Blue Water Cruiser?????

[Captaen]

Hi All,

I'm new here so please go easy on me
I am a large commercial ships Captain and have also been Master and Mate on large square rigged sailing ships over the years. I am now looking for a cruising yacht to take myself and my girlfriend from Ireland to Australia over the course of 18 months. My small boat sailing experience is limited, but increasing. I am on the lookout for a safe, comfortable and roomy cruising boat that we can take friends along on long or short legs. Speed is not an issue, stability and safety being my main concern, with some creature comforts.
Budget of £70,000 GBP or US$117,000
I would appreciate your suggestions on boats. Currently have in mind a Moody 41 and a Westerly Oceanlord 41.

Thanks in advance
Captaen

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Captaen.

[a64pilot]

Your looking for boat recommendations?
Why my boat is best, of course Understandably you will get a lot of that
You did say a magic word that likes to get people around here going, especially the owners of later model, high production number boats, "bluewater". Many will tell you there is no such thing, it's the crew that makes a boat bluewater capable, but I think you may have enough experience to know that all boats are not created equal.
Good luck with your search, mine wore me out.

[SV THIRD DAY]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Good luck with your search, mine wore me out.

You can use the search function and find lots of threads talking about this topic, becasue the forum gets the general question like yours at least once a month. So there is much already written about the Blue Water Boat topic.

[robert sailor]

Your first 2 choices seem quite appropriate and I assume you have looked at them as far as layout etc. Make sure you get a proper survey done before committing yourself. Because of the type of sailing you are planning do your best to find a boat that has recently been well equipped because outfitting an offshore boat can often be equal to what you paid for the boat.
I`m not sure about the Westerly but the Moody Owners Assoc has a very active group and can assist you in understanding the different Moody models. Just Google it.

[barnakiel]

Look towards designs like:

Rivals (esp 38), perhaps a 36 will do,
Victoria 34,
Rustler 36,

or perhaps something older offshore and Scandinavian or Dutch (HR, Malo, Contest, Victoire, etc.).

Get one in very good shape, you do not want to get entangled in a do-up project. You can easily get ready with a quality s/h boat within max 6 months.

b.

[JPA Cate]

Others to consider: Ovni, Halberg Rassey; Amel; Garcia; Waterline (CAnadian); Oyster, those are a few.

Other factors to consider: If there will be four of you on longer passages, most important is water tankage. In the hot places, between the tropics, a minimum daily usage is 2 litres per day per person. This means showering and dishwashing in salt water. Obviously, you need more tankage if you don't want to live that way. Or think about watermakers and water catchment.

Another factor, between the tropics. For adequate belowdecks airflow, you want a dorade per stateroom, and one or two for the saloon. Bring 12 v. fans with you to install along the way, one per stateroom, 2 for the saloon, placed to cover the whole area. Also, I personally like an opening port above the stove, and an opening hatch just fwd of the galley. Baking bread can be a warm business if you're Gt. Britain acclimatized.

IMO, four adults can manage with one head, if you all are cooperative, but an adequate stateroom for separation and sleeping on offwatches is important. That space you save by having one head can be used for a pantry for the most frequently needed food stores.

You will want to be south of the equator by June, thus escaping the start of the northern hemisphere hurricane season, and you will want to arrive in Australia before December--we had to shelter in mid October from a cyclone in New Caledonia one year.

You might want to consider a Galapagos stop.

However, the Marquesas, and onwards through the South Pacific, offer some beautiful cruising grounds, and very different from anywhere else in the world. Research beforehand into the settlement of the SP Ocean by the Polynesians will enrich your experiences while there.

Ann

[Captaen]

Thanks you all for the replies so far. The hunt started in earnest last weekend, sen a Rival 36, Catalina 38, Moody 35, Moody 41, Westerly Oceanlord 41, Westerly Ocean Ranger 38 and a Salar 40 and will look at more in the next two weeks, including a Moody 41 and 41, a Halberg Rassey 352 and 36 and another Salar.
The layout, size and feel of the Moody 41 took both our fancy so far.
We will certainly get a survey and haul out before closing, I am happy to do the cosmetic work and minor repairs of a boat needing TLC but not planning on buying a doer upper just yet, (Maybe when we get back!!

Ann, thanks for that advice, Galapagos is certainly on our passage plan, I was there 1 years ago and it is the most magical place on the planet I reckon! I was lucky enough to do this trip on a 42 meter sailing ship about 10 years ago, but this DIY trip is a little more daunting!!

Looking forward to the continued advice!

Captaen

[Captaen]

Just went to see a Dudley Dix 38, almost ready to go. What do you think??

[TeTaniwha]

I can't tell you much about the Dix38 (I presume you're talking about a steel one?)

I'm building the Plywood Didi40cr, which is a cruising version of Dudley's South Atlantic ocean racer. Fast and capable but perhaps requiring higher crew work.

The steel 38, built properly, is a great cruising boat, I'm led to believe. You could do a lot worse. look a lot nicer and sail much faster than a lot of steel boats.

[kiwish2003]

Hi mate I have heard lots about the American C & C 40s a friend of mine picked his up for $25us n spent about the same again on it that was three years ago and he sailed around the pacific for 21/2 years. Another option is to go to St Martin or somewhere similar you can pick up ex charter boats there. I am at the moment fixing up a willetts 36 designed somewea in the 50s steel cruiser


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