And the plan begins

[pras]

Hello everybody,

I look forward to meeting, learning, and sharing experiences with the folks on this forum. Thanks to the organizer for putting it together and maintaining the site. I should probably start in this forum with one simple question, "am I being realistic?" As it stands right now, I would like to puddle around the Caribbean for 12 months on a 36-38 foot cruiser, starting at the end of hurricane season next year, Dec 2008. I have a moderate amount of experience, including basic bare boat and cruising classes 5 years ago, several bare boat charters as captain in Florida and BVI, and the experience of being a previous powerboat owner. I have been saving for this adventure for many years now, and now I am about to put the plan into place. Below are my assumptions and concerns. Any thoughts on these would be greatly appreciated. BTW, I am 34 years of age and will be doing this with my girlfriend who is equally excited about the opportunity to do this. I have intentionally tried to high ball the costs to make sure I have overestimated, not underestimated.


Costs
Boat - Around $70-80k for the boat (15 year loan at 6%apr).

Has anybody ever heard of long term boat leases?

Monthly Expenditures - ~$3,000 dollars (US). This is broken up as follows: Food - $800/month
Gas and Operating Costs - $200/month
Insurance - $100/month
Boat Maintenance - $740/month
Entertainment - $800/month
Bills - $300/month
Plan -

• Learn as much as possible and level set expectations
• Crew on a comparable type boat for a brief time
• Buy a boat
• If buying a boat in the southeast United States, hire a captain to assist with sailing to a point in the Caribbean
• Learn, learn, learn

Thank you so much in advance!

[AnchorageGuy]

Sounds like a good working plan. Forget any type of lease situation. If you don't want to buy a boat long term then just charter in the areas you want to visit. If you plan to hire a captain you probably need to double your estimates. They expect to be paid and fed. If you feel your skill levels are not quite where you want to be stick to coastal cruising and maybe the Bahamas until you feel more confident. Have a look on our site for a breakdown of expenses for our last cruise at
Voyages of Sea Trek: Cruising On a Working Class Budget

[swagman]

Hi Matey,
I'd agree the $3,000 is around the right figure, although one item (your local insurance) is not something I can comment on.
Good luck with putting the plan into action - are you sure you'll come back????
JOHN

[pras]

Thanks Chuck, I'll definately read the link. As a clarification, we only were planning to hire a captain for about a week to assist with the open water sail from the place we buy the boat to the Caribbean. Probably only about 3-7 days and then we'll just buy a plane ticket to fly them back once we arrive at the destination.

[imagine2frolic]

Where will you leave from? Will that be the east coast? If so you will need no one, but your own common sense. Everything is a day hop, or maybe 2 days All the way to South America. Read THE THORNLESS PASSAGE, and you will find it a fairly easy passage. Sounds to me like you already have a good concept of handling a boat. BEST WISHES

[David_Old_Jersey]

Sounds like a reasonable and acheivable plan to me. Dunno about the specifics on your breakdown, but USD3k a month sounds eminently doable overall - just plan in that some months will be higher than average and some lower - in any case if you are 50% out on your calculations (from a bit of bad luck or just deciding to live more expensively) and have to come back for money reasons after "Only" 8 months that is hardly a disaster!

My biggest concern would be to buy the right boat - and by that I mean making sure you do not buy a money pit - as completing an unscheduled refit / constant repairs enroute will blow a hole in any budget as well as impacting on the fun element! But I am sure you knew that already

Paying for a Captain? Why not. If you can afford it and you also learn as much as you can from the trip, then IMO an excellent way of building up confidence in the boat and your ability. Sounds like you have enuf experiance to appreciate that you need to learn more and a good idea of what - in any case as I am sure you know a lot of that learning only ever comes from actually doing stuff.....and a year in the Caribbean sounds a great way to learn more at your own speed.

Me jealous? Yup!

[Hud3]

Pras,

That's a great plan for a 34 year old. It took me a lot longer in my life to get here.

Buy a sound boat with no major "hidden", money-sucking problems, and you'll be all set on that budget. Let me know if I can help with any info on the Caribbean end of it.

Ya gon' be livin' de life, mon!

[slomotion]

You’re smart to budget $740/mo for maintenance. Probably, you’ll spend nowhere near that much especially on a 12 month cruise. But, it’s good to be prepared for nasty surprises. Also, more than a few 12 mo. cruises have turned into 12 year cruises.

Fair Winds.

[Charlie]

Great plan. As I warn people who are new to this site -- If you are looking for a fair and balanced opinion go somewhere else. If you want a bunch of opinions on how good an idea it is to go sailing you've found the right spot.

My opinion on your plan is that it sounds great. Budget sounds reasonable and distances are good as well. Your timing is good b/c boat prices are very low right now. Negotiate hard for waht you want. You might also look for a boat in the BVI etc. Things are cheap[er there.

When buying a boat for a cruise that you want to leave on in a short amount of time I would recommend looking at the smaller size of your range and getting a newer boat so that you don't have to do as many repairs before you leave.

Here is a link from a boat that has done a circuit around the Carribean in about a year and a half S/V Zora and the Collins Family

[pras]

Thank you to all that provided a response. It was good to hear that the plan is achievable. I've read a lot of great threads on this forum about boat buying and will definately buy the book mentioned. From what I've seen, it appears the book has changed names to "The Gentlemans Guide to Passages South" by Bruce Van Sant. If this is not the case, please let me know. I have already begun looking for it at the local bookstores. I'm so excited and have so many questions; however, I'll try to limit them for the time being until I am sure I'm not being repetitive with other discussion threads. This year promises to be a very educational year and very frugal, as every dollar spend now, could be a dollar spent on fresh water Thanks again, and I look forward to continuing this adventure with the folks in this forum. Off to the bookstore. Hopefully I'll get luck and find a boat in Southeastern Florida, the bahamas, or the caribbean.

[sgtPluck]

Hi there,
I bought the Bruce Van Sant book too. It's a very entertaining read. There's more in it than just information about the passages. He devotes a lot of time on how islands affect weather, and how to use that to your advantage. He also has many entertaining swipes at cruisers, who he calls 'yachties' when he's angry at them.
There's also a new cruising guide to the DR that is available as a free download on noonsite.com. The authors of that claim that a gentler (albeit much longer) ride to windward can be had along the south coast of Hispanola.
I'm 36 myself, and a novice, but I just bought a boat. If I'd offer any advice based on that experience I'd say look for boats that have been cruised fairly recently. Equipping a boat for cruising could be a large part of your expense, but if you can find one that has been well equipped, well taken care of, and proven, you might save yourself some time and money.

[sgtPluck]

Oh, and well done finding a girlfriend to do it with you. That could be the hardest part!

I'm single and finding some unsuspecting young lass to press into service on the high seas seems like a tall order

I could just do it solo I suppose, but not sure if I'd be ok with the loneliness. I'm no Bernard Moitessier.

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha Pras,
Welcome aboard! Good to have you here and to hear that you'll be living a great live soon.
Kind Regards,
JohnL

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha Sgt Pluck,
When looking for a sailing partner it is a good idea to hang out and get involved with clubs that do sailing activities.
When single I was always looking for a female Captain who needed crew. Only happened once and she was Captain of a Sunfish. Fun time though anyway. Good luck.
Kind Regards,
JohnL