Hi all, about two years ago I decided it was time to take a break from work and put in place plans to cruise the east coast of Australia and beyond if I could for 1-2 years from 2020. Then as COVID hit and everything was out to a halt. But the time has come to plan again.

As I am currently based on the Gold Coast I was looking at a flybridge cruiser or powered cat as the vessel but I would be very interested to hear from a few blue water sail cruisers on their insights. I will be doing much of it, short-handed so feedback and thoughts on things such as mono hull Vs catamaran, most comfortable length etc. I have owned and sailed mono hulls but never a cat.

There is a good selection of both on the market at any given time, but it is a considerable investment so any insights would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Probably way too broad a question at the moment. Suggest if you give your ballpark budget, your initial thoughts on vessel overall length, and whether your preferences are mono or cat and power or sail, then forum members would readily respond with suggestions and experiences. Of course other factors then are how long the maximum port hop would be, which would govern overall size and displacement as regards not overloading a small boat with provisions, fuel, water etc.

My preference by far is a twin screw displacement cruiser about 40 to 45 feet
many reasons
cheaper than yacht to own
you don't live in a cave. Ie down in cabin
room when in port
do 200 miles a day
and I have owned both 45 foot power and sail and cruised east coast to s w tasmania over five decades in both

Unless of course you find a good Salar 40 which is the only boat you will ever need

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TapDat said..
Hi all, about two years ago I decided it was time to take a break from work and put in place plans to cruise the east coast of Australia and beyond if I could for 1-2 years from 2020. Then as COVID hit and everything was out to a halt. But the time has come to plan again.

As I am currently based on the Gold Coast I was looking at a flybridge cruiser or powered cat as the vessel but I would be very interested to hear from a few blue water sail cruisers on their insights. I will be doing much of it, short-handed so feedback and thoughts on things such as mono hull Vs catamaran, most comfortable length etc. I have owned and sailed mono hulls but never a cat.

There is a good selection of both on the market at any given time, but it is a considerable investment so any insights would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

So fly bridge cruiser yeah no
why would you want to roll around so high up for so long but the fly bridge is handy for storing the crab pots
so cruising cat yeah no unless qld sheltered waters only unless it has a a catana 471 or similar with plenty of bridgedeck height and besides cats are awful in a good seaway
any bigger than 13 m either way gets to big to handle soli or shorthanded
just some thoughts

I have been impressed by a couple of catamaran motor cruisers lately. Both were powered by outboards. Quiet and fast, even on one engine! The downside is they are outboards with a volatile fuel

Bloke across the way has just got a say 33 foot cat with maybe twin 60 hp four stroke for Qld coastal cruising.
Not a great deal of room inside but quite efficient otherwise.