Hey guys and gals. I'm brand new at this and am thinking of getting a boat to cruise the bahammas and crib. Any sugg. size make etc looking to spend around 15 k. Thanks all. I am looking forward to looking at this site in depth
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Suggestions would be better based on a little more info- How many of you? Where are you? Any special requirements? -Paul
For that price and operating area, it would be hard to beat an Endeavour 32. They were designed just for that. The hulls have no core which is important in low cost boats of the age that will come in under 20K and they have two large skylights, ten opening ports, shoal draft, and are great handling boats.
Read about mine here:
http://www.rogerlongboats.com/Boat.htm
Read about mine here:
http://www.rogerlongboats.com/Boat.htm
How much sailing experience do you have?
Where are you located?
How many people are you talking about—just yourself or you and a partner??
Lots of boats would work, and I'd point you to James Baldwin's Boat List as a place to start.
Where are you located?
How many people are you talking about—just yourself or you and a partner??
Lots of boats would work, and I'd point you to James Baldwin's Boat List as a place to start.
No definetly not, fortunatly for me my wife has sailed her 40' cat quite a bit back in 70s and 80s. Although things probably have changed quite a bit since then the basics of wind still remain the same. Myself I have only sailed toro's and snipes and that was back in high school.
So I have got quite a bit of learning to do. I have piloted many watercraft in the 20-45' range, but sailing is a whole nother ballgame, Dave
Just my wife and I. We are located in fl about 40 mi west of gainesville. (go gators!)
For the Bahamas you need a boat with a draft no more than 6.5' and 5.5 feet would be better. It must be built strong enough to encounter difficult seas and winds, which you could encounter in the Bahamas and the Caribbean (especially gulf stream crossings). You also need to have enough storage to accommodate your needs for water, fuel and gear while living aboard. If you run out of wind, you have to be able to motor to your next landfall and depending on where you are, that could be quite a distance. An Endeavor 32 would be a good choice, or any boat similar in construction. A dinghy is a very good thing to have with you and so you would need to figure a way to carry it on board rather than towing it. It can be used to get to land when you anchor out (anchoring out is free) and it is also very useful when you are trying to locate fish to spear or lobster to catch. You have to ask for Hawaiian sling permission on your cruising permit. Once they were accepted. They now are only accepted if you have it written in and you can only do it with snorkle - not SCUBA. But that is another matter.
Thank you all very much for your responses. And so rapidly to I might add. I can tell this is a group of dedicated people, and I hope you don't mind too much picking your brains, as I am an info junkie and want to learn more about this sport, Dave
Another list:
http://www.mahina.com/cruise.html
Most of these will be out of your range, but some will not, and the preceding discussion is excellent.
http://www.mahina.com/cruise.html
Most of these will be out of your range, but some will not, and the preceding discussion is excellent.
I would highly recommend you get and read Dave Seidman's book, The Complete Sailor. About $16 at the local bookstore...and worth every penny. It is required reading for people who are crewing for me and wanting to learn about sailing.
Thank you all for your input and info. I think what I'm going to do is get a charter for just my wife and I to the Bahamas or Carib. and see what its like. Then make a decision from there as to #1 do I really want to do this, IE. make the commitment to a large expensive boat, #2 Will I be happy living on a boat for an extended amount of time, and #3 Will my cash fund hold up long enough to make it worth my while. Again thank you all for the input, Dave
One caution.
Do not be lured into buying a larger boat
than you can easily afford. In these times
you can aquire a fairly good boat for your
15K, but boats can be more expensive to
own than to purchase. The costs of maintaining
a boat go up exponentially with an increase in size.
Very often with an older boat, replacing a tired
sail inventory or an inboard engine will cost more than
what you paid for the boat.
Do not be lured into buying a larger boat
than you can easily afford. In these times
you can aquire a fairly good boat for your
15K, but boats can be more expensive to
own than to purchase. The costs of maintaining
a boat go up exponentially with an increase in size.
Very often with an older boat, replacing a tired
sail inventory or an inboard engine will cost more than
what you paid for the boat.
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