Best boat for cruising the Caribbean?

[gulfcoastsailor]

This list of replies usually included sailors "dream boat" or "next boat".

Mine's no different. Freedom Yachts 45 CC. Listings today from high 90's to mid 150's with varying levels of options. Note that buying today for a cruise period five years out, there are a number of unknowns... mainly electronics. They seem to evolve annually anymore, so I would not make today's boat selection based on today's products.

[Cadence]

By a boat out there to weekend. When your ready buy a boat on the east coast. They are cheaper.

[buzzstar]

Available/popular boats, desires/needs, plans, and particularly costs can and do typically change substantially over five years. Keep an open mind etc. until you can really commit.

[Mithril Bham]

Best boat in the Caribbean is most likely a cat but not easy to find within your budget. Look at purchasing from The Moorings or Sunsail in the Caribbean (I know, I can hear the protests already). If you could find a 36' cat it would serve you well in that area and this is from someone who always has and always will own monohulls.

[nightowle]

Check out the Bavaria CC 36 and 38. Well equipped, sail well, sturdy with nice lines and good fit and finish. The center cockpit models were produced in smaller quantity, though.

[razermouse]

fwiw,

I would buy a reasonably sized boat that you can captain and learn on now. Find something that is local, reasonably priced, and sails well. That way, with experience, you'll learn what you like and what you want in a boat when the time comes.

We own a 28' Capital Yachts Newport but I was originally wanting something with a full keel. Four years later, I couldn't be happier with the Newport these days and it's been an awesome learning experience. I have a much better idea of what to look for when we buy our next, larger boat. I don't know your experience level but if you aren't an experienced sailor, you might be surprised - they're more work than a lot of people expect. The idea is romantic but they require a lot of maintenance and up keep.

That being said based on your requirements - I'd suggest looking at a 41' Morgan center cockpit. There's one here in the Kemah area for sale for $43,000 which if you found something similar would give you plenty of money to invest in safety, comfort, maintenance and leave money left over to put back in the cruising kitty. The Amel Super Maramu is an amazing cruising boat but it's way outside of your budget.

[Stu Jackson]

Literally everything ever written about sailing/cruising says that 80% or more of your time is spent in the cockpit at anchor.


While there are devotees of CC with good reasons, it has always appeared to me that CCs have critical drawbacks for cockpit space and overall access, and no walk through transoms.


Perhaps some CC owners would comment on their experiences.



You should consider your wish-list carefully for costs as well as what you now think of as "necessities."


Good luck.

[billknny]

Originally Posted by Stu Jackson

While there are devotees of CC with good reasons, it has always appeared to me that CCs have critical drawbacks for cockpit space and overall access, and no walk through transoms.

Perhaps some CC owners would comment on their experiences.

Center Cockpit comments:

I am a fan of CC boats--but only once the boat gets to a certain size. The marketing departments at builders like Bendy-toy have demanded that any passageway from forward to aft cabin MUST have standing headroom and most mass market builders have gone this route. IMHO, that's makes a dog's breakfast of any boat less than 50 feet, maybe even 55. The cockpit and decks just end up way too high, it's ugly, and turns the boat into something more of a slab-sided barge than a graceful sailing machine. You might feel differently.

If you compromise, and require the crew to duck their heads through the passage, an excellent result can be had in boats down to 40 feet or so. Although it takes good and clever design as the boat gets smaller.

My center cockpit boat is 53 feet, and I have to duck through the passageway--and am happy to do so.

My boat has a reverse transom and broad, molded-in steps down to the water, not at all sure what I am missing... If I had an aft cockpit boat I'd not want a "walk thru" transom. That seems an especially silly requirement for a CC boat, after all where do you think you are walking through FROM???

I also have no clue what Stu means when he worries about "access" in a CC design. Access to WHAT--exactly? This might be an issue for an individual boat's design, but I can't think of anything that would have intrinsically impaired access as a result of EITHER an aft or center cockpit design brief.

As for space, in aft cockpit boats a huge cockpit has always been considered a significant safety vulnerability for an ocean crossing boat, and rightly so. I would not consider an aft cockpit boat with a large cockpit for the kind of ocean crossings I do. Of course for boats that spend all their time coastwise, or at dock and anchor, that's not an issue.

Our cockpit can easily sit 5 for dinner, or sleep two AND host the watchstander as well. I would want nothing bigger. We have a good hard windscreen, and a foldable dodger. In 20,000 of sailing we have put on foulies exactly once. So it is comfortable, dry--and right where I want to be.

[NorthPacific]

H iIf you can get your shopping list for 125 get one for me as well.

Dont forget that Aircon means marinas which mean costs increase. Also unless you have a need to sail down a boring and expensive piece of coast buy your boat in Mexico or beyond. Get a much bigger bang for your dollar and with much more of your shopping list included.

[valhalla360]

What's the annual budget for slips, insurance, repairs & maintenance.

