So you want to buy a boat
Trip Start
Unknown
1
4
12
Trip End
Ongoing
Houston,
Texas,
United States
Thursday, January 25, 2007
For me, it was quite a process. I spent a year on the internet researching boats and the cruising lifestyle. What makes the best cruising sail boat? Of course, everyone has a different opinion!
It depends, they say, on how you want to use it. Where will you be cruising? Are you planning on lots of single handing or do you have your own crew? Will you do heavy weather sailing or are you going to sit the tough ones out at the dock? What is your budget? Can you do your own work? The list of questions goes on and on.
I started with a real good yacht broker. She was recommended to me by some friends I met on the internet. David and Damon are two guys who started their quest in Kemah Texas, just like I wanted to do. I started corresponding with them and they gave me some pretty good ideas.
David and Damon bought a Hans Christian 33 which is a cool cruising boat. It has an unusual layout which makes it an ideal live aboard. First, the head is in the V-berth, which is a pretty good use for the V-berth from my point of view. The only draw back is getting to the head while underway. It is a long jaunt when you need to go. But what the hey, most of us just hang it out when we are at sea anyway. The second benefit of a Hans Christian is the Pullman berth near midships. It makes for a more traditional sleeping arrangement than if it were located in the V. Finally, Hans Christians are one of the best made, blue water boats, around. Every thing is first class with them, including the abundant woodwork which requires a lot of care.
David and Damon's web site is:
http://www.bruadair.us/ If you contact them, be sure you tell them hi!
They also gave me the name of a yacht broker who was fabulous. He name is Pam and if you are in the Kemah area you must get in touch with her. price@unitedyacht.com.
La Vida Nueva at Haulout
Best of all, she worked with a really great company, J.M. Yachts. http://www.yachtworld.com/jmyachts/ Karol and Jerry Moulder are the owners and they treated me very well. For example, when my mother passed away, they took care of my two rottweilers! In fact, they insisted! They run a good operation and will treat you right.Alas, Pam and J.M. have parted ways but for my money, either is a good choice for a broker or brokerage house. You might talk to both of them if you are in the market.
Back to choosing the boat. At the end of the day I fell in love with the Tayana class boat. These boats are made in Taiwan and are true blue water boats. That ended up coming in handy for me as you will learn if you keep reading. Tayana makes two popular cruising models, the 37 and the 42. I wanted the 42 but I ended up with a 37. There were a couple of reasons for my decision. Suffice it to say, the 37 is easier to single hand and there happened to be one in my price range right in the Kemah Boardwalk Marina!
I bought her and named her La Vida Nueva, which means "the new life" in Spanish. This whole adventure represents a new life for uncle Tim and the name seemed to fit. Unfortunately, most gringos don't speak Spanish so it is a little difficult to get the name across!
So what makes the best cruising boat for you? A good place to start is Bill Dietrich's retiring on a cruising sail boat web site.
Looters Shot
It is kind of a classic in the cruising lifestyle circle. A lot of people will refer you to it and Bill has done a fabulous job of outlining what to buy and why (for him). In the end I was not in agreement with all of his conclusions but he did give me some great advice by email and he made a good choice for himself. http://www.geocities.com/bill_dietrich/RetireSailboat.htmlWell, enough for now, keep on reading folks, and let's share this experience together!
So you want to buy a boat...
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