Advice on purchasing bluewater - see criterion

[nortonscove]

Just be patient and understand that there isn't any perfect boat. There really is no blue water boat if you ask three people. You will get very different answers.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by AlanT

I have different advice here. We lived and sailed halfway around the world and back on a very comfortable 49' boat with a queen bed in the bows and another in the stern. HOWEVER on a passage I never slept in our master cabin (in the stern). I was far more comfortable sleeping in the salon in the center of the boat, minimizing motion and convenient to help on deck if and as needed. So I believe that on a much smaller boat, as you are considering, this would be even more true. If I were on your boat for a passage I would do my utmost best to secure the leeward salon settee for my sleeping between watches. 90% of the time however you will not be sailing and the differences between sleeping in the forepeak and aft are minor once you sort out a quiet anchor rode arrangement. Good luck. And of course you can live on your budget. I have met cruisers around the med that lived on far less. It's all a question of what you consider essential. Check out "Matt Rutherford" online. We met him in the Canaries in 2009 where he was living on almost nothing although he made a little money for food selling weed. At that point he had sailed across the atlantic (W - E) on a 27' hurricane salvage boat that he got for almost free; he sailed this boat down the coast of W Africa and up innumerable rivers and after leaving us he went on to cross the Atlantic again before his current adventures which are covered quite well in the media. As to boats I would recommend a Cal if you can find one.

Actually I feel the same. Aft cabin double can be a bit uncomfortable under certain conditions and points of sail. Problem is, on a passage I like three on board so where do you put everyone?

Forepeak is untenable on some points of sail: windward settee as well. I've thought about throwing a cushion on the floor in the walk-through to the aft cabin. That might be the best place on the boat.

[AJ_n_Audrey]

Someone mentioned Pearson 424 - good idea if the price is right. More likely to fit your price range is Pearson 367 (cutter), or 365 in the sloop configuration (most 365's were ketches). The 367 draws 5.5 feet, and I've sailed mine all over the Bahamas, no problem. I second what's been said about sleeping in the salon.

[Peregrine1983]

These old Pearsons from the 367, 365, 424, 422 range are also all integrated ballast - meaning the keel lead is molded inside the hull as opposed to having keel bolts to worry about. Also, all skeg hung rudders AFAIK.

[hpeer]

You can also look at steel boats. You need to be careful in doing the prepurchase survey to make sure the hull has no issues. But you can buy more boat for that price.

Some are quite nice, some not so much. But hard to state a “make, model” as most are custom one way or another.

[Kd9truck]

I feel like you should hold on another couple of months your money will go further. I looked for 2 years before I settled on my “blue water” cruiser. Most vessels with the infer structure to do what you want at that price are sporting equipment that are no longer maintenance free and way past the warranty.
When I was looking (2016-18) I noticed a lot of well equipped vessels in the Caribbean side of the Panama Canal. It is not unheard of for cursers to put their vessels up for a couple of months and not make it back for one reason or another.
Good luck

[hpeer]

Here ya go, if you can’t find it here it doesn’t exist, in your price range.

https://www.yachtworld.com/boats-for...Material=steel

[AlanT]

Originally Posted by skipmac

Actually I feel the same. Aft cabin double can be a bit uncomfortable under certain conditions and points of sail. Problem is, on a passage I like three on board so where do you put everyone?

With three on board, only two need berths of course, so I would be in the salon on the leeward settee with a lee cloth, my wife liked to sleep in the aft cabin but crosswise rather than lying fore and aft. She would wedge herself in at the stern and be pretty secure. Although we had lee sheets in that cabin she preferred the aforementioned crosswise location. When we had 4 for both atlantic crossings the extra 2 crew would take the opposite salon settee and also the V berth, which was the least popular for all the obvious reasons.

[Clemroc]

Thank you all for your replies! With your experience into consideration, I will update my criterion.
Same budget for purchase/repairs, but let's assume that for now we *only* do the Caribbean (from Florida all the way to Panama).
We would be going from island to island and anchoring at night, so we shouldn't have many night-passages, if any. In the case that there is, of course, we would sleep in salon so as to be ready to assist the night-watch.

