MY 1st post and some Questions!

[Captain_Nick]

Thanks all for the input and info. Budget can grow (already have the $10k, and banking more every day), however, I would hate to find myself in love with the life, penniless at the end of the 1st year and have to give it up, or conversely drop a significant amount of money and find that it is just not for me. One of the main goals was to have a limit in terms of time and money, then after that re-evaluate. I am not worried about doing repairs myself as I am handy (on land for what that's worth) and it would be our home for a time.

Hopefully we will be headed to Annapolis to spend some time with my aunt/uncle in law on their sailboat this summer to get the feel for it.

We are also thinking about building a sailing dinghy to hit the lake here for the year before setting off? Would this be a useful exercise? Thoughts on folding/stow-able dinghys? Would it actually remain usefull once we have the "big" boat" or will we be replacing it with something sturdier at that point anyways?

Thanks again to everyone who has commented.

In the meantime book recommendations? one i have seen listed repeatedly is "This Old Boat"....

[David_Old_Jersey]

I think building a sailing dink and using it would be TWO useful exercises. One will teach you a lot about boats, mainly that there are no 5 min jobs (actually there are lots of them - they just take a lot more than 5 mins. each!......useful knowledge to understand inherently in the boat market you will later be fishing in)......the other will teach you a lot about sailing and being a Skipper (and crew!).....will also get you an entry into the local sailing scene / crowd, at lot easy and more likely to get help and time when you are "in the club" - and that includes crewing on other boats and / or simply the chance for a guided tour (if you are a year out from buying the more boats you can see the better, the more knowledge you get the more you will save when buying - and the less chance of buying a nice looking wreck!).

Whether the dink will be suitable for the "big" boat probably depends as much on you later (and the boat), some swear by hard dinks others by inflatables - each have own challenges for storing aboard.......but IMO a foldable or stowing dink would be a great idea to have onboard (building a stowing sailing dink is on my wishlist, somewhere!).

But just to say that likely that buying a s/h sailing dink will work out cheaper than building - albeit likely to hard (impossible?!) to get as/h stowing / stacking one in your locale (or anywhere!) - when you want one.

[laika]

http://atomvoyages.com/planning/good...oats-list.html

The guy, James Baldwin, has cruised extensively in his pearson triton 28 for a couple decades now. He has a refreshingly spartan philosophy and offers a lot of practical advise on what to look for in a small boat. He lists 70 or so boats under 32' that are suitable for long-term cruising. Not exhaustive, but a good resource.

[Captain_Nick]

Thanks Laika. I ran across that a while ago but did not bookmark. Now i did! Thx