2 Would Be Cruisers - Not 1

[sv_makai]

Agreed, as I mentioned about the most important thing you can do is learn, learn, learn. When reading about cruising multi make sure that the books are of recent printing. Many of the older crusing cat books are out of date. while some things never change design and construction does. Cats made some big revolutionary changes in both design and constuction that some of the older books don't reflect.

Many of the older cats are very sea worthy, but if you want to go to windward, they are not the best. The need to understand the type of crusiing you will do will help in making the best choice. If it is all downwind, then who cares if the boat doesn't point. If it has a large portion of upwind then you willhate a boat that doesn't go to weather. It is important to understand so right selection is made.

A lot of money can be wasted if the incorrect choice is made. Just take the time to get the right boat.

The go sailing and have fun!

[Sunspot Baby]

Read the book "Sailing Promise." It is about a young couple who circumnavigate on a 34' Prout Cat. They put their careers on hold to do it. They seem similar to you in many ways.

Sunspot Baby
www.stateham.com/sunspotbaby

[ssullivan]

Ok... granted my wife is the coolest chick out there, but there will be a lot of similarities.

Mine needs to have some of the comforts of home too. It's very important to her to have showers, have room to exercise, a good berth (call it a bed) to sleep in, and a good galley.

In looking for the boat, you should find out what she wants and just get it. You can both discuss the pros an cons as well as expenses of each "luxury" (or necessity, is it is), and decide together which items are with the trouble and will fit your budget.

Also, have your wife talk to other women who are currently living aboard. It will help her a lot to have a female to be able to ask certain questions. Less of the man's perspective.

Either way, you are only just beginning the purchasing process, which is a "circumnavigation" of sorts in itself... it's long, filled with ups and downs, and you aren't sure if you are getting anywhere! Just work through the process together. As you go aboard different boats, find out what she likes and doesn't like... then narrow it down based on that.

It should be 50%/50. I mean honestly, I would have lived on an old wooden chris craft dockside and never ventured out to sea if that's what my wife wanted. Sure I'd have had to give up some dreams, but I'd still be living on a boat. Luckily, we arrived at a great compromise live aboard for both of us. Roomy, has the comforts of home, and can do some decent blue water for a reasonable amount of money.

Best of luck... just remember to keep her 50% involved.

PS: Sometimes a woman will feel less like a woman living on the boat (too manly). It might be necessary to remind her that she still can be feminine..... she can still dress up and go out, still be "clean", still go out shopping, etc... etc.. This is a very important part once you are actually aboard. To envision what she might feel, imagine yourself shopping for tampons all day or something.... kind of imasculating. You might crave a more manly activity after too much of it. This is the way the wife can feel from too much boat work.

Bill, first let me say, I have followed almost exactly the plan you have. I have had some obsticles come up along the way, but believe the plan is sound. My wife, like yours, is less enthusiastic about this journey, then I am. In order to keep her involved, I have changed boats to allow more room for her to feel comfortable. Unfortunatley, the bigger boat made her uncomfortable underway . She has never been comfortable when the boat is heeled.
Now, to digress a bit, my idea of a cruising boat is small, wood, and rail down. (see my photos)
A deal recently came along on a trimaran. we purchased it, and are in process of a complete refit. The idea is to do some coastal cruising with it, while were are still working, and see if we like the way it sails. At that point, we will decide if we will cruise on a multihull, of a mono. A cat does have substantially more living space, and sails more level then a tri, but for our purpose, the tri is ideal. We both prefer a bit less interior space, and more deck. We also both do not mind some heel, and as we are both accomplished boat wrights, refitting, and setting this vessel to suit our needs is not an issue.
As for the financial issue, I have addressed similar concerns in a thread "boat based business". I have received severl very good ideas in that thread.
So often, our spouses will not tell us honestly how much something bothers them, or how uncomfortable they are. I tend to watch what my wife does on her own. Does she want to go sailing when we are not together? Does she gravitate towards marinas, and yacht clubs when we travel? At boat shows, what boats does she talk about afterwards, and what were it's design features. In doing this, we have made some changes, but after 6 years of living aboard, and coastal cruising, she is still enthusiastic about taking off.

