On Thu, 29 Jan 2004 08:58:38 -0600, "Wendy"
wrote:
I know
Westsail is a definite possibility, but what other boats should I consider
based on my plans and price range?

You are going to get a lot of advice here. I will withhold my valuable
(in other words, free) opinion until I know more about your plans. Are
you single-handing for instance? Are you fit? Are you able to go on a
foredeck in a storm and not fall off? Do you have lots of time or a
schedule? Fast or safe or both (that's the most expensive!)
Stuff like that.

I do not have a lot of sailing experience- some time on 30' Catalinas and a
Hobie Cat. I crewed on a 90' motor yacht in the Caribbean for a year and
also ran 40-50 foot dive boats out of a resort for another couple years, so
the basics of boat operations and upkeep etc are no mystery to me (I know
what I'm getting into here, and must admit that I am wondering about my
sanity

You have more sailing experience than a lot of people if you've crewed
for a year. I would suggest that the best course you could take is to
offer to crew on a transatlantic delivery in return for instruction
and practical experience. In conjunction with this I would encourage
you to take some sort of professionally recognized sailing competency
certification such as the "Six Pack" from the U.S. Coast Guard or the
"Yachtmaster" courses in the UK from the Royal Yachting Association.

Those bits of paper will make you desirable crew, which will inform
you directly as to what is desirable in an offshore cruiser. On your
off-watch, you can read the Smeetons, the Hiscocks, the Pardeys, Hal
Roth, Don Street and a few others from the last 40 years or so who did
things the hard way in ocean cruising so you don't have to. With the
exception of GPS/EPIRBs, hardly any of the "improvements" that will
make your journey a safe and pleasant one are particularly new or
involve electronics.

The good news is that there are a lot of unfashionable (narrow, dark,
overbuilt, no wet bar) old boats that are very suitable for offshore
work, can be altered cheaply and bought for a song because everyone
wants a big-arsed Beneteau to impress the yachtie crowd. There are
some excellent ocean going cruisers made today, but not at your price
point, and most of them are not the "popular" names. An example of a
"good old boat" is the Westsail 32 "Satori". You could look that up
and learn how a well-made boat can survive even a "Perfect Storm".
It's not like the movie had things, by the way.

Your mileage may vary. The best scenario, quite frankly, is getting
the boat of some fastidious perfectionist who died putting the latest
bulletproof roller-furling on his immaculately maintained old 36
footer, leaving a wife who hated sailing and just wants to get rid of
the thing.

Skip Gundlach's saga on this list will inform you mightily. It's worth
it to take the time necessary to decide, because a thousand miles
offshore, there's no tow truck, is there? G

Good luck,

R.

wrote in message
...
You are going to get a lot of advice here. I will withhold my valuable
(in other words, free) opinion until I know more about your plans. Are
you single-handing for instance? Are you fit? Are you able to go on a
foredeck in a storm and not fall off? Do you have lots of time or a
schedule? Fast or safe or both (that's the most expensive!)
Stuff like that.

Right then- would like to do some single-handing now and again, I am pretty
fit (rock climber), barring 60' seas I doubt I'd fall off, and I probably
have a year or so to find what I want.

You have more sailing experience than a lot of people if you've crewed
for a year. I would suggest that the best course you could take is to
offer to crew on a transatlantic delivery in return for instruction
and practical experience. In conjunction with this I would encourage
you to take some sort of professionally recognized sailing competency
certification such as the "Six Pack" from the U.S. Coast Guard or the
"Yachtmaster" courses in the UK from the Royal Yachting Association.

I have loads of experience on the water, just not much fooling around with
sails. I've all the documents rounded up to sit for the USCG 100-ton
license, I've just not gotten around to doing it. The transatlantic
delivery idea is a good one, but not terribly practical at this point in
time. I wouldn't dismiss it out of hand, though.

The good news is that there are a lot of unfashionable (narrow, dark,
overbuilt, no wet bar) old boats that are very suitable for offshore
work, can be altered cheaply and bought for a song because everyone
wants a big-arsed Beneteau to impress the yachtie crowd.

I am more interested in the former, obviously I'm not averse to a bit of
work, but I decidedly do not want a project. Boats are enough work as it
is.

Your mileage may vary. The best scenario, quite frankly, is getting
the boat of some fastidious perfectionist who died putting the latest
bulletproof roller-furling on his immaculately maintained old 36
footer, leaving a wife who hated sailing and just wants to get rid of
the thing.

