Absolute Newbie - Where to Start ?

[Reba]

Thanks for all the advice. As for the mooring/slip rental/trailer issue, we've looked into this one a bit. There are some moorings but they seem to be a bit sketchy for year-round use and it's not easy to find out how you can actually legally use one. There are some slips for sale right now in the Santa Barbara Harbor, with and without boats. It looks to be about $40K for a 30-38 ft slip and then slip fee rentals, etc. Fortunately, the market seems decently strong for the slips so we should be able to sell it in a few years when we sail off. Ventura is a good alternative but our whole motivation for moving to SB is to be super close to the boat, unlike our set-up in NC where the 3 hour drive stands between us and our sunset cruise.

Trailering is something we haven't considered but are going to look into now. We have an old 1985 Toyota pick-up that may be able to do the job for us. The problem is where to park the boat in a town like SB.

We have done a couple of charter trips in the San Juans and BVIs and look forward to doing another before our income takes a nose dive. We've also considered joining the local sailing club and using their boats for awhile but again, it's a lot of money.

[gr8trn]

If forgot your original question... Oh ya, Where to start?
Trailerable week end cruiser, Search for trailerable sail boats and give it some thought. Seaward 25? So much cheaper to dry store and launch when needed. Keep saving $ over the next couple years and start shopping for the cast off boat all at the same time. It takes some folks 6 months to several years to find the right boat and the right price for their wants/needs.
What a great plan and new adventure you are on to, best of luck to ya!
Greg

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha Reba,
My 4 cylinder Toyota with tow package will pull 3500 lbs easily and do much more than that when needed. I"ve towed a 26 foot International Folkboat at nearly 5000 lbs over some hills. I'm certain there are dry storage yards there in Santa Barbara.
I remember anchoring off Santa Barbara in a Navy Cruiser in the mid to late 80s and really enjoyed walking the town and stopping at a couple bars on the North end.
kind regards,

[speedoo]

Originally Posted by Reba

Thanks for all the advice. As for the mooring/slip rental/trailer issue, we've looked into this one a bit. There are some moorings but they seem to be a bit sketchy for year-round use and it's not easy to find out how you can actually legally use one. There are some slips for sale right now in the Santa Barbara Harbor, with and without boats. It looks to be about $40K for a 30-38 ft slip and then slip fee rentals, etc. Fortunately, the market seems decently strong for the slips so we should be able to sell it in a few years when we sail off. Ventura is a good alternative but our whole motivation for moving to SB is to be super close to the boat, unlike our set-up in NC where the 3 hour drive stands between us and our sunset cruise.

Trailering is something we haven't considered but are going to look into now. We have an old 1985 Toyota pick-up that may be able to do the job for us. The problem is where to park the boat in a town like SB.

We have done a couple of charter trips in the San Juans and BVIs and look forward to doing another before our income takes a nose dive. We've also considered joining the local sailing club and using their boats for awhile but again, it's a lot of money.

With your income about to take a nose dive, I have to STRONGLY recommend that you stay away from anything more than a trailerable boat while you are in California. Every thousand dollars you spend on maintaining and storing your boat while in California will be a thousand dollars less that you can spend on your next boat.

You don't have to take my word on that last point, do the research and you will agree.

Boats to consider now that can meet your stated needs: Catalina 22, Catalina 25, Balboa 26... these are the best trailerables that I know of. But I am sure there are others. If you can settle for just day sailing, a Hobie 16 or larger would be a blast for you.

Obviously going the trailerable route will require that you find a place for out of water storage (try a craigslist ad to see if someone has a backyard that would be inexpensive) and some place where the boat can be launched and recovered (public ramp, inexpensive marina or club with a hoist that will handle the boat). It's a lot of hassle yes, but I have to believe it will be far less expensive than any kind of year round slip or mooring.

Plus, if you have the right kind of towing vehicle you can trailer the boat to lots of other great sailing areas.

[osirissail]

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

Are there no moorings in Southern California?

