new to forum, new to sailing, now to choose on a boat.. :)

[Capt Darren]

Hello everyone!

So as with most people that first post here I am new to this amazing forum. I have been trolling through alot of the links for many weeks now just trying to soak up as much info as I can. But I figured that since I am trolling here I would introduce myself here to the crew.

I am new to the sailing world. I have always been interested in the life, but never truly looked into it until about 3 months ago. Now, I have been setting up time lines and the such before i leave on my voyage. It is looking like... summer 2008 is when I will leave. I have also recruited my long time friend. Him and I are practically brothers from other mothers. We have both done well in our corp. life and want to try things at a different pace for awhile.


On that note!

We are looking for a boat. Nothing terribly fancy. Pretty much anything under 17000 USD (20K CND). And i know at that price, we can get a fairly decent boat that will take us to where we need to go. But I have ran into a roadblock with what kind of boat to look into.

I have been looking at 2 different styles of boats: one being typical monohull'd boats and the other, trimarans. I personally love the look of the trimarans but since i dont see many of them for sail, i thought I would look into the 'why doesn't everyone use them?'. From what i have read, they are a great boat to have. very stable in the seaway, lots of room ontop, room for solar panel use, the works. But, it comes at a cost from what i see. It seems that the width of most trimarans plays a big part when docking. Since i have never truly sailed nor visited too many harbours, is this a fair statement?

As well, i read that a trimaran is not stable in bad storms. Although I dont plan in my first year to ever come close to sailing through a storm, i also dont want to have my boat flipped and having to sit and wait on a capsized boat just because i wanted something based on looked over practicality. So any insite would be amazingly helpful.

As for size of boat, i am looking for generally something under 30 feet, or close to 30. I figure that would be plenty of room to travel and stay on board for the two of us semi comfortably

Wow... so i tend to babble alot. No worries though. I am still going keep on trolling the forums, especially the ones on monohulls boats and the trimarans to see what info i can pull. If anyone has their 2 cents that they wish to add, please do so. you would be helping me out greatly. Thanks alot Ladies and Gents!


Capt. Darren

[Ex-Calif]

"We are looking for a boat. Nothing terribly fancy. Pretty much anything under 17000 USD ...we can get a fairly decent boat that will take us to where we need to go. "

Congratulations on your decision. I guess my question would be; Where are you starting from and where is it that you need to go?

We are on our first boat. I sailed into my teens and recently started again.

We call this our learning boat. It has enough systems for us to learn about boats and gain experience. The more I think about the next boat the more I believe it wil lbe an ex-cruiser already. I am not into big multi year build jobs so figure to find one that the owner is callilng it quits and take over.

As for trimaran or monohull, I'll keep my head down. However, if you look at the poll data it seems there is a strong vote in favor of multi hulls for world cruising. Which is an anomaly because it is obvious by inspection that monohulls outnumber multis by a fair bit. Hmmm.....

[rsn48]

Welcome to the forum, I'm assuming your Canadian since you state your budget in Canadian dollars. Probably you'll get more for your buck if you purchase in the States, probably in Florida, the boating capital of North America. As for your budget for a multi-hull, I don't think you'll get much in that price range.

Here are a couple of items I spotted in the Vancouver Buy and Sell (not recommending them, just to give you an idea of what's available here in your price range):

BuySell.com: British Columbia Sailboats 23' to 31' 28' CAL , 70's, fully r

BuySell.com: British Columbia Sailboats 23' to 31' 28' PACIFIC PILOT HOUSE

BuySell.com: British Columbia Sailboats 23' to 31' 28 CROWN SAILBOAT(1974)

This one looks like fun, but given its construction date, safe to say a fixer upper:

http://www.buysell.com/root/detail/B...D_OF_KENT.aspx

A classic from the past:

BuySell.com: British Columbia Sailboats 23' to 31' 1974 ALBERG 30,ATOMIC 4

BuySell.com: British Columbia Sailboats 23' to 31' 30' MAPLE LEAF, indoor

Cheers!

[Capt Darren]

"Congratulations on your decision. I guess my question would be; Where are you starting from and where is it that you need to go?"

Currently, I live in Toronto Ontario (which has water access to Lake Ontario and up the St Lawrence River, access to the Atlantic), and my planned desitination is the Carib. I havent looked too much into exactly 'where', but all I know is planning to sail the carib for a long while. Might settle in around the Caymans... but again, not too worried where. so lets just say... the Carib. I guess I am tired of the endless snow up here in Canuck land.


I am looking for a boat to learn on as well. I still have alot to look into. Sailing in the great lakes is one thing, but making the trek down the eastern coast on NA might be a long stretch... but i will look into that. I am far from fearful of doing something difficult, but i would rather not throw my life away due to lack of knowledge, or experience

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha Captain,
Welcome aboard!! Great to have you here. You will certainly meet a lot of opinions while searching through the threads on this forum. I will encourage you to get out on the water soonest to get a feel for what boat you might be interested in. You can find a good boat in your price range the length you are seeking.
I always look on eBay to get an idea of prices. eBay Motors - Sailboat - in title and description - then try "Sail boat" because most folks don't know it is one word. Condition is of paramount consideration. I like monohulls just because I like monohulls. I've sailed on Tris and Cats and still like monohulls. So there you have one opinion.
Good luck in your search.
Kind Regards,
JohnL

[Ex-Calif]

"I still have alot to look into. Sailing in the great lakes is one thing, but making the trek down the eastern coast on NA might be a long stretch... "

Q. How do you eat an elephant?
A. One bite at a time.

I had a long discussion with my partner today about going into the South China Sea vs. our current channel cruising. Particularly teh need to be self sufficient on the boat and develop options for emergencies. He's very laid back about it all and I worry too much (maybe). We balance each other well so we don't understimate what we are doing.

Good luck with your journey!