One can dream

Skip Gundlach's saga on this list will inform you mightily. It's worth
it to take the time necessary to decide, because a thousand miles
offshore, there's no tow truck, is there? G

I'll google up the saga. I've been doing a bit of flying and, as
problematic as the broken-down boat can be, I can't imagine the situation
would be as dire as an aviation-related failure. I can deal with stress

Good points, all of them- thanks for taking the time to write them.

Wendy

Wendy wrote:
I am more interested in the former, obviously I'm not averse to a bit of
work, but I decidedly do not want a project. Boats are enough work as it
is.


Sounds to me like you already know a lot about it. But shopping for the
boat itself can be a daunting project. How are you at library research?
Check out a few references on small boat surveying, the one that I have
on my shelf and find very good is Ian Nicholson's "Surveying Small
Craft." Then you will have some excellent parameters to start weeding
out the boats on the market that you know you don't want.



Skip Gundlach's saga on this list will inform you mightily. It's worth
it to take the time necessary to decide, because a thousand miles
offshore, there's no tow truck, is there? G


I'll google up the saga. I've been doing a bit of flying and, as
problematic as the broken-down boat can be, I can't imagine the situation
would be as dire as an aviation-related failure.

You might be surprised. Things can happen quickly on the water, and
consequences can be dire indeed... I mean, it can be fatal, how much
more dire can it get?

Anyway, it is certainly possible and a very interesting challenge. Go
for it!

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

dougies, don't be stupid, again. The lady is a pilot and she has handled that
well. don't be trying to convince her that sailing a boat is more dangerous.
It is not. Not even close. I say again, NOT EVEV CLOSE.

I can't imagine the situation
would be as dire as an aviation-related failure.

You might be surprised. Things can happen quickly on the water, and
consequences can be dire indeed...

JAXAshby wrote:

dougies, don't be stupid, again. The lady is a pilot and she has handled that
well. don't be trying to convince her that sailing a boat is more dangerous.
It is not. Not even close. I say again, NOT EVEV CLOSE.

You need to get a remedial reading course (assuming you learned to read
in the first place).

Nowhere does my post above say that sailing is *more* dangerous. Only
that fatal = fatal, so the consequences of a mishap could be (but not
necessarily are always) equally dire. A math genius such as yourself
shoudn't have a problem grasping this.

DSK

On Thu, 29 Jan 2004 16:12:55 -0500, DSK wrote:

Nowhere does my post above say that sailing is *more* dangerous. Only
that fatal = fatal, so the consequences of a mishap could be (but not
necessarily are always) equally dire.

Crash in an aircraft or car (at least over most land) and it usually
is noticed. Going down on a small boat, esp. if run over by a tanker
or something, and nothing may ever be found. Car travel is
quantitatively more dangerous than cruising, I would think, but the
problem with cruising is if you survive a rapid sinking or getting run
down or rammed...what then?

Unpleasant possibilities and the best argument for a personal EPIRB,
perhaps, particularly if single-handing.

R.

wrote:
Crash in an aircraft or car (at least over most land) and it usually
is noticed. Going down on a small boat, esp. if run over by a tanker
or something, and nothing may ever be found. Car travel is
quantitatively more dangerous than cruising, I would think, but the
problem with cruising is if you survive a rapid sinking or getting run
down or rammed...what then?

hen dire things happen in sailboats, you probably have more time to
catch up on your regretting than in a plane.


Unpleasant possibilities and the best argument for a personal EPIRB,
perhaps, particularly if single-handing.

Yes indeed. I'm not in favor of singlehanding, but then I'm a social
critter.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

wrote:
Crash in an aircraft or car (at least over most land) and it usually
is noticed. Going down on a small boat, esp. if run over by a tanker
or something, and nothing may ever be found. Car travel is
quantitatively more dangerous than cruising, I would think, but the
problem with cruising is if you survive a rapid sinking or getting run
down or rammed...what then?

hen dire things happen in sailboats, you probably have more time to
catch up on your regretting than in a plane.


Unpleasant possibilities and the best argument for a personal EPIRB,
perhaps, particularly if single-handing.

Yes indeed. I'm not in favor of singlehanding, but then I'm a social
critter.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

BOO!!

BOO!!