Another Question on Which Boat . . .

[alanvdh]

Hello All,
My wife and I plan to go extensive cruising (including ocean passages) within the next three years. I have little experience except for some sailing in the med, crewing on 3 occasions from Durban to Cape Town and some local sailing here in Durban South Africa. I have worked offshore as a commercial diver for 12 years. As you can imagine, I have flogged google to death getting info on various designs. Our budget for the initial purchase is between $50.000 and 65.000. I am quite enamored with the Lavranos Holiday 34 and the Farr 38. We're pretty much "budget" conscious and don't care too much about micro waves etc. Please let me know what you think about these designs. From what I understand, both have circumnavigated.
Thanks in advance.
Alan

[alanvdh]

Hello All,
I have received no comments on my post but I just want to let you know that I will be incommunicado for the next 10 days or so.
Cheers,
Alan

[bewitched]

I spent about 8 weeks sailing an L34 in the Capetown / Atlantic Coast area a couple of years back.

It's a great boat - strong, well thought out, responsive. I really liked it a lot.

Most Farrs I don't like - but it's just a personal 'I don't like the look of them' thing

[alanvdh]

Hello Everyone, I'm back from Richards Bay where I'm helping a friend redo the plumbing on a 50 foot cat. What a nightmare! I have however learned a lot about sailboat plumbing and for that it was certainly worth it. Not finished though. Another week to go. Working on a cat has convinced me even more that a monohull is the way to go.
Cheers,
Alan

[David_Old_Jersey]

And that less heads = less plumbing?

Dunno the boats you are talking about, but welcome to CF anyway

Time spent googling, asking and thinking before writing the cheque has the potential to save a lot of money - especially if the words "slight TLC" are involved . and it's fun