A lot depends on your and your family's level of experience and commitment.
Have you been offshore? If not, I'd suggest taking one of the many available
offshore/coastal classes, if for nothing more than to get a feeling for it.
It's not all peaches and cream. I'd also suggest chartering various boats of
different makes and sizes. This will give you some idea of the accomodations
you can expect, and the typical offshore class lasts for a couple of days,
so you'll get an idea what it's like to handle night sailing, standing
watches, etc.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

"MarshallE" wrote in message
. ..
Hi,

My family is interested in what sailboat to buy and learn that can handle
offshore or perhaps ocean crossing. Older fits our budget better.

What type? How long?

I know this is vague but just trying to develop preliminary ideas to
consider.

thanks
marshall