Hi from TBYC

[MichelleA]

Hello everyone, very new here, had a bit of a peruse and I will probably stay a lurker. We are in the process of looking for a cruising boat. Currently sailing with Twofold Bay Yacht Club near the beautiful port of Eden as crew on an Adams 10.

Someone told us to get a dingy to learn, they said if you can sail a dingy you can sail anything. While it may have some aspects of truth it really wasn't great advice, bored with the dingy in a couple of months and wanting a more comfortable boat after day 1. We are tall and there is nothing fun about that kind of boat unless you are very short, small or young. It also taught us very little about cruising boats or cruising on the ocean.

We recently chartered a boat in the Whitsundays and now we really need to buy! I wanted to sail the Med, Great Barrier Reef without all the charter restrictions and the Caribbean mostly but every time I research I find other places I will need to sail. Mono hull for sure, but mainly due to budget

Thanks for all the info!

[Steadman Uhlich]

Howdy and Welcome Aboard CF!

There is a lot to learn about sailing and cruising, and this is a great place to do so.

Have fun on the water and the form too.

[Jim Cate]

G'Day Michelle, and welcome to CF.

As a long time visitor to Eden and the joys of the Twofold Bay shuffle and heart attack hill, I know that you live in a beaut place that is a good venue for learning sailing, but perhaps not the best for nearby cruising destinations.

You may have seen us anchored in Cattle cove or East Boyd during one of our 31 visits, and we'll likely be heading north sometime in April... and we never miss a stop, so give us a hoy and come for a cuppa and a yarn.

Jim

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, MichelleA.

[boatman61]

Hi... Welcome to CF..
I share your opinion.. sailing dinghies suck.. big time..!!!!
I learnt on open 27ft Montague whalers and 32ft cutters.. no engines, 5-7crew and oars for when the wind died.
Bought my first boat 20yrs later, an abandoned timber 24ft bilge keeler and spent a year getting her back in shape and making her comfortable enough to live on for weekends and holidays..
Cut my teeth cruising the S coast between the Solent and Weymouth (UK) then the following year some hops across the Channel to France and Alderney/Gurnsey..
In 2004 I sailed a dinghy for the first time.. capsized in 3mins flat.. 6ft 2in is not so easy to fold under a swinging boom at 56.. was spurred on to continue mainly by the laughter of the late teens, early 20s instructors at Egremont (RYA school I was working at as a boat master) and sailed another half hour without capsizing again.. have never got back on one since.. prefer windsurfing.
I would suggest getting a cheap basic weekender, bunks, cooker, crapper.. or just bucket n chuck it then go out and play..
A lot of stuff can be learnt on line.. navigation etc but hands on live aboard cannot..
Mind.. you are in OZ.. things are much more limited there boat wise I am told.

[MichelleA]

Originally Posted by boatman61

A lot of stuff can be learnt on line.. navigation etc but hands on live aboard cannot..y
Mind.. you are in OZ.. things are much more limited there boat wise I am told.

Thanks for your reply. I am in a bit of a state of indecision. If I do buy a crappy boat (will probs cost about $40000 for sea worthy in the Tasman) or a nicer 20 year old boat at the top of our limited budget of $120000 AUD. If I buy a boat that is old and not what we want to end up with it will probably cost us lots in upkeep and then be hard to resell when ready to move on. The mooring probably won't suit the new boat so it would be removed and we would need to pay for another to be laid, here that is approx $3000.

Then I see the prices in the med and the BVI and feel very frustrated I don't have more experience crossing oceans. Thinking I might spend a summer in the med then sail one home. Even with exchange rates, Panama Canal fees, import duty, gst, quarantine fees and ocean going fit out ( which we would need down here anyway ) it would still only be about 2/3 of the local price.