[Bill Balme]

We went boat hunting this weekend - saw 3 boats. Fell in love with the third one - a Pacific Seacraft 37.

All the help here on multihull vs. mono was really tremendous - but in the end I think I had to move away from a multi because of cost.
There's a real need in our twosome to maintain a good deal of equity that we have built in a house - to keep it in a house. She really wants to feel that there's a place on land that she can always call home. Gotta respect that.
We're both working - and intend to until setting off - so a major restoration on a cheaper multi isn't doable.
I learned this weekend that it's not so much the leaning that bothers her, it's the leaning while she's at the helm which bothers her most. I figure that while she's on watch, we can reduce that with reducing sail area and trim... reasonable?

Now, if I can just secure that PS37 for a decent price....

[ssullivan]

Congrats, Bill! Sounds like you are getting very close to purchase.

If your wife is nervous of heeling while she is at the helm, just get her more used to it.

Sit right there with her and show her how to steer more upwind if the heel of the boat becomes uncomfortable for her. She'll probably be happy to be more in control, and won't be bummed out with reefed sails when the wind slows down.

Bill Balme once whispered in the wind:

I learned this weekend that it's not so much the leaning that bothers her, it's the leaning while she's at the helm which bothers her most.

[Talbot]

While it is true that the newest designs of cat will go much better to windward than older designs, the same is true of a lot of monohulls, especially those designs that are better as long term liveaboards (e.g long keelers etc). This has not stopped a lot of these from being well proven ocean crossing comfortable liveaboards. At one time when I checked in the 90s there were 9 Prout Snowgooses carrying out a circumnavigation. It is a proven design which is likely to be available in your price range. You might find a few Fontaine Pajot designs, but they are likely to be ex charter boats and have poor internal layout for a cruising boat (lots of bunks - no stowage) and also be very tired. Alternatively you could build your own (Woods Eclipse is worth looking at - the designer is sailing his own around the world at the moment)

[Bill Balme]

I've just returned to this forum after several years - boy there's lots (too much?) of activity on this board!

Came across this old thread of mine - thought it might be interesting to update...

To summarize: At the time of the initial posting we were in our first year of sailing - on a 30ft S2. Had a plan to do a 2 year trip to Europe in a bigger boat of some description. At the end of the thread, it looks like we were just about to buy our dream cruising boat - a Pacific Seacraft 37...

We did indeed by the Crealock and for 5 years had an absolute blast in her. Sailed to Maine, to Bermuda, to Maine again and lots of coastal stuff. We both quit our jobs as planned in 2007 for the Europe trip, having a deal on the house all worked out. A week after, the buyer's wife fell ill, they backed out and 2 weeks later the housing market fell off a precipice! Fortunately, both in good standing with our respective bosses, we were able to rescind our resignations and continue on the treadmill.

Current Situation:
Having gained more experience over the ensuing years from 2007, we decided that we didn't need the 2 year trip - lets make a plan for a circumnavigation - and so we come back to the original premise of this thread... How to keep the princess happy while trailing around the world. More importantly, our new plan called for living aboard while still working - and even the bigger Crealock was tight quarters indeed for two working stiffs that need to dress up for work... We went in search of a bigger boat - and took our time finding just exactly what we wanted - emphasis on the WE.

We were off the Cataraman idea completely - sorry folks - and in April we took possession of a 2007 Outbound 44. A much bigger boat than the Crealock in every sense and with systems galore. (And talk about blowing the budget!) Lying in Florida, we had an interesting first sail in her - from Florida to Rhode Island on the outside - 900NM taking just 6 days to complete.

We still own our house - but there'll be a deal for someone this Spring - we are committed to getting free of that particular anchor. We'll live aboard and continue to work for another year, then plan to set sail in June 2013 for the Azores and then Northern Europe.

The dream is not yet realized, but the plan has matured and stabilized. We are a lot more competent and knowledgeable than we were back when I started this thread and we are both 100% committed to the project. The Princess is delighted with the new boat and has not had to compromise on anything. It has room, it has water, it has a great layout and I can keep all my clutter to myself and out of her way in the garage area.

[GordMay]

Welcome back Bill, and congratulations on your new boat.
The Outbound is an excellent boat!