
Galley conducive to a dishwasher. Misc space for things like washer/dryers. (we want to start a
family so space isn't particularly negotiable) A super stretch goal would be a tub in the master
head but that's more a fantasy than a requirement
Dimensions: Sufficient to achieve the above goals but we're not in love with specific numbers.
ICW compliance: Dislike cruising the
ICW so its a nice to have but not a make or break.
Draft: Less is best but its lower priority for us.
Price: we'd prefer to spend as few hundreds of thousands USD as possible but we're in a position to pay good
money for a good vessel.
Mono or multi: all things being equal a
catamaran but as long as she meets the rest of the above its a preference that's easily out weighed by a
price differential.
Timeline: 2+ years. So we're not trying to choose the exact
boat now rather we're trying to narrow the list of boats and sundries we need to become experts on and get a reality check long before money gets in the same post code as the table.
For reference our hypothetical ideal boat at present would be a used 5-10yr old
seawind 1600 or neel 51. (unfortunately none of those exist yet or will exist in our desired time frame)
Also since boats depreciate we'd prefer not to start small and
trade up later since that would only compound the losses.
Lastly while exceeding the spec would be nice. Its a
game of diminishing returns which will quickly be out weighed by a less expensive option.
Looking forward to hearing what y'all think of all this.
Regards,
phsylent