Brand new to everything

[NativeSquall]

Hello my name is Sota and I’m brand new to sailing and boat ownership. I recently purchased a hunter 33 Cherubini and it’s just wonderful. I have always had a love for the ocean growing up in Florida we did the stingray shuffle before we could walk. My uncle circumnavigated I the 70s and I’ve always wanted to go. Currently I’m bobbing around the Tampa Bay Area trying to learn the ropes. Currently the bones of the boat are in excellent condition. The hull, engine, mast, rigging and sails are in great shape. But I have no modern day electronics. Now I know they did it years ago with a sextant and a compass but it is 2018 and would love to modernize the boat. Looking for recommendations for all electronics, wind meters, to chart plotters, raft to vhf,, refrigerator to l.e.d.’s and any other useful Formation I can find. Thanks again I have been secretly using the website for information and now I’ve become a member. Feel free to drop Aline, give advice or just say hello. Thanks again for this community and all that you do.

Love and respect
Sotara Popadopolis

[s/v Moondancer]

Welcome, I would be careful with my money it is very easy to spend $20,000 on a $50,000 boat to create a $51,000 boat.

Once fitted out it is the 'one-step-further' method of learning. Take a course and then go sailing and work your way to Key West. Another course and then cruise the Bahamas by which time you will be ready to work your way to the Caribbean and explore.

With hurricane dodging, you will have spent 4-5 years sailing, be very experienced and ready for more open water.

You have a good boat and with care can be sailed Blue Water. I am currently mored next to a Hunter that sailed US to mid-pacific but it did loose its mast off Wake Island.

[boatman61]

Hi.. Welcome to CF..
I'll second Moondancers comment regarding how much you spend and on what.
Chart plotting can be done on a laptop with OpenCPN or buy the Nimble Navigator program with world charts loaded and GPS tracker for $125 or so.. charts alone can cost you three times and more than the Garmin whatever unit and do the same job as your laptop can.. want it in the cockpit rig a wifi/Bluetooth link to a tablet in the cockpit.. there's more important things on a boat than fancy toys and gizmo's.
Save the money for a good VHF radio, AIS EPIRB etc.. my laptop goes everywhere with me.. guides me round the world and keeps me in touch with it.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Sota.

[skipmac]

Hi Nativesquall.

Welcome to the forum.

I agree with most of the previous advice, for two reasons. First as others said, you can easily spend more money on electronics than you spent on the boat. Second, if you are that new to boating it would be good to get a little experience on the water to get a better feel for what you really need.

I will disagree slightly with boatman61. OpenCPN is a great option and will do all you need with one exception, there is no cheap, practical way to set it up in the cockpit so you can use it underway. Some people run it on a tablet but I have yet to find a tablet that you can use in daylight and see the screen.

Tampa Bay as you're probably aware, has lots of shallow areas, crossing channels and other things that complicate navigation. For that kind of boating I really like to have a chart plotter at the helm where I can see it. For that a relatively inexpensive chart plotter will do quite well. Just like boat brands, everyone has their favorite brand and model of chartplotter. I'm currently using a Garmin GPSMAP740s which has been replaced by the 741 and now 742. You can get a 741 for $700-$800 including all US charts built in and forget about the sextant for now (but keep the compass).

Wind all you need is a Windex (a little arrow shaped thing on top of the mast that points at the wind).

LEDs are a great upgrade and will really extend your battery life when cruising. Again lots of options and opinions. I installed 12-18" strips of LEDs from superbrightleds.com and am very happy with them. Very bright, easy install peel and stick under the cabinets and come in lots of shades to suit your preference.

VHF. I've been using Standard Horizon for 40 years and love them. Have one currently 20 years old that works like new. One of the best for sound quality and volume which is good as my ears have gotten older.

Fridge. Can be a huge project. Before adding a fridge you first need to check the box and how good the insulation is. If like most factory boats it's not much and a fridge will run nonstop and drain your batteries trying to keep it cool. If you're spending a lot of nights on the boat and really want a fridge might try an Engel portable fridge until you're ready to do the fridge project. Very efficient and will even work as a freezer. By the way, rebuilding my fridge box and adding new insulation was the single most time consuming project of my entire boat refit.

[Don C L]

Welcome aboard Sotara! If you are still learning and exploring the local coast line, enjoy your boat in all its simplicity and just get a navigation app for your smart phone! Wait till you really need the stuff (whatever it is) before you buy it. It will be cheaper and better then anyway too.