Even if you find a great 50' boat for $125k, I can see you really struggling to afford care and feeding of said boat.

At the lower end, you might find a viable boat (not with everything you listed in good shape).

As someone mentioned a 35ish foot cat can be a good option and there are a lot of older ones around that would be in your price range but again, they may not have your full list and be in perfect condition.

[Panama Red]

It is all one big compromise. I could live wtih:

Kelly Peterson 44/46
Passport 44/40 (not a CC)
Amel Marmu/Sharki (Ketch)
Hylas 44/47/46
Stevens 40/47

In my opinion all above are capable Water boats">blue water boats.

I really like the Hylas/Stevens layouts below deck. Large center Aft Cabin, 2 heads, I like the galley and very good access to the engine/generator.

BTW in my Hylas 44 you can walk fore to aft in the two passageways without ducking. Cockpit is small, but it provides more protection, and less room for entertaining. I often see 7+ kts COG, a few times 8+ kts, avg 6+ kts.

The boat condition you want may not be on the market right now. I was looking for over 8 years before I found the boat I liked in the condition I could live with. I do have a generator and have never used it. NO A/C or heat pump.

Aft head had been removed, I have a replacement, but I am debating why do I need it? Head maintenance is significant, pump out, seal replacement, smell, winterization, water lines, waste lines, etc.

Keep in mind one sailor told me: "all boats are broken all the time." Pretty much my experience, broken does not mean un-seaworthy, just that something, somewhere is not working or needs to replaced/repaired.

In my neighborhood, Cheasapeake Bay, I met a blue water sailor on a Beneteau 45 and I asked on a hot summer day about A/C, he told me never had it, never will. On that day I was also on different boat with A/C and I could not tell it was on.

I find electronics are one big PIA, hard to figure out how they are wired, how they work, how to fix them, etc. Stick with one brand to insure compatibility. When you get electronics to talk to each other that is a great day! FYI my VHF radio has a 50 page instruction manual and the radio will do just about everything you need electronics to do: it talks to the GPS, AIS, Chartplotter, it even has its own AIS screen, hailer, weather channels and I can even use it on Channel 16, but it does not make coffee.

And I bought my boat in your price range.

[Peregrine1983]

We're partial to these, but here's a pretty sweet ride. With your budget you could get the rig fully checked out and then upgraded if needed. I would obviously get the rig inspected before heading offshore. These boats were built extremely well.

And you could leave from Alabama which would save you some time.

Beautiful Pearson 424 - $84k - Generator, AC, upgrades, newer yanmar, barrier coat

https://www.yachtworld.com/boats/198...g#.Wy0lG4JG0UE

[razermouse]

Oh, and just because it isn't broken now doesn't mean it won't break later! I had the exhaust break and let loose at the manifold after having owned the boat for about 3-ish years.

Part of the reason why it happened was because I went on an extended trip where I motored for many hours over the 20-30 minutes that I usually ran the motor when we went out for our short sailing excursions. The other is likely that it was the original exhaust pipe from 1988 and over 29 years had corroded.

If you buy a smaller boat with an outboard (even 25-28 foot boats have them), you obviously wouldn't have that problem but realize that 9 or 10 horsepower isn't that much. When we have a head wind, we don't make much headway and we have a 14 horsepower inboard diesel.

The marine environment is very harsh - as someone else mentioned, you really need to consider your ability to affect repairs and maintenance yourself or will you hire someone else to do it all.

Slips fees are a consideration as well. We pay $300 a month for our slip. I understand a mooring is significantly less expensive but now you need a tender.

I do agree, a lot of center cockpit boats (and of course larger boats) have more freeboard. We don't have a walk-through transom. We board our boat (usually) from the port side.

[SV Sailfish]

Originally Posted by H8s2Land

I'm not in a big hurry because I need to continue working for at least 5 more years. Thanks in advance. Bill

Welcome and hold onto that dream. 5 years in today's fast paced, ever changing world is a very, very long time.

So... work, save, work, save, work, save. (then repeat)

When you are cash heavy, there will literally be thousands of boats out there just begging for your hard earned dollars. Thousands. You will be the king of all you survey. (then just learn to negotiate like Rick on Pawn Stars, the US TV show)

[GPatron]

I lived and sailed in the Caribbean for 30 years and I think the boat that meets your requirements is the Gulfstar/CSY50.

The design concept was initiated by CSY charters who felt that most boats did not meet the needs of warm water sailers. (i.e. sleep 6 but only 4 fit in cockpit).

The CSY 37,41,44 and 50's all have huge cockpits, lots of shade and ventilation and carry ample storage for water.
When I moved from Puerto Rico to Miami I brought my CSY 50 with me but lost it in Hurricane Irma.

There are usually 2 or 3 for sale. See:

https://www.yachtworld.com/boats/198...s#.WzDvPS2ZPq0

You can learn more about buying and learning to sail in the Caribbean by reading my book: The Accidental Captain -available at Amazon