Hi all,
I am new to the forum, and have been spending a lot of time reading other's posts. I have been working hard for the last 20 years, and am somewhat tired of the
game (read: industry) I am in. I am a specialist in IT transformations, but what I really want to do is transform mine, and my partners life. We both love to travel and experience life, and I reckon cruising is the way to do it for me. Just step out of the
game entirely...
I sailed a lot with my father when I was young, and he has always owned
boats, but I haven't been sailing seriously now for nearly 15 years, and more than overnight for 20. So I am am very green to the whole thing. Actually I am pretty much starting from a 'I know nothing' standpoint, and will take it from there.
We want to spend half the year working (contract
work and online businesses) and the other half sailing and touring - I ride a large touring motorbike (Goldwing 1800 for those who know).
The plan is to move to
France at the end of next year (currently live in the UK), go and do the
RYA yachtmaster courses (for me) and Day/Coastal
Skipper (for the boss), buy a
boat around March/April/May 2010. We will then start to do small trips around the
Med from our base in South
France, gradually increasing mileage and experience until we start moving further afield.
Boat-wise I wanted to leave the decision about what we wanted until I had done some
research, the RYA courses, and maybe crewed on a couple of
boats for experience. We are fairly sure we would like a
Catamaran, as we both like the stability and space factors (she gets sea-sick, but I just get a grin on my head).
We know we want something with a bit of space but is not too big, as we want to be able to sail 'short-handed'. It will need to be a
used boat (new seems crazy to me), something between 4 and 15 years old I would guess, should be able to
cruise, and be setup for cruising. Will also want to have a few amenities on board, such as fridge,
freezer,
washing machine, half decent
shower, and reasonable
storage. I also want to be able to
plug in laptops etc, to do IT
work onboard. We don't really need a lot of
bed space - one for us, a spot for the dog, and maybe one for visitors (otherwise used for
storage space) of no more than two other adults. Handling-wise, my wife is quite petit, so need to take that into account, and we don't mind something that is built more for comfort than speed, as long as it isn't unwieldy. We thought maybe about the 35 to 40 foot range for a Cat or 38-42 foot for a
monohull.
I'm keen to hear any thoughts about boats I could look at, even monohulls haven't completely been taken off the list. Am also curious to hear if the requirements I've mentioned so far are completly bonkers, or are reasonable?
Anyway, I'm glad I came across this forum - I have already learnt a heck of a lot by reading previous posts!
All the best, and will see you on the
water in 2010 !!
James (Ozzy bloke) & Carina (Swedish girl)