Updated criterion:
- 2 cabins + salon
- Draft no bigger than 6.5ft (~2m)
- preference for skeghung rudder
- preference for ketch-rig, but not a dealbreak
- preference for centre cockpit, but not a dealbreaker

Originally Posted by hpeer

You can also look at steel boats. You need to be careful in doing the prepurchase survey to make sure the hull has no issues. But you can buy more boat for that price.

I've never had or been on a steel boat, what are the pros/cons of them? I did see some interesting designs (Brewer 44 and Bruce Roberts you linked), and they have good prices - which make me wonder if they arent "too good to be true".

Originally Posted by Kd9truck

I feel like you should hold on another couple of months your money will go further. I noticed a lot of well equipped vessels in the Caribbean side of the Panama Canal.

Our goal is to purchase around September, which would give us Oct-Nov-Dec to do the repairs, and that way sail off after hurricane season. The vessels around Panama do sound interesting, I've seen some for sale near San Blas/Boca del Toro (beautiful places, by the way), but haven't seen much choice. On which website did you search?

Originally Posted by MJH

you two had better discuss what equipment you will need for your voyage and include that in your search criteria and budget. Placing more emphasis on actual sailing ability and operating condition rather than the esthetic appeal [...] will open up more boats

Thanks! We are definitely not looking for an "attractive" boat, as long as its in good conditions/safe. Ideally, it should be able to go through the Pacific once equipped for it (we don't want to have to switch boats after the Caribbean lol), but it doesn't need to have all the equipment from the get-go.
What would you consider absolutely essential?
My opinion on the equipment is: VHF+AIS, chartplotter (that also does gps+depth+knots), watermaker, batteries+inverter and solar panels. While wind instruments, auto-steering and all the other stuff look nice, we do not feel like they are an absolute necessity. We wont even take a dinghy, just a kayak with paddles.

Of course, we will have life-raft, EPRIBs and a Garmin InReach for security.

[YachtBroker]

Look around for a mid 70s to mid 80s Dufour 35. Ive sold a few. They were bullet proof for their age. If you can live with a 35’ they had two cabins and flush deck gave a lot of space inside.

[Kd9truck]

Our goal is to purchase around September, which would give us Oct-Nov-Dec to do the repairs, and that way sail off after hurricane season. The vessels around Panama do sound interesting, I've seen some for sale near San Blas/Boca del Toro (beautiful places, by the way), but haven't seen much choice. On which website did you search?

Sailboatlistings.com*...*a lot of the vessels listed are no longer available for one reason or another, at least at the time I looked. I used this site as a starting point, I found vessels at locations and then searched the locations. Lots of marinas have brokerages with small unmaintained unconnected web sites because selling used vessels is not part of their day to day operations.
Some are way out of the way. The owners found these marinas for storage (cost on the hard) efficiency ....beware of mold issues in these vessels in this climate. I would go in un-announced.

[Dooglas]

Originally Posted by Peregrine1983

Any boat you buy at that price point will probably need work to be safe and capable, but a Pearson 424 ketch is a good place to start IMHO.

Isn't the 422 the center cockpit Pearson in this size range?

[Don C L]

Originally Posted by Dooglas

Isn't the 422 the center cockpit Pearson in this size range?

Wow, can they be had for $35K now in good shape? If so that's encouraging! That would be a great find!

[conachair]

Originally Posted by Clemroc

Hello forums,

A friend and I are looking to buy a (used) bluewater sailboat. We intend to sail it through the Caribbean, and then through the Pacific Ocean.

Here are some of our criterion:
- 2 cabins + salon (so we can each have our own bedding)
- 5ft (1.5m) draft to have nice anchoring close to islands
- preference for skeghung rudder
- preference for ketch-rig, but not a dealbreak
- preference for centre cockpit, but not a dealbreaker

Budget is $50,000 USD for purchase and any repairs/extras.

Thanks in advance, looking forward to your feedback!

Clemroc

Masses of real world advice from a very experienced cruiser in here, and quite funny
https://www.amazon.com/Outfit-Sail-C.../dp/B00638SJII
Tricky decision though, you won't know what you want til you've been cruising for a few years... Good luck, as they say the best cruising boat is the one that actually gets you out cruising

[barnakiel]

Two cabins at 50k all works in, and capable of the Pacific?


A hard task possibly.


I would simply sleep in the salon and get a proper offshore boat for this job.


b.