I agree with all this except one thing. Get a boat that will motor all day at 6+ knots and motor against wind and sea at 5+ knots. For a 43 footer, that may be 60-90HP and a prop 18" or bigger. You don't understand at the beginning, how much motoring you will be doing. On the east coast ICW you need 6 knots to make bridge openings with the other boats. On a bad day, 5 knots against wind & seas will get you back to port. Think of how little headway you make at 3kts. My boats' motoring speeds: Bristol 32: 5kts, 3kts against wind & sea, Nauticat 33: (90HP&22" prop) 7.5kts anytime, Leopard 38 catamaran: 5.5-7.5kts. Some days I miss the Nauticat. Lee Haefele ----- Original Message ----- From: Ed Kelly To: [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, May 27, 2008 7:26 AM Subject: [Liveaboard] Opinions & Advice on boat buying
Casey, Everyone on the list has been giving you good advice. Some of the past articles by folks here and elsewhere have been collected at another web site that is still a good reference and gets you thinking about what the critical issues are. Take a look at: http://www.geocities.com/bill_dietrich/RetireSailboat.html It is a historical acct of how a newby went about finding and buying a boat and follows the recommendations and thoughts of many on this site, now and in the past. It is an accumulation of interesting and informative posts. Finally, found there as well, consider Rick Kennerly's good advice: Rick's Rules for boat buying and ownership: 1.. A small boat and a suitcase full of money beats a 40-footer tied to the Bank every time. 2.. Cruising boats are bought by the pound, not the foot. 3.. You gain more live aboard space for every foot of beam added than for foot in length purchased (there are some older narrow CCA-style boats that are 50 feet long, but with less usable interior space than our Westsail 32). 4.. While boats are linear, their maintenance, time and equipment costs are exponential (it costs three times as much to maintain a 40-footer than a 30-footer). 5.. The view of paradise is exactly the same from the cockpit of a small boat as that from a gold-plater. 6.. Any fool can sail a 45-foot boat downwind in nice weather. On the other hand, it is very easy to buy more boat than a couple can handle during a blow on a lee shore. 7.. Pay attention to the basics -- hull, engine, rigging, sails -- rather than to amount, quality or age of gizmos; a few grand held back at purchase can replace (or add) GPS, VHF, wind and depth instruments, and creature comforts -- cushion covers, propane stove, etc. A bum engine, a rigging failure, or a bad case of blisters can easily set you back three or four times that. 8.. Charter fleet boats were designed for two or three couples living out of duffels and eating ashore most of the time, not live-aboard and cruising -- you'll be offered hundreds of badly used former charter boats at very attractive prices but you can't afford them. 9.. "Go simple, go small, go now." L & L P 10.. Finally, always purchase a boat in which you will be proud to be seen arriving.
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