'Nother new guy, says 'howdy'

[Gator81]

Hey folks, hows things in forum world?
I'm looking forward to reading and learning a lot from you all.
My 15 seconds goes like this: Grew up in FL, lots of time around the Gulf, learned to sail on beach cats. Lived in the Rockies for the last 25 years. Still sailing my Hobie most summer weekends. Looking at retirement in about 8 years. Planning a move back to the Gulf Coast. Feeling a heavy need for a cruising catamaran, maybe some chartering. I'm at that phase where I spend way too much time looking at boats for sale that cost more than my house...
Thanks for the hospitality! :cubalibre

[Weyalan]

Welcome aboard. always room for another one with salt water in the veins!

[Gator81]

Weyalan,
Thanks for the friendly welcome!
I saw elsewhere that you had threatened to post pics of your boat, but I couldn't find any. It sounds like you've undertaken quite the project! Are there pics?
Gator81

[Sunspot Baby]

Welcome abaord. My boat did cost more than my house. It's called having your priorities in line. Now if I hadn't bought the house, think of the boat I could have with the extra $$.

George

[Gator81]

Thanks for the warm welcome, George!
"...It's called having your priorities in line." Roger that!
With a target 8 years out, the plans are pretty general at this point. But we (wife & I) are trying to do the financial planning to make it happen, and that takes time for most folks. We figure to sell the house, buy the boat, and just take a year or so to decompress in the Caribbean and figure out what's next. We have some land (a farm) in FL, but no house on it, and we just don't know yet how much we want to split our time between land and sea. My parents are there, and getting to an age where they need a little help now and then. So, sometime after the new has worn off the life aquatic, we'll probably be building another house. It's just one adventure after another, ain't it!

What year's your Prout 38? Buy her new?

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha Gator,
Welcome aboard!! Lots of good folks to bounce questions and answers off of here on the forum. You can do a lot of planning in eight years and lots of window shopping for boats.
Kind Regards,
JohnL

[Gator81]

"Aloha" backatcha, Skipper!
And oh yes, I have lots of questions! Most of them are random, odd things I think of when the mate & I are relaxing and daydreaming, making those plans. Here's a few:

If you have a dog aboard your cruiser, do you have problems with port authority / customs / whatever in the Caribbean? (I know your Pacific, Skipper, but maybe the same question applies over there, too). Will ol' Rover have to be quarantined while your in some ports?

Personal "security"... I'm no gun nut. Still I say, trust everybody, but insure with Smith&Wesson. What's the real deal with equipping your cruiser with firearms? Smart or more trouble than it's worth?

I know there are more people in the world every day, and an increasing proportion of them are boomers like me, looking to retire soon and scratch that itch to sail away. Here's my fear: By the time I can finally do it, the whole blue-water world will be covered with white fiberglass and I'd might as well be back on the freeway in another traffic jam. Do I have anything to worry about? Really, some of those beautiful island getaway places are starting to get a little crowded, aren't they?

Thanks for taking the time to respond to my dumb newbie questions. :cubalibre

[GMac]

Thanks for taking the time to respond to my dumb newbie questions.

We were all dumb newbies at some time, now some of us are just dumb oldbies or heading that way at least

Welcome and may your time here be long and delightful as well as fun and informative.

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha Gator,
The quarantine time on pets here in the Hawaiian islands used to be 6 months. Now it is down to two week if they have all their required shots and tests. You can keep your pet aboard to avoid the quarantine but that doesn't make your dog very happy.
As I see it. There are less and less sailboats per powerboats. I would hope that would turn around in the future with the price of fuel but who knows. There will be plenty of room for boats in the future, you just might have to pay more for slips and services. Money seems to drive everything these days. Gone are the free slips and anchorages once available.
The firearms issue is explored in great depth within the forum. Just do a good search. I've always had firearms but will not take them cruising because of the very weird laws of many countries/states including ours. I am into archery and spearfishing so will have some broken down "tools" aboard.
I've been going to sea and/or sailing since '63. I hope that you will look into fiberglass monohulls from 32-35 feet. Cutter rigged. I believe that size to be ideal. Bigger is sometimes better for some purposes but more often I've found that smaller makes your cruising dreams much more reasonable and easier to handle.
Kind Regards,

JohnL

[Weyalan]

Originally Posted by Gator81

Weyalan,
Thanks for the friendly welcome!
I saw elsewhere that you had threatened to post pics of your boat, but I couldn't find any. It sounds like you've undertaken quite the project! Are there pics?
Gator81

Gator,

If you click on a poster's name on the left side of any post, it will bring up a little window of options, including viewing that mamber's photo gallery. If you click on mine, there are a handful of photos that you can take a peek at...

[Gator81]

Hey Weyalan,
Thanks for the tip! I had checked out those photos of the Insatiable - I just couldn't believe that this lovely vessel was the same one you were describing all the sanding and 'glass work on, so I figured there must be pics of another "project boat" somewhere. So I guess my figuring was wrong - that happens a lot - and the Insatiable is the Vandestadt 40 you've been working on. Do I have it right now?