"Evan Gatehouse" wrote in message
...
I should have about 70K USD all up

That should find you a boat and have enough to outfit it. One thing I am
finding with equipping my current boat is that time gives you the luxury
to
seek out the best deals.

Have a good bunch of prospects lined up and contacts with brokers already
made. Fill your luggage allowance with tools. Check www.yachtworld.com
for
a good search of boats for sale.

If time is tight, you're almost forced to pay retail. In your case, I
would
talk to the local West Marine store manager into giving you or using their
"Port Supply" account; provides almost wholesale prices on most items,
because you will be likely be spending a lot at their store in a short
time.

On our last boat, a 30' moderately equipped fiberglass boat, we bought it
one fall, did essentially no work over the winter/spring, and spent 1
month
working 7 days/wk, 10-12 hours to get it ready. It wasn't 100% ready but
it
was servicable and all the safety aspects were taken care of. I wouldn't
recommend it but in your case it may be required.

I'd take care of the safety aspects of the boat, and go to the Bahamas for
a
"shakedown" cruise of a month or so. Then return to the US for more
equipment/outfitting if you can get another visa. You only need to have
the
safety aspects taken care of - the cosmetic & convenience items can be
done
as you travel. Heck we met people who have lived aboard for 7 years
traveling in Mexico who still had uninstalled solar panels in their
quarterberths

Time for doing this - probably the best time is to buy in the spring,
cross
Atlantic in June to avoid hurricane exposure.


--
Evan Gatehouse

you'll have to rewrite my email address to get to me
ceilydh AT 3web dot net
(fools the spammers)


Thanks Evan, and others
It seems I'm on the right track. How will I stand regarding finding crew in
spring, and for an earlier shakedown trip?
It looks like Florida might be the state with the biggest choice of boats.