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Subject: RE: [world-cruising] Xapic's Virgin Island Adventure
From: Mayi and Louis (guillama.ml@XXX.XXX)
Date: Tue Jan 14 2003 - 22:18:02 EST
I guess I'll throw in my two cents. My wife and I have already initiated
the process to start living our dream of cruising the Caribbean. Our home
is for sale, we've sold or stored most of our possessions, and we've spent
the past six months researching to find the 'perfect' cruising boat for us.
Now, we don't have a huge amount of money saved away, but we have enough to
buy what we feel is the perfect boat. And that's what prompted my response.
After fighting with the Pacific Northwest winds in chartered Catalina 38s,
we decided that smaller was smarter. And to our surprise, the right design
can do a lot to mitigate the shortage of space. Not surprisingly, our
search led us to the Westsail 32. It's the only boat we found in our price
range that offers reputation, style, durability and comfort. She represents
a size we can handle in any weather, a reputation we can trust (we're bound
to make some mistakes) and offers surprisingly ample space down below. The
fact that her length is the same as my age is merely coincidence, but it
makes it that much more gratifying to leave the office politics at the dock.
I'm glad that Rick's enjoying his dream today, we'll be enjoying it soon
enough!
Louis
-----Original Message-----
From: Rick Bradshaw [mailto:rbradsh2@XXX.XXX]
Sent: Tuesday, January 14, 2003 3:18 PM
To: world-cruising@XXX.XXX
Subject: RE: [world-cruising] Xapic's Virgin Island Adventure
Rick,
Yes, that's true. The view is the same. However, when someone has
agreed to give up their nice dry, spacious (relatively, especially
when comparing to most sailboats) land based home, they would like to
have a bit of comfort.50 years ago, cruisers had to endure a lot in
their small, narrow hulls if they wanted to go. Today, we can do that
or we (we in a general sense not me) can get all the bells and
whistles to make life easier.
While a 25 or 32 footer is less expensive, sometimes considerably so,
another 4-6 feet in length to 36-38 feet can make a big difference in
comfort. That difference, along with choosing a good cruising design
as opposed to a coastal design, can make the cruise instead of break
it on a smaller boat. (Plus, you young people at 50 can withstand
more punishment than those of us who are an ancient 56 or older. :-)
) Getting there in a degree of comfort on a slightly larger vessel vs
"beaten up" a bit on a smaller one has a lot to say for itself.
On the other hand, forget the 40 plus footers. Neither of us can see
ourselves on something that large with that much to take care of not
to mention the cost of just getting into it. My wife's in the 5'4"
category and she's concerned about being able to handle a large boat
like that if something should happen to me.
Also, we'd like to have some "free" time to relax and not work on
constantly maintaining/fixing the boat. I don't think that would be
possible on a larger boat. I think that would be where the $ sink and
the disenchantment would really begin to show.
No, we're thinking more along the lines of a Union Polaris 36, Hans
Christian 38 (or 36) Traditional, Tayanna 37, or maybe something like
the Baba 35. All older of course. Something in the late 70's that has
had the problems found and repaired and is now going at a
_reasonable_ price. If the house keeps on appreciating, we may be
closer than we think to a small house/condo to rent out and retire to
if necessary and a good boat to cruise in the meantime. Gotta
consider both possibilities at our "advanced" ages. :-) (I think
we'd both be happier and in better health if we were "out there"
rather than here on land in the office politics, commuter traffic,
and smog. I know I was when I lived aboard a coastal boat before.)
Rick
>.:.I would also like to know how it is in this modern world to cruise on
>.:.an older 32 footer where the amenities are not so spacious and about
>.:.what it takes to keep everyone generally happy within the limited
>.:.space and eating/sleeping arrangements dictated by the layout.
>
>Guess it means adjusting your expectations some. OTOH, we seem to have
>plenty of room aboard and find we spend 99% of waking hours in the
cockpit
>anyway--including meals.
>
>In Caneel Bay, St Johns, we were moored in front of a multimillion dollar
>megayacht and I I kept thinking how funny it was that the view of
paradise
>was the same from every cockpit--they swam in the same water we did; they
>ate in the cockpit and watched the show go by, just like we did; they
>dinghied around, just like us.
>
>Discounting the charter boats (which are getting huge!--saw several solo
>couples in chartered Benetau 46s), I found a number of cruisers out in
>smaller boats. The smallest we came across were two sets of French
>Canadians in Bayfield 25s. There were a lot of older CCA rule boats out
>there, too. The compromises you're willing to make to get there are
some
>indication of the strength of your dream.
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