New to the Forum with questions~

[rippledj]

Hi everyone!



I'm new to this forum and hope to find some guidance on the sailing life. I have been envying the live-aboard life for about 10+ years and I'm cautiously researching the life, required skills, and tools of the trade.


The next step in my goal is to discern which used boats will fulfill the requirements of my goals. If anyone on the forum can offer me direction I would greatly appreciate it.


I'm most in need of qualifying the specification of a used boat that is capable of sailing oceans. I spend some time this summer looking at what is on offer on Kijiji (Canadian version of Ebay of sorts). It seems to me that some gems are available in my price range (~8,000-15,000).


However, I'm unable to get to the truth, and unable to find anyone I know with enough blue-water sailing to give me an answer that I'm confident in.


What boats are capable (assuming the condition of the boat is good) to sail blue-water for an Atlantic crossing or Pacific crossing?


Are there any minimum requirements for a sailboat that can sail blue-water? I'm looking in the 27-30 ft range, and know some other specs that would make the boat more attractive to me (such as skegged rudder), but how about overall length, keel length / size / draft?


Here is an example of a boat that I would assume is capable of blue-water, but the same type of boat has been called a dingy by someone I know who otherwise seems to have some knowledge about sailing.


https://www.kijiji.ca/v-sailboat/bar...ationFlag=true



Any help in this ongoing discussion would be very helpful to me and much appreciated!

[hpeer]

Welcome aboard.

There are a number of existing threads that cover this subject. You will want to make yourself familiar with the “search” function. When you select search you will get a selection box, most use the “google” option.

A fun read you might enjoy and be helpful would be one called “notable finds under $30,000” or there about.

It would be helpful if you posted a bit more about yourself, hue experience level, How and where you intend to use the boat.

Enjoy your stay here.

[Sailmonkey]

What is blue water capable is subjective.

Webb Chiles just completed a circumnavigation in a Moore 24. Not my idea of comfortable, but quite doable.

[rbk]

This is a fun site...
Sailboat Reviews of Offshore Cruising Yachts : Bluewaterboats.org

[Don C L]

Well, there are no minimum "requirements," really, just a matter of what you are willing to put up with I think. You might research Dana 24 and Flicka 20. I can understand why someone who is used to a 40 or 50 foot boat would refer to a C&C that weighs 7500# as a "dinghy," but there are dinghies in that range that are sailing around. As an owner of a 7500# 29' myself, I know that to load up my boat in a way I'd consider adequate would really be pushing her limits. I don't know the build quality of C&Cs, probably fine for what they were designed for. They weren't designed as "bluewater" boats. I used to sail a Downeaster 38 that is pretty much "bluewater" build and design I'd say and even that relatively heavy displacement boat got launched off a wave once and landed kinda hard on her leeward side. Everything was fine but after that I kinda looked at boats in those terms if I were travelling farther afield, which I am not right now... how would it handle repeated hard landings... or how much does it "oil can" (hull flexing when beating steep waves) and stuff like that... but that's just me... This whole bluewater thing and suitable designs generates lots of responses

[Sojourner]

Definitely also inquire which anchor would 'be the best' for it too!

[Tillsbury]

That boat could certainly do it, properly fitted out. The question is, could you?

The best way would be to buy something cheap like that, and sail around a bit. Gradually go further, and you’ll find out the answer. If you trade up boats it won’t have cost you much to find out.

[gamayun]

Hey Ripple, I went through this very same angst not that long ago (probably in one of my very first post here, too). If I can recall the gist of the responses, they were somewhere along the lines of "how come you don't know better?" Or at least that's what it sounded like to me at the time. Now that I'm older and only slightly mo'wiser, I have found that opinions on any given topic are more numerous and the advice more twitchy than fleas on an old coonhound. No matter what you end up buying, it will probably require breaking things and fixing them better for the type of sailing you will want to do. For example, my boat is not a traditional "blue water" vessel but I'm comfortable taking her offshore in many conditions that a lot of people would not want to be in. That said, I never want to take her to the Southern Ocean or deal with 60 knot winds and breaking seas though I believe she could still handle these things better than I could! Someone else who has way more sea miles than I or who might be more risk averse than I probably has a whole 'nother perspective on this mindset. Eh, whatever. Just do what you're currently doing -- ask us so you can get a ton of input on the different boats, then close your eyes and jump in! The water will be fine