Donal wrote:
....snip...
Welcome back Frank. You've posted some good stuff in the past.
What kind of boat are you thinking of getting?
My kids are currently 15 and 18, and it is very difficult to get them
to go
sailing. Get your boat ASAP if you want to have them involved.

Thanks, Donal,

I understand your comments about older teens wanting to separate
themselves from their parents. We started homeschooling a couple of
years ago and have been doing a lot of RVing. We plan to spend a year
or so cruising the Caribbean within the next couple of years. The kids
like to sail, especially in warm water, e.g. the Caribbean, and our
24/7 intimacy of the last couple of years has been positive, better
than the times we had when we had them in school and just had
adventures in the summer. So I hope that continues.

My personal favorite boat, and the one I want for my wife and me when
the girls are on their own, is a Freedom 38 (mid-80s thru early 90s
Gary Mull design). However, we've discussed this in recent years and
have tried brief cruises on a couple of different sizes and styles of
boats and have decided that for family cruising we want a bit more room
than the F38 provides.

In that context, being fond of the Freedom concept, I'd consider an
older F-40 or preferably a 44. However, given that the mission
parameter for this boat is simply to survive a year or two of Caribbean
cruising, we might consider a cheap ex-charter boat. I'm a cheap old
SOB and would be happy to save a few nickles, especially since I know
that this will not be my "last boat."

We've talked about cats, too; but have yet to charter a cruising cat to
see if we find the experience enjoyable in the same sort of way we
enjoy monohull sailing. We're gonna do that sometime soon.

Frank