Good afternoon from windy and rainy England, cup of tea anyone?

[seastar8888]

Hello, we are Dave & Tania, couple of old silly dreamers, and dream is to buy a catamaran and sail in to the sunset. And we are working hard to achieve it by the end of 2012.
Happy sailing, everyone

[haiqu]

From another silly old dreamer, welcome to the forum. This time last year I was in the same position, and now own a 35' sloop. The first step is to conceive that it's possible.

Keep reading, and if you learn enough to think you might be able to do this then we have achieved our purpose!

And yes, I'd love a cup of tea, than you. :-)

Rob

[seastar8888]

And oh yes we ARE reading. And we know that we can well do it, and we have lots of good examples on this site and many others

[redbopeep]

Welcome

Are you retiring at year's end or is this an interlude? What are your previous sailing experiences? We considered a catamaran and I must admit that I felt so comfy with sailing a monohull but a bit anxious about bluewater cruising on a cat. Thus, we went down the monohull path.

Brenda and David

[seastar8888]

Thank you Brenda and David. My husband is retired already and I am sort of taking a gap year or 10, we will see how it goes fortunately we can make it . Our sailing experience is next to none. We have completed RYA competent crew course and are in process of getting day skipper certificate, once upon a times I worked as a radio engineer for Russian(Soviet) Navy and Dave once lived aboard in Spain, so we do have some minuscule knowledge. And we have huge desire to do it. So we decided to do it before we are too old

[redbopeep]

Originally Posted by seastar8888

And we have huge desire to do it. So we decided to do it before we are too old

My favorite quote:
"Life hangs on a very thin thread and the cancer of time is complacency. If you are going to do something, do it now. Tomorrow is too late." -Pete Goss

It sounds like you're doing the right stuff in terms of getting your sailing classes and all. Once you've picked a boat--any boat--and made the purchase, you'll be able to get out there and SAIL. Do you have a certain idea of what you're looking for? Have you seen a couple boats? What do you like and dislike?

Do you have a particular cruising ground in mind? That can direct you towards a certain boat--or location to look at boats for that matter.

Looking forward to hearing more about your plans and activities.

Fair winds,

[seastar8888]

Good morning, , we have seen quite a few boats. And our first destination could be Med, but...And there is always but...In depends on where we will buy it. Because we sort of like Lagoon 380 or Lepard4o alike, but most of the boats we found for sale so far are lying in the BVI or Caribbean , so we can change our plans accordingly, we are absolutely free, so whatever will be will be. By the way yours Mahdee looks amazing, one could say it is love child

[redbopeep]

I did expect you might have to find your way to the boat--where ever that may be. We were on the US East Coast and really looked world-wide as well and were surprised to find our boat in San Diego.

When we saw her--before the rebuild--we had already seen her plans and we could see her lovely lines and imagined that she'd be a wonderful boat for our purpose. Now sailing her--yes, we love every moment. The aesthetic of living aboard and sailing a classic pre-WWII cruising boat is amazing.

The excitement of slicing through the waves while beating to windward through a late season gale and the exhilaration of downwind sailing and unexpectedly barreling down the wave faces at hull speed while offshore on a moonlit night reveal that today she performs brilliantly, and, much as her original owner back in the 1930's knew, she's in her element in big winds and large seas. With countless days at anchor – whether lazy days eating blackberries in the Sacramento Delta or keeping the boat warm with the coal fired Shipmate while standing a late night anchor watch in the comfort of the charthouse during a winter blow – we have found our perfect cruising boat.

David and I can't wait to hear about your own plans and the life you find aboard the boat you ultimately purchase.