Living the Dream......

[Dancaffy]

Well the dream of sailing the world brings me to this thread. Within the next 2 years I will own a yacht and be living the dream that many of you already live. I have sailed most of my life from VJ's, Flying 11's and skiffs on Botany Bay to Endeavour's and Tasman yachts. More recently we rent a yacht from Sunsail Hamilton Island for 10 days each year. But all this just doesn't fill the need to sail.
So the plan is, and I am very open for any and all advice, to purchase a yacht in the US or South America and sail it back to Australia.
Well that's my/our dream, so any yacht suggestions that you all may have will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks for input in advance.

[ParadiseParrot]

Maybe look on the West Coast if you can then the Baja Bash to Mexico then the Coconut run

[haiqu]

And what better place to start such a dream. I spent a lot of time in Merimbula as a kid and recently revisted the place. They were catching 4kg salmon off Tura beach in January and that inspired me to start fishing again.

Do it, mate. You won't regret it for a second.

Rob

[Auzzee]

Take a look through Yachtworld.com. Thousands of boats for sale, searchable by your own criteria and, as I have proven to myself recently, good boats in the US are a fraction of the price of similar boats in Oz.
Good luck.

[CaptDinghy]

Originally Posted by Auzzee

Take a look through Yachtworld.com. Thousands of boats for sale, searchable by your own criteria and, as I have proven to myself recently, good boats in the US are a fraction of the price of similar boats in Oz.
Good luck.

A great place to start for sure! This blog and associated wiki with recommended reading lists are chalk full of resources/people and opinions.
I got a great piece of advice from a member here: Get the most boat (quality) you can afford, learn it well and take off.

Enjoy the journey.

[Dancaffy]

Hi All. Thanks for you suggestions and support. I have a bit to get done in the coming months then I will be shopping for my boat. are there any good reasons not to purchase a French production boat for the Pacific crossing, as this is what I would like to have here as a coastal passage yacht.
Will just keep looking for now
Thanks

[Auzzee]

Hi Dan, Jeanne P who will be back in September, along with her husband Peter, sailed a Jenneau Sun Fizz all over the place and I am sure she will provide you with some first class information.

Meanwhile friends of mine sailed a Beneteau Oceanis 46 from Japan, through Asia and the Pacific and hove to for two days during a cyclone off the coast of North Queensland with no real trouble.

However, older Beneteaus (Should it be Beneteaux?) and smaller Bennies were not designed for ocean crossings. Many people have however, sailed them in the Transpac from the US mainland to Hawaii and back, but these are generally people who have been able to invest a reasonable amount of money in prepping their boat for the rigours of an ocean passage.

Please don't be put off by people who 'bag' Bennies. They are good boats for the purposes they were designed to fill. Have a look at the story attached to the following link:
EQUIPPED TO SURVIVE (tm) - Lessons Learned: Sailing to Hawaii...The First Attempt by Arnold Rowe
It is about a competent offshore sailor and a Catalina 36 (similar in construction to the Beneteau), and shows just what an ocean crossing can do to a boat which is not necessarily designed for the job.

Also, when looking at a second hand boat, you can get an idea of its suitability by determining its Motion Comfort Ratio (Rate Your Boat-gosail.com).

While you are looking, take a peek at proven, smaller blue water boats such as the Luders 33, Petersen 31. In the US these mightly little boats can be got for between $15K and $20K.

It would be good to know what sort of size and price range you are looking at and it would then be a little easier for members to offer their thoughts. Also take a look at this:
Fatty Goodlander, S/V Wild Card - Hughes 38 for sale: Wild Card. It will give you an idea of what is out there for very few dollars, but which could be sailed anywhere in the world, tomorrow.
Keep us posted.
Cheers.

[Dancaffy]

Hi Auzzee,
Thanks for the feed back. The boats I am keen on are the 50 ft Bennie or the 49ft Jeanneau. I have sailed smaller boats from the same company's but feel if I am going to live on the boat for at least a year we would like a bit of room on board and the layout seems to suit the type of sailing we like. Also there is plenty of room & amenities for our friends that like to enjoy the experience with us. There are so many yachts to choose from??
I will just have to make a decision and keep looking.
Thanks Again.

[JeanneP]

Hi! I have maybe 30 minutes before we again lose Internet access, so I can't be particularly detailed.

We sailed and lived aboard our beloved sv Watermelon for about 18 years. The 'Melon is a 1981 Jeanneau Sun Fizz (38.5 feet), with a wonderful layout, including two aft cabins - small, but exceptionally comfortable no matter the seas. The galley was small but serviceable, we only had one head, using the area for the second head as our "radio room".

She was a wonderfully sound boat, solid fiberglass, with neither balsa nor foam core. She usually outsailed most other boats of the same size, and she always came through for us.

The smaller size (49 feet seems gargantuan to us) meant less maintenance costs (less paint, less fuel because the engine was pushing a smaller, lighter boat, less work to clean and maintain). She was simple, so there were fewer things to break, or break down. The cockpit was extremely roomy, and we spent most of our time at anchor living in the cockpit. We could do that because almost all our cruising was in the tropics. If you haven't read our sailing logs, you can do so at: Yacht Watermelon with Jeanne and Peter Pockel cruising the tropics.

I should have unlimited internet access when we return to the US Sept. 2, so if you have questions that I can answer, please be patient. I LOVE to talk about our sailing and our boat.

Whatever your choice,
Fair winds,
Jeanne

[Dancaffy]

Hi JeanneP,
Thats great to read all your travel stories. It would all make a good book. Need to add some mystery, treasure and intrigue and it would be a best seller.
The plan is to live that same dream. I hope you arrived back in the US safely and looking forward to the next adventure.

Thanks also for all the advice re boat searching.

Dan

[haiqu]

Dan,

Another good place to look for yachts is http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/boats-marine/yachts-sail-boats

The kiwi boats always seem to have been better prepared than Aussie equivalents because they are allowed to live aboard in most places, and the costs are in NZD which is lower than AUD. I've seen some real bargains there.

The return journey is just across the Tasman, a fairly short hop in comparison.

Rob

[Auzzee]

I have just done a comparison of a boat style we are all familiar with. The Beneteau 393, year of manufacture 2002. All three boats have a similar history of private ownership and local sailing and appear in similar condition.

Australia $169,000.00
New Zealand $170,000.00
America $86,000.00

When I spent time looking for my new boat I looked worldwide over a six month period and I spent many hours every week dedicated to the task. European boats seemed very expensive and almost universally were poorly maintained (at least from an aesthetic viewpoint), It appeared used boats in the UK, western europe and in the Mediterranean were equipped with original gear which had never been updated. The exception was for former racing and charter boats which may well have been flogged.

There were some good boats in South Africa but the cost was similar to Australia and New Zealand. The difference between Australian and Kiwi boats was indistinguishable both in presentation and price. There were a few bargains in Asia, but those bargains were generally on 'project' type disasters.

Otherwise most boats available for sale in Asia were being sold after a Pacific or Indian ocean crossing and reflected generally higher than Australian prices. There are some bargains in the big boat range in Japan. Especially big Beneteaus which seemed to be about two thirds of the price of similar boats in Australia.

In every case the stand out bargains were in the US. The crashed economy and the need for people to decide between the luxury car/boat and the family home, flooded the market. Americans it seems like gadgets and like to keep their boats' gear updated frequently. There were some incredible bombs, but some exceptionally good boats at almost unbelievably low prices.

It is still a buyers market in the US, and boats routinely will be at Oceania prices, less 50%.