OK, now we're getting somewhere! Let me answer a few questions that have been raised, then ask a few of my own based on some things that have been said.
BTW, I know I'm asking a LOT - but please feel free to weigh in on just some, or even just one, of my questions. All info will be useful!
Answers to Questions Posed:
1. Our current boat (which is just like the photo posted by ksanders) was purchased as a "practice boat", and has served that purpose incredibly well. It was inexpensive to buy, is inexpensive to operate, has introduced us to "big boats" and living aboard (longest stretch - 20 nights - and we weren't even close to being ready to get back to the dirt home at the end), and ocean crossings (if "FL to Bahamas" counts), and many, many other things we wanted to learn before embarking on our Big Adventure (BA). But it was never intended to be the boat for the BA:
- It's smaller than we want as our full-time home for 2-3 years. We've been on enough boats to have a feeling that a 49 or larger is going to be desired.
- I'm the mechanic, and I want a real engine room, that isn't accessed by lifting the sole in the salon, and that has at least a foot of clearance above the engine(s).
- With the "aft cabin" design, it's terrible for scuba diving, and not much better for snorkeling - both of which we plan to do a LOT of.
- It's lacking an ice maker, a water maker and solar panels, all of which are things we think we want (we prefer to anchor or moor), and which wouldn't fit well on this boat.
2. We're perfectly happy going at trawler speeds all the time. If we're going to go as far as we think we will in 2-3 years, fuel economy is going to be important. The idea of getting less than 1nm/gallon is not attractive to us (but honestly, I don't know if that's realistic, given the other things we want). Two big turbocharged engines, making 400+ HP each, seems like way more than we want, and seems unlikely to yield the fuel economy, even at trawler speeds, that we're interested in. (But is that true? Practically no listings on YachtWorld give fuel economy numbers, so we're very much in the dark on this topic.)
3. An older boat is fine. Ours is a 1974, and is in great shape. We've looked at a number of boats from the '80's and '90's that are in great shape, and they would be OK.
4. Similarly, we're not much concerned about looks. As we've thought many times, when you're ON the boat, you can't tell what it looks like! (About the only style we don't like is the "Euro-styling" of the SeaRays, Azimuts, etc.) We're far more concerned about livable / usable space, especially outside space - big aft deck ("the coffee deck"), nice sized fly bridge, great swim platform and/or cockpit.
5. We don't mind rocking and rolling a bit if it can't be avoided. On two of our return trips from the Bahamas, it's been uncomfortably "rolly" on the fly bridge for parts of the trip, so we've come down to the lower helm station to ride out the rough patches. We don't want that to be the norm, but if it happens once in a while, neither of us will be sick or even unhappy about it. (And I just always assume that all of our "stuff" will be secured before any crossing.)
6. A fly bridge, big and comfortable enough for the pilot and 3 others, is very important, as we much prefer driving from outside.
7. An internal helm station is important, but we don't care if it's in a separate pilot house, or just takes up some space at the front of the living space. We don't want to forfeit a lot of space to a dedicated pilot house, as we don't plan on doing much travel at night or in crappy weather.
Questions:
1. It seems the total weight of the boat has a lot to do with its seaworthiness, which makes perfect sense. But how much is enough? Obviously, it's going to be different for a longer boat than a shorter boat. So is there some kind of ratio of tonnage per foot of LOA that would qualify a boat as a "coastal cruiser" vs. an "island hopper" vs. a "true blue water passagemaker"?
2. Stabilzation under way: the choices seem to be paravanes or a gyro-based system with the big "fins". The former add some significant outside structure that seems like it might be in the way at times, the latter seems like it would be very expensive to add (so, either buy a boat that already has it, or go with paravanes if the boat isn't stabilized when purchased). That sound about right? What else is important about stabilization?
3. Stabilization under way, Part II: are there any boats in the 50' - 60' range that are so stable from a design / weight standpoint that they really don't need any kind of stabilization system?
4. Stabilization at rest: all the variations of the "flopper stopper" concept seem to do a pretty decent job - and they would use the same basic booms / poles as paravanes, right? Is that another advantage of paravanes? (In addition to being less expensive than a gyro-based system.)
5. Catamarans? We absolutely love the living space on some cats we've been on, like the Endeavor Cat 48. Fuel economy is great, and they can get up and go if needed. No real engine room, but some have more than adequate space to work on the engines and all the other systems. The real issue seems to be, are they OK to take on such a big trip, or better suited for coastal cruising? (I know the single / mono hull question is like religion for some people, but I'm interested in facts, or at least first hand experience with cats in bigger water, please.)
Until we're comfortable with all of the above issues, I don't think we can start to zero in on individual boats. No point falling in love with "My Last Boat II" if she's simply too light to ever be comfortable in 4' seas, right? But, other bullet points that might be important even in the early going include:
- 2 cabins are the minimum. A 3rd is fine, but absolutely not necessary.
- 1 engine is OK, with the right boat and engine, and some kind of "get home" system.
- Don't care about having a pilot house, and in fact, prefer not to have one if it takes up too much of the interior living space. But won't rule out a PH design.
- Would love to have the salon and aft deck on the same level, but that's not critical.
- Would prefer the galley and salon on the same deck, but a down galley would be OK. (The Gulfstar has that, and we don't mind it too much.)
Whew! That's a lot! Thanks to all for whatever you care to contribute.