My wife and I are now considering purchasing a used boat probably in
the 20' to 30' range. Although I am already actively going through
ads, I also realize that I know very little about the boating lingo,
the costs of ownership (maintenance, fuel, moorage, others) and travel
expectations. I am hoping that the boaters in this NG can answer some
of the many questions I have. Please note that I live near Vancouver,
BC, Canada and some of the questions may be more relevant to people
living in the area. So ,here we go…

1) technical terms : What's a leg? What's a beam? (I wasn't kidding
when I said I was a newbie at this!). Is there a good WEB site which
describes some of the technical features of a boat?

2) With the understanding that all boats are not equal, is there some
magic way to 'guesstimate' fuel cost? The reasoning being that if I
can't even afford the fuel, then I should forget about buying a boat…
For example, if I was to cross from Vancouver to Saltspring Island on
a 25 footer, would I likely look at $25 in fuel or $200 in fuel?

3) Other than these newsgroups, are there other good WEB communities
(forums) for boaters and boater wannabees?

4) Is it unrealistic (or perfectly feasible) to think that I could
simply cruise to the San Juan Islands from Vancouver? Can these boats
handle the normal sea conditions of the Pacific Northwest coastline?
Any idea, how long it may take to go from Vancouver to San Juan Island
(are we talking a few hours or a whole day)?

I am sure I will have plenty of other questions but I will start with
these for now. Yes, I know a lot of these answers will start with 'It
depends' (speed, type of boat, conditions, etc…) but remember that I
am just trying to get an overall understanding of what is possible and
what is not for a boat in the 20' to 30' range. Thanks in advance to
anyone who cares to provides some answers, suggestions,
recommendations…

Andre