Cruising boat for a 62 and 63 year old?.

[straydog4612]

Age factor: I dont particularly think of myself as old, the reason I mentioned it, to those I have offended, is that what I could do in my 30's I cant do now, and too many people are passing on in my age bracket, so the time is now, the loss of Tom Petty was the final straw that broke the camels back, as we are musicians. The information that I have gleaned just from this simple post is astounding, and I am truly appreciative of people's efforts to assist.

As to our experience, my husband learnt to sail with his dad, on his dads home made sailing boat in Rabaul in 1957, and he has been sailing ever since, so his experience is solid, I have been sailing and racing with him since we were married in 1985, so we know how to sail, and do not depend on electronics.

As with many people who have replied, we have always had fast boats, so I dont want to end up with a dog, but I accept we are not going to have that type of speed with a cruising boat. This is where my interest in your suggestions lie, we have never had a cruising boat, and the more I hear from you the better picture I have of what I need.

We dont intend to go offshore, it will be coastal cruising, but I want strong and solid and reliable. My budget is small, but it is what it is, and I can live with that.

Rock on, sail on.

[straydog4612]

Thanks Sue, enjoyed your comments, cant go past an Adams in my opinion.

This statement may get me into a world of trouble lol.

[straydog4612]

I have had overwhelming response, an am very grateful. I love this site. Thank you.

[straydog4612]

The only boat I have had that I truly loved was our Adams 10. Whenever I got to the marina and saw the boat I got excited. Truly broke our heart when we sold her. And you are right on the money, gotta love the boat.

[straydog4612]

Originally Posted by taxwizz

Considering your age, I recommend Princess Cruises, or Holland America.
Great food, great ports, great entertainment, comfortable cabins, very safe.
And minuscule work.

Lol, I'm not old enough for that yet, will save that for when I have matured somewhat.

[straydog4612]

Originally Posted by Mike Banks

I like the Tayana 37. Not too big, not to small, and AFFORDABLE.

You can find them with all sorts of internal fit outs--but a stern cabin is often a noisy cabin when wind and tide are not in synch.

The Tayanas may not be fast, but you will get there eventually, and they are built like a brick outhouse. They also have some sort of re-sale value.


https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/port...ale/1158927075

My choice would not be a monohull though. I would go for a cat about 38 feet. A little faster and a lot less draught with beaching keels, and even less with centreboards. They cost more to buy, but they have a good resale value if not made from plywood.

Unfortunately the 37's have the V berth or the ones I have seen so far. Just too hard for me to get in and out of.

[straydog4612]

Originally Posted by robert sailor

The last thing I'd worry about is your age. If your both in decent shape you should have many years of cruising in your future. If I read you correct you were planning on local or coastal cruising..correct? This opens up your choices of suitable boats.

Thank you Robert, you are correct, basically coastal cruising, but you never know where we'll end up.

[straydog4612]

Originally Posted by fatherchronica

We mostly always had ultralight racing boats because we liked to go fast, but also I was very impatient. But when we decided to move aboard and cruise full time we bought a full keel boat to have a gentler motion on those squallier days. We are 62 and 65, and the old one of us has fractured or crushed 16 bones in his spinal column over his lifetime and so we didn't want a boat that pounded to windward.

I'm hearing you.

[Jim Cate]

G'Day straydog,

Well,here's another card carrying old fart chiming in!

I can't speak for you, of course, but for us, many years your senior, performance under sail is still quite important. Enough so that when we were looking for a replacement for our previous boat (a retired IOR one-tonner in which we lived and cruised for 17 years) we ended up with a Jon Sayer cruising design, built in Western Red Cedar. She's light, slippery and quick for a cruiser. The idea of a boat that won't sail well in light winds and that won't go to windward effectively just wasn't acceptable. Thus we ended up with another boat that the traditionalists view as ill suited for our purposes, even though at the time we were in our late 60s.

We still enjoy sailing her, and have never regretted the choice. She's carried us nearly 60,000 miles so far and we're still going... not driving her as hard as we used to, but still turning in good day's runs and not putting excessive hours on the engine.

My point in all this blather is that if you, coming as we did from a racing background, have enjoyed good sailing performance, you may not like the more conservative boats that some are suggesting. IMO it is incorrect to say that lighter, more performance oriented boats can not be comfortable cruisers, especially sailing the routes that you propose (we've done that coast many times and know what the conditions are like). Ann and I like our comfort too!

