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TonyTwoTimes said..
Ha! Well it's obvious now that I've just been talking to the wrong people . So much GOOD advice. Thank you all.

I hear there's a Compass 28 for sale locally listed at $15k. The question is whether it's a $10k boat asking too much or a $25k boat at a good price. Could be a reasonable place to start looking regardless.........

T.

I could sell you a Compass 28 that's immaculate, had $22,000 spent on it for about 10 grand. My advice would be to take your time and concentrate your efforts into looking at half tonners from the 70's and 80's. These are generally about 30 feet and make ideal first yachts. People invariably buy the wrong boats first up. The place is awash with good buys so get to know some of the people that post here. Go sailing with them and see what suits. Watch the moorings in your area and see what boats actually leave their moorings. Once boat sizes get above 35 feet they seem to become welded to their mooring apparatus!

HG isn't that cat k e t c h a cat s c h o o n e r ?

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surfershaneA said..
Ha ha, I get your rant!!!


So to my point......

My question is not which boat should I buy as there's no one answer to that and it depends on what it will be used for, but this.........Why is it that people are so opinionated, or even invested, on the subject? If I was buying a car I would get opinions but they would not come with the same fervant zeal that sail boat preferences seem to.

And on a related subject, why is it that poeple who have lived and worked in the same city and job their whole lives are experts on why a cruising life would never work? Why are people who have never owned a boat the quickest to say that it will send you broke and make you cry? Of course that is possible (maybe even probable!), but living a life that misses good things for fear of the possibility of bad things is just not the way I think.

Just thinking about it now, maybe the real qustion is, why are people so offended by the rejection of "one size fits all" advice that is often only based on perceptions rather than experience? And why do people struggle so hard to keep those of us that would walk our own path tethered to lives that are based on their own structured thinking?

I dunno. Seems the older I get the more confused I become.


T2X

Tony, I was facing the same issues as you a few months ago.

I decided that a yacht would be my alternative and urgent accommodation rather than bang my head against a blank wall in a rental place...
My issue was that I needed space for three kids a times... I have no experience sailing but would commit to learning over the next few years.

Starting with the above paragraph as an opener, I turned to a work colleague who has done reportedly a fair bit of sailing of the SA coast and ha/is building a 40 ft cat atm.

Get a trailer sailor and try out sailing first....

...but I need to live on it ASAP

There's plenty of 28 odd footers out there that are cheep... try that first...

...I have 3 kids mate

Check out a VDS there's a few nice 34s out there you should learn on that...

Not to mention what my mother thought about the idea!

I think people put themselves in others position but don't consider what others wants needs and desires are... we are very self centred creatures and like to talk about what we know about. that's the way all of us go through life and we always will.

Dare I say it, but for example have a read through Sea breeze and any other online forums... there are a massive number of posts by well meaning people that take a snippet of the initiators question and the roll on with a reply that has barely touched what the initial question was... replies are always reflection of our own experience and what we want to talk about. Que sera sera.


HG... love that woodwork!

"Dare I say it, but for example have a read through Sea breeze and any other online forums... there are a massive number of posts by well meaning people that take a snippet of the initiators question and the roll on with a reply that has barely touched what the initial question was... replies are always reflection of our own experience and what we want to talk about. Que sera sera."

These discussions become conversations, and conversations never follow a straight path. It usually happens after the original subject has had a fair airing and I think lends charm to the sometimes dry arguments.

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PhoenixStar said..
"Dare I say it, but for example have a read through Sea breeze and any other online forums... there are a massive number of posts by well meaning people that take a snippet of the initiators question and the roll on with a reply that has barely touched what the initial question was... replies are always reflection of our own experience and what we want to talk about. Que sera sera."

These discussions become conversations, and conversations never follow a straight path. It usually happens after the original subject has had a fair airing and I think lends charm to the sometimes dry arguments.

Exactly Phoenix... its the way we work isn't it. Ever expanding...

As Cisco is fond of pointing out, boat stands for bring out another thousand. Financial stress would have to be high in the rankings of why people have got out of boating.

Which is why I was so lucky to meet my mate Harry.

Harry is an economist with a doctorate but also one of the most unusual and intelligent men I have ever met. I was sharing a house with him in Perth after a traumatic relationship bust up and was intent on fullfilling a lifelong dream to go sailing. I was carrying a photo around in my wallet of a boat i had found in a magazine which was for sale and showed it to him one day.

He very nicely picked it to pieces for me after filling me in on a bit of his experience. It turned out that he had not only built his own steel hulled Tahiti Ketch but he and his daughter hired an indoor netball court and made their own sails with a hand operated sowing machine.

An unusual man.

