Ahoy Sailors,
I've been perusing Cruisers Forum for some time and today I finally "took the plunge" and registered. My wife and I have somewhat limited sailing experience. I owned a Hobie Holder 14 sailing "dink" and she attended a 2 week sailing camp one summer. Together, we crewed on a
Pearson Vanguard 33 about once a week for a year (in Florida). The owner was a very experienced sailor and an excellent instructor. We learned a lot from him and are forever in his dept.
We are now ready to buy a
boat of our own and set off cruising as quickly as possible. We really like the aluminum-hull,
shallow draft centerboard boats like the Ovni's. We think they are perfect for what we have in mind but are not sure if our
budget will
permit.... Would consider a
steel centerboarder also, in the 32'-42' range. A full-keeled
aluminum or
steel boat might do if we can't find a
centerboard boat in our
price range. In
fiberglass, we really like the Alajuela 38 Mark 2 even though the
draft is almost 6'. Features in order of importance: bulletproof hull/seaworthiness, sailing ability, ease of
maintenance,
price.
I lived in
Alaska for 10 years, owned a "bush plane" and spent a lot of time exploring the back-country. More recently, I spent 5 riding seasons exploring
Europe on a motorcycle, visiting 31 countries, riding across
Russia to Ulan Ude where I made a right turn and
rode south to Ulaanbaataar (capitol of Mongolia). Made a circuit of the Mongolian back country before retracing my course, back across
Russia,
racing the impending
winter, to
Poland. In
Poland, I repaired my motorcycle (it was in pretty bad shape) and met the woman who was to become my wife. I got rid of some "stuff" and made room for a passenger and together we explored Romania, Bulgaria,
Turkey, Republic of
Georgia and Armenia. We suffered break-downs, near-misses and much discomfort. We had a WONDERFUL adventure. I had definitely found the right woman!!!! While we don't have "heaps" of cruising experience, we hope that our other travel/adventure/flying experiences will help us stay out of trouble as we gain that valuable maritime experience. That's one reason we're here: to learn as much as we can from the (much) more experienced sailors who post on this forum.
We are currently in
Europe but plan to return to the U.S.A. in the fall. If any of you out there are aware of a "great deal" on a cruising boat (as described above) here in Europe or in the U.S.A. (or "wherever" if it's a REALLY great deal), please let us know.
Lastly, a BIG "Thank You!!!!" to whoever is responsible for creating and maintaining this website. It is a HUGELY valuable asset to people like myself.
Cheers,
Steve (and Justyna)
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