Final point: IMO, the effort required in sailing is related primarily to the displacement of the yacht in question. Heavy boats need bigger sail plans to move them, and those in turn mean bigger sheet loads, heavier sails and more work sailing. Long keels make low speed maneuverability poorer and invite bow thrusters to be installed, heavier ground tackle is needed and so on through the list of tasks involved in cruising. Nothing on our current boat is significantly harder to do than on our previous 36 foot boat, save hoisting the mainsail and painting the bottom! So, while I'm not a big fan of modern high production boats, they should be worth a careful look for carrying out your plans. They tick a LOT of your apparent boxes.

Jim

[straydog4612]

Originally Posted by sapient sue

Straydog 4162

Welcome to CF. Most of the comments above are valid but I would add that after living onboard for 21 years comfort is important. Some advice given to us was (sue could you lift the mainsail by yourself) and was told to look for boats in the 35 to 42 ft range. We had been looking at bigger boats but the bigger they are the more expensive the gear and the berths.

I agree with your choice of a Swanson they may be old, but are to be found on the market at reasonable prices, but the do vary in fit out as a lot were purchased hull and deck and fitted out by owners so do look around. We sailed our friend's for years before we purchased our own boat, a Joe Adams Naut Forty. She is not a typical Adams racing boat, Joe designed them for the charter market in the Whitsundays so had 3 double cabins.

Headroom is important and self tailing winches (we still do not have electric winches) but have purchased a special drill and bit that can be fitted to make them electric - mainly for lifting the dingy as we do not have davits, but as yet we do not need it - we still attach the bridle to the main halyard and wind.

Some winches on our mast were not self tailing so we purchased rubber rings that grip the rope and hence become a cheap self tailing winch.

We would recommend certain electronics to make life easier. We have an autopilot, AIS, GPS, VHF and HF radios but then we still go off shore and not just coastal cruising so HF is essential for wx and emails as sat phones are still too expensive for our budget.

Others boats to recommend would be Cavaleers, and Savages but like the Tyanas may be above your price range. Be very careful if choosing a Valiant as they had many problems with hull blisters and fractures as they were produced in the time when fibreglass experiments with different resins where the norm.

best of luck with finding a boat just right for you both. Cheers Sue

Thank you Sue, taking your comments onboard, just love the outside the sqaure thinking. I love the Swansons, am aware of their history, and would love to find one in Oz that has been really looked after. Adams? well, genius, never sailed on a bad one, and loved our 10 with a truly awe inspiring passion. Will always kick myself I didnt go look at a 40, had to change my appointment by one day, and as luck would have it, someone bought it right out from under me.

[JPA Cate]

Hi, straydog,

I am writing not as a moderator here, but as a plain participant. I am soon to attain 78 yrs.

I think that with your racing experience, the Swanson is not going to make you happy. You know that joy, in light airs when you get a puff, and suddenly the knotmeter has gone from 1.8 to 3.8? You will miss that. And, that appreciation has not left Jim, either, and he's a wee tad older than me. Even with really good sails, a Swanson will be far slower, and if spritely performance matters, it would be a sad thing for you to give it up.

So, I think you should be looking at good all 'round boats, when and as you find them, build on your racing background. A little sturdier than the Farr is fine! But if you shift to a slow heavy boat, your only fun will turn out to be in the weather you choose to stay out of, imho.

First, you need to be really clear about what you want, and, especially, DON'T WANT. It makes it easier for the broker, too, if you go through one. I would like to put in a word for Lee Condell, who dealt with us very fairly and constructively, in a straight forward way during our long search for this boat. He is with Performance Boating in Pittwater.

Pete 7's suggestion might do you, but I would think that you are looking for a performance cutter (my prejudice here) with easy access to the main sleeping berth, for ease of bed making, also. Fwiw, I had wanted an island bed, like you, and Jim talked me out of it at the time because of not wanting to devote so much space in the boat to an activity that at most is a third of a day. That island bed comes at the sacrifice of space we'd rather use for other things.... Ymmv.

Anyhow, good luck with your search. Ours took us 3 long years, and a fair bit of really poor representation of boats by some brokers, and one actually told us what we wanted didn't exist, "Get out of here, you're wasting my time." Funny thing, that, we found her anyway!

A.

[Fore and Aft]

I have surveyed a number of Swanson 42 yachts and most of them are getting a bit old and need some serious upgrades. have you seen one out of the water? They have a lot of underwater surface area. Not to mention the deep draft might be a problem around Queensland. I think there is better coastal cruising boats around.
I think your age is no issue, most of my customers are around your age and as long as you are fit the boat size is not a problem. My oldest customer this year was 90 and he purchased a 40 foot cat!
Cheers

[grahamb]

Hi ...have just reluctantly parted with my Martz 35.....which I had purchased for the same reasons as yourself.........tremendous storage.....massive aft cabin.....easily handled.......no teak deck......under 40' for cheaper marina fees.....can sleep extra people easily.....light on fuel....easy motion at anchor.....great engine access......and more.....

had no reason to regret.......except selling......happy to chat........am on Gold Coast.

