New from Oz

[Rod Cawthorne]

G'day, I'm new as of an hour ago. Living in Sydney my focus is from east coast Australia. After ( & I cant believe it) a break of about 35 years!! I want to get back into cruising & planning initially the south Pacific area.
First task is to buy a comfortable, as I'm an old bloke, true blue water competent boat, about 35'+ in the A$100,000 range. Currently I'm inclined to a Martzcraft 35 and I would really appreciate comments/advice (good or bad) from anyone who has sailed them. Or equally from anyone who can suggest good alternatives - particularly someone whose done a similar exercise here in Australia.

A possible concept alternative is to share the boat with someone who has similar plans. As I'm virtually retired I don't have any real time constraints.
Anyone interested?

Look forward to getting involved.

Rod.

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha Rod,
Welcome aboard!! I think you have picked the right size boat but I'm not familiar with Martzcraft.
I'm certain you'll get a whol bunch of help downunder.
Regards,
JohnL

[Weyalan]

Welcome aboard Rod,

always good to get another Aussie on board (I'm Scottish, but based in Tasmania for 10 years+). there are plenty of good boats for sale up & down Australia's Eastern freeboard. Don't hurry your purchase... get a feel for the market and "kick as manuy tyres" as you can before you make your decision.

I haven't sailed a Martzcraft, so I can't speak from experience, but they have a good reputation as cruisers, and are, from memory, a Bruce Roberts design, so they have a decent pedigree - Roberts is known for designing good blue-water dependable boats.

Other designs that might be of interest to you cuold include Joe Adams - the 40' centre cockpit version is a great crusing boat, although perhaps a little more pricey than your preferred range. I also like the Sparkman & Stevens 36' and 34' boats. They are renowned high quality boats and have been single-handed round the world. There is a nice looking S&S 36' for sale in Mackay at the moment.

Bear in mind that a 40' boat is a lot of boat to sail single handed, especially if you ain't no spring chicken (no offense). If you are planning to live aboard and single-hand, I would be looking to the 33-36' range for ease of sailing rather than a bigger boat, which will have more space, but which might be tougher to handle by yourself. I speak from experience, having a 40' boat, and I can tell you its hard work getting it in & out of marina berths solo, but easy with 2 people.

[trek]

I've currently got a Martzcraft 35 and shes a great boat.

If you are still looking, check out the Mottle 33 which is slightly smaller but similar, and the South Coast 36 which is similar but slightly bigger.

After owning aft cockpit boats I found the centre cockpit and aft cabin design a great asset. Since the aft cabin is completely separate from the main saloon it allows privacy for two couples on the boat. Or if you've got rowdy passengers (or kids) the skipper can retreat to the aft cabin.

I found sleeping aft is better too, in the V berth of an aft cabin boat theres more sea, wind and anchor noise, also more motion.

The centre cockpit means you don't get wet when a wave breaks over the stern, and theres nice deck sitting space aft as well.

[trek]

Hi Rod,

I forgot to add that I agree with Weyalan.

Single handed, 39 ft and upwards is a lot to look after. The last boat I had was an RORC 39 that I sailed around NZ.

The things to consider with 39ft++ versus the 33 and 35 are:

- The sails are bigger and harder to handle
- The halyards, sheets and winches bigger to handle
- In a marina in a cross wind and cross current 39ft is a lot harder to put into a pen without dinging something than 33ft

Expense wise, with a bigger boat, you pay higher marina and slipping fees, and maintenance wise the volume of anti-fouling paint needed for a bigger boat increases hugely since the surface area of hull increases at a hugely faster rate per foot of waterline length. Likewise the cost of replacing a bigger sail!!

Let us know how you go and have success!

[Red Horse]

Don't forget to look at multihulls. Easy to handle, shallow draft. Generally faster than comparable mono. But you lose space and load carrying ability, can have a hard time finding an end tie. Everything is a trade off. "With multis you can have speed comfort or economy but only two of the three." Quote attributed to Dick Newick multihull designer.
Anyway just something to look at.
Redhorse

[Steve Kidson]

Hi Rod,

Welcome to another Aussie; we might just build enough numbers to mount a takeover, particularly if we annexe NZ and count them as well

I have not sailed a Martzcraft, but worked with a woman who owned one, and she and her husband spent every weekend and holiday on the boat, cruising east coast - boat was actually kept on Lake Macquarie. They swore it was the best boat for what they wantd to do, and they were getting toward retirement age, and not as sprightly as when younger.

The Mottle 33 is a similar design with centre cockpit/aft cabin arrangement, and they sail quite nicely. Chartered one for a week on Lake Macquarie a few years ago. Only criticism is a minimal amount of storage below decks.

From memory, both Martzcraft 35 and Mottle 33 were available with a ketch rig, but not many of them.

Be aware that Mottle 33 have not been produced for years, and that a refit may be required. This is not necessarily a bad thing as you can set it up precisely as you want.

I could probably rabbit on, but should conclude now before I ramble and become incoherent.

Fair winds

Steve

[swagman]

Welcome Matey,
We had one of the Adams 40's a decade back and I do know you can still source them sub A$100,000. Good boat.
JOHN