My friend is trying to convince me to go halfs with him on a boat... he's
talking about either an Island Packet, which I've seen before, or possibly a
Valiant, which I haven't seen. The "plan" that we've been talking about is
getting something in the mid- to low-40 foot range, berthing it on the bay
(probably Sausalito, assuming we could find a suitable place), and then
taking it down to Mexico a year from next October (which is the supposed
"weather window" for travelling south). The approximate cost for each of us
would be in the $150K to $200K range, perhaps some wiggle room, depending
upon how new the boat would be and what needs to get retrofitted.

My friend wants to get something made in the US... I guess it's easier to
have it Federally registered. And, we both like the idea of buying American
if possible.

Right now, there's another couple that would be putting in sweat and time
equity (but limited cash), so that would give us a crew of four for Mexico.
I'm probably the most junior as far as sailing experience goes... just the
Hobie 18 in my distant past. I'd probably take some classes with Sal,
because we could probably both use a refresher.

We're thinking if we get the boat in the next couple of months, so we'd have
a good long time to get really familiar with how it sails and how we sail
together (we've sailed locally a few times with no conflicts). The guys are
best buddies, so that's not an issue.

So, we're going to meet up at the sail show and see what looks interesting.
I mentioned Catalina, since I've heard the name, but apparently they're not
quite up to the same quality standards. Is there another US-built make in
the same class as the IP or Val? Anything else a relative novice should
consider beyond the interpersonal/relationship stuff (we're all pretty
compatible... travelled with each other lots... and we're all pretty
independent). My main concern is can I pull my own weight on the boat, but I
guess most of that can be figured out in sailing classes and sailing on
whatever we get).

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