Anyhow he recommended that I buy this book:



I highly recommend it. The author lived the experience prior to writing about it and the book is choc a block with good ideas on how to select a boat which is not going to send you broke.

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japie said..
As Cisco is fond of pointing out, boat stands for bring out another thousand. Financial stress would have to be high in the rankings of why people have got out of boating.

Which is why I was so lucky to meet my mate Harry.

Harry is an economist with a doctorate but also one of the most unusual and intelligent men I have ever met. I was sharing a house with him in Perth after a traumatic relationship bust up and was intent on fullfilling a lifelong dream to go sailing. I was carrying a photo around in my wallet of a boat i had found in a magazine which was for sale and showed it to him one day.

He very nicely picked it to pieces for me after filling me in on a bit of his experience. It turned out that he had not only built his own steel hulled Tahiti Ketch but he and his daughter hired an indoor netball court and made their own sails with a hand operated sowing machine.

An unusual man.

Anyhow he recommended that I buy this book:



I highly recommend it. The author lived the experience prior to writing about it and the book is choc a block with good ideas on how to select a boat which is not going to send you broke.

Just look at that junk rig. You can reduce sail on both masts simultaneously, and retain perfect balance all the way down to a handkerchief. No messing around with Solent stays, headsail changes, and still perfect balance. Clever, those Chinese.

Nice. Might have to grab that one Yarra. My favourite for years has been The Cruising Life. Not about sailing as much as how to become a cruiser. Very different subjects.

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Yara said..

japie said..
As Cisco is fond of pointing out, boat stands for bring out another thousand. Financial stress would have to be high in the rankings of why people have got out of boating.

Which is why I was so lucky to meet my mate Harry.

Harry is an economist with a doctorate but also one of the most unusual and intelligent men I have ever met. I was sharing a house with him in Perth after a traumatic relationship bust up and was intent on fullfilling a lifelong dream to go sailing. I was carrying a photo around in my wallet of a boat i had found in a magazine which was for sale and showed it to him one day.

He very nicely picked it to pieces for me after filling me in on a bit of his experience. It turned out that he had not only built his own steel hulled Tahiti Ketch but he and his daughter hired an indoor netball court and made their own sails with a hand operated sowing machine.

An unusual man.

Anyhow he recommended that I buy this book:



I highly recommend it. The author lived the experience prior to writing about it and the book is choc a block with good ideas on how to select a boat which is not going to send you broke.

Just look at that junk rig. You can reduce sail on both masts simultaneously, and retain perfect balance all the way down to a handkerchief. No messing around with Solent stays, headsail changes, and still perfect balance. Clever, those Chinese.

A friend set up a junk rig on his cat. He emailed a Hong Kong sail maker and asked, "Can you build me a junk rig".
He got an email back. "We are Chinese"

another notable junk rig exponent is Roger Taylor:

www.thesimplesailor.com

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fishmonkey said..
another notable junk rig exponent is Roger Taylor:

www.thesimplesailor.com

And of course another would be Pete Hill, former husband of Annie.

Commander Bill King and Galway Blazer 2.

Now there's a fine yacht!
but then I'm still in love with my Cav 32 Selkie

Now there's a fine yacht!
but then I'm still in love with my Cav 32 Selkie

Now there's a fine yacht!
but then I'm still in love with my Cav 32 Selkie

You may find that you change boats as you go along. I went from 7ft (P Class) to 14ft (cant remember), then 23ft Blazer, then 26ft Sonata (because the Blazer got blown flat all the time), then Cat but no comfort and we got wet all the time, then 24ft (Spacesailor because it had a separate head that gf liked and space below) then because it was so comfortable to standup inside the saloon and had a separate aft cabin a 33ft (Mottle). Wanting more comfort and relying on size for stability then got a cutter rigged 39ft (RORC39). On it Gf and I found the sails are way bigger to hoist and furl, parking at a marina is way more difficult especially with NZ wind, marina fees are up and slipping and anti fouling more expensive since its per foot. Then went backwards to 35ft (Martzcraft). Seems a good size for two. We can hoist the main and jib/genoa easily, love then fact that the jib is properly cut and we can sail upwind well, parking in a marina is much easier and cheaper, anti fouling is much cheaper and if we need to push it around the berths we still can. Even parking on mooring is easier since the turning circle is better. So no boat is perfect, and theres some thoughts for you Tony.

basically Tony, it comes down to the fact that opinions are like A**eholes, everybodies got one, and most are full of the same substance, when it comes to your life the only opinion that counts is your own, and possibly your partners, get the boat that will do what you want it to do, get it the size to suit the lifestyle that you can afford to live and go out and live it. see even I have an opinion but at least I don't mind if you tell me to keep it to myself.