The topography of the US West Coast is very different from the US east coast and even more so than the Gulf of Mexico. There are very few natural harbors and instead there are many man-made harbors packed with marinas.
- - Wave and currents are quite different with southward flows of cold water versus northward flow of Gulf Stream. Waves and large swells are normal and wind patterns are totally different. What California/west coast sailor consider an average day would terrify some east coasters.
- - Natural harbors that could or do have room for moorings are lined with very expensive homes/condos/townhouses and the localities do not like live-aboards anchored or moored off their mega million dollar properties. So mooring that do exist are few and always in danger of being hassled. That leaves marinas in their man-made harbors. Waiting lists for slips are long and the best way to get one quickly is to buy one from a boater who has lost interest or cannot afford the costs. That usually involves having to also buy their boat which they also do not want anymore.
- - - - -
The idea of a trailer sailboat in southern California has an additional big plus in that you can take the boat to Baja (Gulf of California) and also some of the large lakes including the Grand Canyon. Nothing like that exists on the east coast.

[TaoJones]

osirissail has provided a very accurate picture of West Coast yachting. I think, though, that he means you can trailer your boat to a lake above the Grand Canyon (Lake Powell), or below the Grand Canyon (Lakes Mead, Mohave, Havasu), but not the actual Grand Canyon itself.

Below Hoover Dam, the Colorado River and its lakes are primarily used by college kids (and older adults who still act like college kids) who drink too much and race around in high-horsepower little speedboats. Trying to mix in with your Balboa 26, or similar, will be . . . challenging.

TaoJones

[eyschulman]

We come back to the folding trimarans-light easy to trailer-very good sailors-very seaworthy if conservativly sailed-fair resale value-down side you cannot overload with junk-keep it simple(maybe that is not a downside)

[chuckr]

Rebecca - i am going to disagree with a lot of folks here - get the ultimate boat and learn how to sail it and leave when you are ready - first a boat never appreciates in value it depreciates and get rid of one now is a real problem which for a boat buyer is a good thing as your ultimate boat may be available at a reasonable price now
second - go small and watch what your kids do - do they really want to be cramped up in a tiny boat with the promise of a big boat later?
i can only tell you what we did
and we are full time cruisers - no house car ect and just did 6 months in the bahamas and headed to mexico and points south this fall after a couple of upgrades -- make sure the broker is an excruiser and find out where he cruised - not just a make believe
first we hunted and hunted hard for a broker we trusted - he is still a friend and we even called him today on to get his advice on an upgrade we are making
second do not rush on getting a boat
third list out on paper what the final boat will look like - size, solar, engine, and boat stuff you want and share it with the broker - he will if he is good agree with some and disagree with others from his experience as a cruiser
fourth take your time and don't let the broker rush you
fifth when you find it - the ultimate boat - get it - it will take a while for you to make it yours and your kids their space
sixth sail it as much as possible - you really have to learn the boat as they are like women - they each like certain things to make them happy and it takes time to find out what that is
seventh -there is not a perfect boat so when you find the boat and sail it a lot you will find out what you want to change in it and make the changes before you take off - it is too late to find you need more x,y,or z when you are several hundred miles out of the usa and can not get it
what we did
we found a great broker in westbrook ct, ted novakowski, and he worked with us for 18 months before we found the right boat, - oh yea i did a lot of reading on cruising boats and had a 2 page list of stuff i wanted - we bought a new jeanneau ds40 and took it to miami where we lived and leaned to sail her, in 2008 i took off single handed and sailed from miami to mass and back - when i got back the admiral decided i was having to much fun so we sold the house and got rid of the stuff and set sail for the bahamas then to maine and back to miami then did 6 months in the bahamas and back to the usa for upgrades, a additional fuel tank, water maker and a third solar panel - before we head south to mexico and down the central american coast next fall and winter to ????
just my thoughts on what worked for us

chuck patty and svsoulmates
on the hook deltaville va for upgrades

[Reba]

Hello again!

Well, we're in Santa Barbara and have gotten some of the "scoop" on slips in the harbor. And the scoop isn't so great.

For a 25' slip, you pay around $25,000 but can sometimes get one cheaper from a desperate seller. For 35', you're looking at around $100,000. Yikes. That, of course, only buys you the permit. Transfer fees run about $240/ft so that the city can get in on the action.