[robert sailor]

I know my boats fairly well but I don't know your market and especially what's available. Australia has always been quite expensive for yachts so many yachts i might suggest may well be too much money. We have met a ton of Australians over the years who have come to the Med or the Caribbean to buy boats and sail them home, gotta be a reason. I'll leave this up to the folks with local knowledge..good luck in the hunt..remember sometimes the sizzle is almost as good as the steak(don't get in a hurry)

[MLOI]

Originally Posted by straydog4612

Adams? well, genius, never sailed on a bad one, and loved our 10 with a truly awe inspiring passion. Will always kick myself I didnt go look at a 40, .

Well... isn't it clear that you need an Adams 12? Or with a bigger budget and desire for a bigger boat, perhaps an Adams 44?

I was looking for a something similar for the same purpose a few years ago, and the list of boats we actually looked at seriously was;
Adams 12
Cavalier 37
Farr 38 (I have a bias towards Farr designs)
Jeneau Sun Odyssey 37
Couple of Beneteau's (and a Bavaria 38)

We ended up buying an ETAP 37s - we really liked the 2 cabin galley layout with large head, and the quality of build and finish. Then we cruised her for 6 months as a family of four, and had a ball. Half that time was exactly where you plan to cruise.

Somethings I learnt;
As a racer, I had a small dodger made, one that I can see over from the wheel. And when sailing, that's great. But the smart long term cruisers I met (including Sapient Sue and Mike) all had high dodgers, and full covers over the cockpit. Sue's in particular adds a massive amount of useable space, and is an awesome place to hang out when it is cold, or to get out of the sun.
If I was to design a cruising boat it would have a hard dodger, and an easy infill section back to a large bimini.

Which leads to a design compromise - end boom sheeting. Now, we all know that end boom sheeting is best, and I did really like having it when sailing. But we also had a removable traveller, otherwise having a traveller in the cockpit is a major pain, and the main sheet interferes with the covers you want to put up most of the time. I had end boom sheeting as not negotiable when we looked for our boat, but I might change my mind now.

High aspect keel with bulb - we have one, and it didn't cause any actual problems. And I actually enjoy sailing our boat to windward - 60 degrees off the wind is a joy. But there were a number of times in shallow water when I would have been happier with a straight fin, particularly in reverse. Then again, being able to pivot around the keel to maneuver in Marinas was great. There were berths we had where the long keelers just couldn't get in.

We don't have a bow thruster, and that is just fine. However I was on a (motor) boat in Sydney on friday that had one. Wow, do they make it easy!

A good anchor, lots of chain (50 plus metres for QLD, backed up with rope), good bow roller, electric windlass are all invaluable. You want it to be easy to up anchor and move, and you really want to trust your anchoring gear in all conditions. An easy way to rig two snubbers that don't chafe is important for good sleep.

We are sloop rigged, and at times changing from the 135 Genoa to the high aspect jib for stronger winds was a pain. And I never got to try two headsails downwind. A cutter rig would be great I think.

But the cutter rig (or even the babystay like we have) makes it hard to have a dinghy on deck. Inflating the high pressure floor dingy / packing it away / lowering the 9.8 hp outboard were all a bit annoying when we were island hopping every day or so. An easy way to deal with dinghy and outboard would be much appreciated - we were jealous of cats with their davits. (I couldn't stomach davits on a mono, and wouldn't trust a dinghy on them for longer passages anyway).

Oh - I'd take an island double berth if the boat came with one, but wouldn't go looking for one. We had typical berth under the cockpit, it made for a nice enclosed space for the kids to play in while underway. My partner gets claustrophobic though, which meant I was the one who got shoved under there to sleep. Was a bit annoying as I was the one most likely to get up and check things during the night. We also had both settees in the main cabin set up with lee cloths. I'd be loathe to do an overnight passage without this, I would not buy a boat with curved settees. The lee cloths even mean that the occasional guest could sleep there with some degree of privacy.

Other things to think about that I hadn't considered as someone who raced other peoples yachts were;
- somewhere to store rubbish for up to two weeks
- somewhere for wet diving gear to live
- how to stop everyone from using my nav desk as a dumping ground for stuff
- a work surface for fixing stuff
- where you can clean a 5 kilo fish without getting blood on the walls
- where to store a life raft where it is not in the way all the time
- at least 100m of extra line so you can put your kids in the dinghy and trail them well behind you when they are too annoying.

Mike