When are you guys planning to retire?
My wife and I did a year ago and we're living aboard our yacht for 2,5
years now. In this time we get used to life aboard, refit/prep the
ship, and so on. We're planning on leaving in 2007.

Our advice would be: buy the largest hullspace you can afford
(purchase as well as maintenance), and buy a decksaloon.
Everything about a ship can be altered afterwards except the hull. For
a healthy, longlasting life aboard space is very important. We even
rented a small trailer for 6 months (in winter) to get to know how a
switch from a fairly large home to a space of 50 x 15 feet influenced
us: we love it (and this is one of the instances where your general
attitude regarding life and posessing matter kicks in) ...

Next to that a decksaloon let's you live with normal eye-contact with
the outside world while sitting down. My bet is you would get fed up
with living on a conventional yacht, no matter the size. It's like
living in a cellar with small windows over your head.

For some other subjects to think of before you buy:
Peter Forthmann owns a german factory that manufactures windvanes.
He's an experienced sailor. One subject he elaborates on is "the
perfect yacht".
http://www.windpilot.com/en/Ra/rayacen.html
Imo a sensible piece of information.

Hope to hear again from you.

Len,
S/v Present


On Mon, 5 Sep 2005 20:38:43 -0500, "RB" wrote:

Just what is a blue water boat- size- sail plan- tankage- hull material- and
so on?
My wife and I want to retire and do a circumnavigation just the 2 of us.
What should I look for in a boat?
Rick in St Louis

Hi there!

Let start with... Len is completely right. Forget this stuff about
autopilots, windvanes, etc... that`s all icing that can be added later.
The most important thing that you cannot change is your hull, and
second is your layout (changeable, but at considerable expense). Then
there`s your rig.

Big question... where do you want to sail, and why. High latitude and
low latitude boats are completely different animals, and very few
vessels suit both roles. If you want to circumnavigate, based on what
conditions do you chose this? If you want a rapid circumnavigation then
you should be following the Dashew world... very fast boats... but not
my definition of fun. If you want to cruise in comfort and you choose
your weather windows well, staying in lower latitudes, there are a lot
of boats that will give you this. If you want to see higher latitudes
such as Chile, Argentina, northern Canada, etc... fewer boats suit
these needs. In Puerto Williams, Chile and Ushuaia, Argentina, most of
the vessels you see will be metal. But surprisingly, there are two very
well founded ferro-cement vessels that do fine in Ushuaia. You just
have to know what you want, why and how to take care of it. Know your
vessel`s limitations and respect them. That`s the key.

The deck salon/pilothouse world is a controversial one and again, it
depends on what you want. Yes, this vessel will be your home, so you
want to be comfortable in it. But remember, if you want to
circumnavigate, you have some big oceans to cross and once you`re out
there, you`re out there. Too much open space and you`ll be tossed
around like a salad. And it hurts. Furthermore, the larger the vessel,
the bigger the systems, the more maintenance, the more expense, and the
more muscle needed to move it. There are times I envy the guy in the 34
footer.

One very important thing to remember... buy your boat based on her
hull, the material she`s constructed from, the interior layout, and the
material used for the interior. And of course your rig. As I said, the
rest is icing. Hopefully, you`ll install the other bits and pieces
yourself. If not, get good manuals and take the time to following
everything throughout the boat. Things will break. You will fix them.
And you will learn in the process.

Rick, there are a lot of opinions out there. Go sailing.