Where to start?

[mohave_steve]

Thank you all for helping me resurect my 30 year dream of cruising. I think we have come up with the beginnings of a plan that will let us pursue our dream.

We have worked out a plan that will have all debt including mortgage retired in 3-4 years and enough rescources to buy a modest cruising boat and still have enough money to eat.

As my past sailing experience has been limited to coastal and inland sailing and mostly day sails I am looking for a beginning point that makes sense as far as being "novice friendly". We live an hour or less from marinas on both the Columbia and Snake rivers. From either one we could make for the Columbia Bar and be on the Pacific in a week or so and hop down the coast to Mexico & beyond. Sounds convenient but I am not so sure that it makes sense given our experience level. An alternative may be to buy a boat in Florida and start there. A little time hopping around Florida and then head for the Bahamas, T & C, Grenadines and so on.

Florida sure seems to me to be a "milder" jumping off point but starting on the Snake would give me the option of starting with short river trips and access to my workshop and all of my tools to make preping the boat easier. Florida also has a broader selection of used boats available and more competitive pricing.

I am sure there are a multitude of other options that I have not considered yet.

What do you all think?

Thanks

Steve