new2blue

[passage_paul]

Hey Everyone...I have decided to return to an old dream and am looking to make a purchase, learn, and head off beyond the horizon of my living room here in Wa State. Long-lined black cod along the Aleutians in my younger days and fell in love with the Sea. But got caught up in mainstream America for too many year and have finally pulled my head out.

I am hoping to make a purchase this summer... I am really leaning towards a Westsail 32... I love the community vibe, am not in a hurry...and am not at all interested in flashy or a budget breaker. Solid with simple systems capable of carrying plenty of provisions. The intent is to make as many leisurely circumnavigations that I can possibly get before the note comes due.

Am torn between a ready to go or gaining valuable skills and doing a refit on a cheaper boat. Iam seeing them from a low of 20k on up to 60k here in the NW.

We have some great schools up this way. I am thinking of enrolling in the Marine systems program at the Northwest School of Wooden Boat Building in Port Hadlock. I am also seeing a ton of networking and buddies from class I could recruit to assist a refit while taking classes)

Thats a brief what it was and what it is... any guidance is much appreciated.

When I rededicated myself to this pursuit I noticed I was looking at too much of the "dream"... Thought about waiting and saving to get something luxurious.HA!.maybe a cat... saw way too many glossy youtube vids. I kept digging, weighing options, reading blogs and gleaning from others experiences. Now I have gone to all practical. I can't get enough of how to fix it vids and blogs about what to do when it all goes bad. I am heeding what I hear so often about going now instead of saving and saving for several more years...

[rbk]

Don’t limit yourself to just the west sail. Lots of similar boats in that area are solidly built cruisers. If you limit yourself to just one you may be looking a while for something acceptable to come along. Good plans overall. Good luck

[passage_paul]

I have made a list of a few others that I think are comparable to what I like in the Westsail.

Maybe Baba35, Tradewind 33, Dreadnaught 32.??.. I posted on another part of the forum if anyone had other comparables. Hopefully Ill get some responses there.

[rbk]

I would suggest bluewaterboats.org but they appear to be down. Lots of good cruisers with good write ups on there.

[passage_paul]

Yea.. I noticed they have been down for a while...however I just saw on reddit that others are discussing that and indeed the guy who operates the site has moved the info to..

https://sailboat.guide/blue-water-boats

[passage_paul]

Its been moved to

sailboat.guide/blue-water-boats

[redhead]

Hi Paul, welcome to CF.

From personal experience I'd recommend spending more $$ up front at purchase rather than buying a boat to fix up and learn all the systems. We did the latter and it has cost much more in dollars and mostly in time than I ever would have guessed. We didn't get off the dock for the first 3 years!

Being a boat there will always be something to be fixed, or better yet, improved, so you won't lack for projects in either case. You sound like the kind of guy who will learn the systems anyway, so give yourself a break and choose a boat at the upwards part of your price range. I wish we had.

It all boils down to what an old fisherman told me a couple of years ago "Do you want to fix the boat or sail the boat?" I want to sail. Good luck to you and hope to see you out there!