Hi Everyone!

[fast97rs]

Hi everyone!!!

I'm new here.... great place!

Here' my question....

my fiance and I are new to this. We wanted to save up for a cruiser, take sailing classes, and go on a trip this summer.

I'm not new to the water (grew up in Miami) and spend most of my time on the boat (21.8" Openfisherman 225hp).... love to fish, dive, camp out on the boat... etc.... but my experiance is limited to Miami, the keys, and Ft. Lauderdale

We wanted to set up one of two trips..... either down the keys, crossing to Cuba (never been, and shes from Belgium... so she really wants to go even though im against it), around to Jamaica, follow Cuba to Haiti, head to Turks and Caicos, and then island hop over to bimini and back to Miami....

OR

Cross from Miami to Bimini, then island hop down to turks and Caicos.... and then back up....

We have 4 weeks to make this trip. (we're both taking 4 weeks off this summer)



Just to know.... i've been looking at different sailboats and prices. I'm VERY handy with fiberglass and wood work, and have come to the realization that I can pretty much rebuild a cruiser to look almost new (be ready for our trip) myself.... so my budget is tight, but still doable.

1) Are these trips doable? How safe are the ports? What are we looking at in port/dock fee's?

2) What size cruiser should we get? (I like the 27-33' Catalina/Hunters) especially since they fit in the price range....

3) Budget is less then $10k as I hope to sell her after the summer and only have to pay a few months on the loan...


Is this doable?

Thanks!!

Jorge and Karolien

[Greenflash35]

I'm a slow cruiser but both plans sound far for 4 weeks.

[fast97rs]

slow in here huh? Wrong section to post a this thread?

[FSMike]

Belgium allows its citizens to travel freely. The United States does not. You had best look into the legalities of visiting Cuba before you get too carried away.

[irwin28]

Sneak in from the bahamas....you have 90 days you can go in and out of the bahamas without having to officially check out. But I know a group who leave corpus cristi and are always making trips there. Just bring cash and don't swipe ur credit/debit card and ur good. People do it all the time, there are more boats form the us in cuba than any other country.

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha and welcome aboard,
Good luck in your boat search. You might check out the links after my signature and the book recommendation.
regards,

[tallyhorob]

welcome aboard, Cuba is doable but !!! you always take a chance, just know that before you go is all.