Hello! I have been lurking on these
forums for a year or more and decided to introduce myself. I am not currently a cruiser, but it is part of the “life plan” and marital agreement I required of my wife. I am 37 and live in NC with 2
kids.
I bought a
San Juan 21 last year and have had a great time working and sailing her this past year. She is a 1976 and was foundationally in great shape when I bought her, though I have made several improvements. Last
winter I
refit all standing and running
rigging, replaced bulkheads with large
aluminum brackets, drilled and filled all through
deck fittings to avoid any
core rot, completely rebuilt the basic
electrical system and made
trailer repair. I keep her on a
trailer with the
mast up at a local marina and sail her often. She has never had
bottom paint, which is great. This
winter I will repaint her stem to stern, drop and refurbish the
keel,
maintenance on the
rudder, and replace trailer bunks. This will leave me with just the need for
sails the following year and
maintenance from there on.
I grew up in
Florida and learned to sail on a 13’
Capri. Then I rented/borrowed/begged my way onto
boats through college. I served in the island nation of Kiribati in the Peace Corps for two years which introduced me to the cruising life. A handful of cruisers made it to my island of Butaritari, and being the only
English speaker, I got to know these folks pretty well. This solidified my desire to
cruise. I actually had my own local outrigger canoe there and was purportedly the first white guy to have one on that island. I-Kiribati are widely held as the masters of canoe building in the Pacific. I also crewed a
passage from New Bern to St Augustine on a friend of a friend’s 48’
Fountaine Pajot a few years ago. Nice
boat.
So, I will lurk mostly, but
pitch in when I have 2 cents to share. I am largely active on the SJ21
forums. My plan in brief for cruising is to
work till the
kids go to college, then buy the best ready-to-sail
boat I can afford, sail the
Caribbean for 6-12 months, repair/refit as desire and need be, then
head out for a couple years with hopes of returning to Kiribati even if they have abandoned the place due to global warming. My SJ 21 is all the boat I intend to own before then, but we plan to get
bareboat certified next year and then start chartering until we make the big
purchase to get experience and know what we like. I see the SJ as a keeper boat that I don’t ever intend to sell as it is inexpensive to maintain and store.
Thanks to all for sharing your experiences and knowledge!
Cheers,
Kuriti (Kiribati for Chris)