On Sat, 19 Jul 2008 10:38:01 -0700, Josh Assing
wrote:

My wife & I have been talking about moving onto a boat & sailing away for a long
time -- the biggest stumbling block to buying a boat the size we'd need for
liveaboard is $ -- we'd have to sell our house 1st & then buy the boat.

however, we happened upon a FC boat that we can afford w/o selling the house.

I've spent about a month reading about FC boats and it seems that there is a
common thread:
If the boat was home built -- run away
if the boat was professionally built - there's a very good chance it's solid as
hell.
The only way to truely "check" the construction is to cut away the hull &
examine the steel beneath.

The hull was professionally built in Canada -- and then "owner finished" the
interior. The standing rigging is overkill (bigger than needed, which is fine
with me); the running rigging needs some tlc here and there.

So now I'm looking for people that have had experiences with FC boats (good or
bad) to get an idea if we want to make the leap. We would be taking the boat
on shake down cruises for the next year while still working & sell the house;
once done -- sail off. So anyone with off shore sailing experience in an FC
boat -- I'm very interested to hear from you.

Thanks
-josh


I have a good friend who has a 55 ft. F.C. boat and his experience has
been:

The boat is heavy for it's size and requires more sail area then a
lighter boat. On the other hand it sails well when other boats are
reefing.

He hit a rock at about 7 knots and knocked a hole in the bottom. Said
things got sort of exciting there for a few minutes. Was able to beach
the boat and repaired the damage using some sort of "epoxy stuff" to
use his words. That was more then a year ago and no problems with the
repair to date.

The boat has a very low resale value. In his case he is 78 years old
and doesn't care, but you might.

Other comments:

If the boat has integral fuel tanks it is possible for the diesel to
soak through the hull. Have seen a couple of boats with that problem.

As regards to "sailing off". I would suggest that unless you have
"sailed off" before you do not sell the house for the first couple of
years - rent it. A large number of people lose enthusiasm for the
boating life style after a couple of years.






Bruce-in-Bangkok
(correct Address is bpaige125atgmaildotcom)