It looks then, like a whole lotta money to keep a Catalina 30' there. We've also looked into trailering and have run into a couple of problems. First, we'd need a buy another truck. Second, the facilities for launching aren't so spectacular.

While we get more details on all these logistics, we've also started to ponder the possibility of moving to Santa Barbara and living aboard. This seems crazy to me for many reasons but also is starting to seem like not such a bad idea for financial reasons. Plus, I'll be able to convince my family to sail off to warmer climates pretty easily if we're already set on the boat!

I'm trolling the "Cruising with Children" forum but if anyone wants to offer this Newbie family advice on a nice liveaboard that can fit into a 35' slip (up to 37' ft from tippy tippy bow to tippy tippy stern), let us know! And if there is the perfect boat that's a bit bigger (to fit in a 40'), we'd be happy to hear about it.

Thanks! This forum is such a great resource!
Rebecca

[osirissail]

Reba,
Before you buy a boat make absolutely sure you have a space in a marina that ALLOWS live-aboards. And what is the extra monthly or whatever fees for a live-aboard. There are some marinas that do not allow live-aboards and others that do but the monthly charges equal what an apartment would rent for.

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by osirissail

The idea of a trailer sailboat in southern California has an additional big plus in that you can take the boat to Baja (Gulf of California) and also some of the large lakes including the Grand Canyon. Nothing like that exists on the east coast.

Excuse me? Are you forgetting Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, Lake Champlain and Lake Winnepesaukee (just to name four)? And I haven't even touched Maine, where there are plenty of large lakes, e.g. Moosehead.

My advice on the boat buying would be to buy nothing right now. Join a sailing center and learn on their boats. I bet some of these clubs do weekend cruises, too.

Then, when you are ready to take off, look for a sensible 35 footer like a Wauquiez Pretorian and just go.

[JRM]

Originally Posted by Reba

Hello again!

Well, we're in Santa Barbara and have gotten some of the "scoop" on slips in the harbor. And the scoop isn't so great.

For a 25' slip, you pay around $25,000 but can sometimes get one cheaper from a desperate seller. For 35', you're looking at around $100,000. Yikes. That, of course, only buys you the permit. Transfer fees run about $240/ft so that the city can get in on the action.

It looks then, like a whole lotta money to keep a Catalina 30' there. We've also looked into trailering and have run into a couple of problems. First, we'd need a buy another truck. Second, the facilities for launching aren't so spectacular.

While we get more details on all these logistics, we've also started to ponder the possibility of moving to Santa Barbara and living aboard. This seems crazy to me for many reasons but also is starting to seem like not such a bad idea for financial reasons. Plus, I'll be able to convince my family to sail off to warmer climates pretty easily if we're already set on the boat!

I'm trolling the "Cruising with Children" forum but if anyone wants to offer this Newbie family advice on a nice liveaboard that can fit into a 35' slip (up to 37' ft from tippy tippy bow to tippy tippy stern), let us know! And if there is the perfect boat that's a bit bigger (to fit in a 40'), we'd be happy to hear about it.

Thanks! This forum is such a great resource!
Rebecca

I am a bit further along in the process than you, but still at the beginning myself. We currently own a Catalina 30 that is slipped in Marina 1, and yes, the slip cost about twice the boat. And, just to rub salt in the wound, the county assesses property taxes on the slips (that we don't own in any way), and they've decided our 30' slip is worth $65,000 (because that's what they were going for a couple of years ago).

My wife and I just returned from 3 days out at SCI yesterday. Although we bought in November of last year, I drove and looked at just about every Cat 30 for sale from Santa Barbara to San Diego. I chose the Cat 30 as our starter boat for a variety of reasons, among them the *amazing* owners list over at Yahoo. It's not the boat I want ultimately for cruising, but I'm not ready for cruising either, and the Catalina allows us to get out short term now.

I'm in the harbor quite a bit, usually during the days I'm off work (I do shift work, 24 hours at a time). Drop me a PM and I'll give you my email address, if you'd like to set up a time to chat. Having just been through a very similar scenario, I think I can probably save you some of the headaches we experienced.

JRM