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Subject: Re: [worldcruising] Future cruiser looking for boat info...
From: Rick Kennerly (nh2f@XXX.XXX)
Date: Sat Sep 16 2000 - 06:40:29 EDT
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Well, I'm sure that you'll get lots of advice. My advice is to ignore
it, particularly any from me, and find your own way. Still there are
things you can do before you shove off (or even buy a "cruising"
boat).
Read a lot--at both ends of the cruising spectrum. Check out both Lin
& Larry Pardey's "go small, go simple, go now" philosophy as well as
Steve & Linda Dashew's highend "Deerfoot Philosophy" and decide which
camp you're in, or at least which you can afford. But understand the
choices you make, the tradeoffs you will encounter, and why. Read
Spurr's Upgrading a Cruising Sailboat to get a feel for what is
possible with an older, smaller design. Read Casey & Hackler's
Sensible Cruising, the Thoreau Approach for a balanced start on the
cruising life.
Sail a lot. Your boat and on other people's boats. No experience is
wasted. Even bad experiences have value, in fact they are usually
more valuable than good experiences---if you survive. Small boats
will teach you boat handling and sail shaping. Big boats will teach
systems and energy management (as in 10 tons moving toward a fixed
dock at 3 knots).
Become mechanical. If you can't replace the guts of your bathroom
toilet and make it work, you're going to be even less successful
working on a boat's head, pumps, plumbing, etc. Become a 12 volt
wizard. Buy Nigel Calder's Boat Owners Mechanical & Electrical Manual
(or whatever it is called--I don't have it at hand) and study it well.
Pick up his diesel book while you're at it. Begin collecting hand
tools.
When it comes time for you to buy a boat, you might find Rick's Rules
for Boat Buying useful:
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 50ft 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 goldplater.
6. Any fool can sail a 45ft 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 of 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 small, go simple, go now." L&L P
10. Finally, always purchase a boat in which you will be proud to be
seen arriving.
The sig below says it all>
-------------------------------
Rick the Mouseherder - nh2f
Westsail 32 Xapic
Annapolis, MD
A small boat and a suitcase full of money
beat a 40-footer tied to the Bank every time.
Creative graphic solutions in vinyl for your boat lettering & designs
http://www.mouseherder.com
Visit the Xapic Homepage at:
http://www.abs.net/~nh2f
The Westsail Owners Assn. :
http://www.westsail.org
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