need advice

An old family friend has been cruising for years with very little money, not even an engine, to and fore across the Atlantic on his boats for 50 years.

I helped him make charts of the lower Caribbean Islands on a little 28 foot boat, no motor and just a small solar panel for power.

No problems but you have to be very committed to your lifestyle.

http://www.street-iolaire.com/index.htm

I have to admit I'm a little surprised no one has chimed in with, "ARE YOU NUCKIN FUTS?!!!".

To me what he's planning to do is near suicidal. Yeah people sail across oceans and around the world all the time. I think relatively few of them do it as a "learn as you go" project. I may be wrong. If the plan is to buy the boat and get professional instruction and spend a couple of years sailing around local waters to learn the boat and the skill needed to survive a long distance passage then maybe they have a shot.

I won't comment on the sanity of the desire, I hope you plan your trip and that you get whatever you need to do it safely and as comfortably as possibly. Also, we are not sailors, we power boat. We have had several boats over the years since the late 80's and really enjoy being on the water. We don't do long hauls, but do what time allows us given the work schedule we have. So, take my comments for what they are worth, but based on our personal experience. My comments are in regards to surveyors. By all means, have a survey done. Do your homework and check their background. Understand what they are checking and what they are not and follow the surveyor every step of the way through the process and ask questions. There are no stupid questions and you deserve to have everything answered. Our current boat is a Carver 444. It is very nice and meets our needs very well. When we purchased it about a year ago we had a survey done. We hired a survey based on recommendation of our broker - that was our first mistake. Without getting into the details, there were some time constraints so we moved pretty fast - that was our second mistake. The items that were missed by the surveyor have now cost us on the order of multiple of $10s of thousands of dollars. In the end, we got a good price on the boat and are happy with it. Even with what we have had to put into the boat, based on what we paid and current market value I don't think we are upside down, but I can't say we got a deal. A couple of items that were missed could have resulted in catastrophe, but we were lucky and were at dock when the cooling line from the through hull pick up failed and we were able to manage the problem without significant loss. If I were going to do it again, I would take my time, check references and ask a lot more questions. When we purchased the boat we changes all the filters and oil and those type of maintenance items. IN hind sight I should have done the same as I did on the boat before - change all of the hoses, belts and anything that is subject to wear. This time the boat was newer and I trusted the surveyor. The other upside to going through and doing the higher level of preventative maintenance is it make you learn all of the ins and outs of your vessel which if you get in a tight spot will become invaluable. That's my $0.02 worth. I have spend a lot of time on this and a couple other forums over the last year. There is a lot to learn here and if we can learn from the experience of others all the better.

Sharkbait,
I admire your dream, and wish to encourage that. In my experience, far more new cruisers end their journeys early not because of the boat, but because the reality offshore was not what they expected.

Having been on numerous offshore voyages with various crewmates, I suggest you first focus not on a boat but on yourselves (both of you). Get out there. Bash to weather continuously for three or four days in the rain and fog. Sit there baking for a week while the sails flog in no wind. Cook standing on your ear, and then eat what you made. Rebuild the toilet while underway....twice.

Do all of that, then imagine doing it for 10 times longer, without a stop. If your enthusiasm remains, if you are as positive then as you are now (and I hope you are), get a **** boat and go. But don't miss testing, and proving, the most important element first...the two of you.
Regards, Weed

My initial reaction was closer to wscott's, but maybe I can chime in w/ something vaguely useful. As a kid, I sailed with my family we cruised up and down the Pacific Northwest, I read sailing mags, raced in all the local races, all in small boats: learned to sail in Sabots, Flying Jr., and Lasers, family had Cal 25, 27, J/24, J/30, never sailed anything bigger than 36'. I haven't done much in boats for the past 20 years other than the odd day trip and tons of reading.

At best, all that past experience is a bare-minimum base for what I'd want to learn before going offshore in a small boat.

If this is all new to you, you're taking a huge risk if you don't start by building that basic foundation of knowledge before setting off. Learn to sail in a small boat - I'd pick Laser or Taser, but whatever you can get lessons in. Do as much sailing as you can in small keelboats. Somehow, you've got to get out there for a couple days and nights and try to sail where you're going. Racing is good for that, you have to sail no matter what the conditions (gale or drifter) and you have to keep going until you finish.

On the one hand, aiming for a small boat is better than starting off with no experience and wanting to sail an 80' yacht around the world, but on the other hand, 23 or 25 is pretty darn small. Be sure to read about what others have done in small boats - "Dove" for one, check out Webb Chiles' web site and read some of his experiences to see what bare-bones circumnavigating can be like.

In the early 70s my parents decided that the suburban lifestyle was not for them so the sold the house and built a 37 ft heavy displacement cruising yacht. For the next 10 years we wandered up and down the east coast of Australia with a few trips to the Solomon Islands and PNG. Then we went further afield and ended up circumnavigated the globe.

I think you are thinking the right way though I would suggest that you should spend more time cruising the Australian coast before departing on a long ocean passage. Also if you truly feel that a yacht that size is for you then I would be looking at picking up a Cole 23 for you first boat.