Choosing my Ocean Crossing Home - advice needed

[CarlF]

These are not normal times.

The supply chain challenge have made a mess of build schedules. Try getting 4” 316 tubing. And then there’s outfitting. Last fall I waited 6 months for a Highfield dinghy and 6 months for a Garmin radar. When I picked up the dinghy in November the dealer said he’d just ordered another container and Highfield told him to expect a year.

I would add 6-8 months for supply chain issues.

 

[Peter B]

I think this is completely the wrong way to look at things. Buying a used boat would easily save you 10 times the cost of maintaining the boat for a couple years. More importantly, it takes a ton of time to get a new or used boat set up for full time cruising. Life is so much better if you can use the boat locally for a couple years to shake out all the systems, and figure out the gear you want, and how it all works. ....The really nice thing about buying used boats in the class you are looking at is that many of them are owned by super smart successful people that have put 1000's of hours, and hundreds of thousands of dollars into getting completely sorted out to an insane level. Many of them will be much better boats than they were the day they left the factory.

The above would have to be the 'pearl of wisdom' of the whole thread, in my view. ?

 

[MVTara]

What did you decide?

OP, wHat did you finally decide? N or KK ? Or did you decide to wait and go for a brokerage boat?

 

[long-cours.62]

Just

In case our actual trawler will find a customer. We take a look at advertising for "small" trawler ...But the price !


After the sale not sure we could buy an smaller and even older boat :


https://www.yachtworld.com/yacht/2002-nordhavn-46-8347187/https://www.yachtworld.com/yacht/2008-selene-48-deep-hull-8068964/
https://www.yachtworld.com/yacht/2005-kadey--krogen-58-8372098/
https://www.yachtworld.com/yacht/2008-selene-55'-8338286/


and smaller autonomy , cruel dilemma



even much more older steel one

https://www.devalk.nl/en/yachtbrokerage/600155/KOMPIER-KOTTER.html
https://www.devalk.nl/en/yachtbrokerage/451902/DE-VRIES-LENTSCH-17.5M.html


or alloy
https://www.devalk.nl/en/yachtbrokerage/453327/DOGGERSBANK-1780.html

 

[MVTara]

We, too, are a new boat owner planning to live aboard and start with cruising on the East Coast and then do cruising in the Caribbean and West Coast in the future. No current plans to cross the Pacific or the Atlantic Ocean, but that could change. In 2022, we looked at our options. Since my spouse was retiring in a couple of years, we opted for a new boat build. We looked at our options, which were limited by wanting to have a full displacement vessel - Kadey Krogen and Nordhaven. I loved the KK 58 and a few of the N models but ultimately fell in love with the interior layout of the KK 60 Open. Would I choose differently if I wanted to do a world voyage? I don't know. Nor do I have enough seafaring experience to answer that honestly.
What do I love about 60 Open? Lots of lights in saloon and master stateroom, great living - saloon and pilothouse area on the same level, and pretty tall engine room - can easily have 6' person work standing up and have enough headroom.
The boat is currently being built in Taiwan. I visited the yard recently and came away impressed with the workmanship. Have no experience of boats being built in Turkey.

Hemant

 

[Mac2]

We, too, are a new boat owner planning to live aboard and start with cruising on the East Coast and then do cruising in the Caribbean and West Coast in the future. No current plans to cross the Pacific or the Atlantic Ocean, but that could change. In 2022, we looked at our options. Since my spouse was retiring in a couple of years, we opted for a new boat build. We looked at our options, which were limited by wanting to have a full displacement vessel - Kadey Krogen and Nordhaven. I loved the KK 58 and a few of the N models but ultimately fell in love with the interior layout of the KK 60 Open. Would I choose differently if I wanted to do a world voyage? I don't know. Nor do I have enough seafaring experience to answer that honestly.
What do I love about 60 Open? Lots of lights in saloon and master stateroom, great living - saloon and pilothouse area on the same level, and pretty tall engine room - can easily have 6' person work standing up and have enough headroom.
The boat is currently being built in Taiwan. I visited the yard recently and came away impressed with the workmanship. Have no experience of boats being built in Turkey.

Hemant

Beautiful boat! I think you made the right choice. Living aboard now six years, I can say the openness of the living spaces and the views/light from the windows are worth it-all things that are weaknesses in big seas. I plan on making 1/2 acrylic storm windows in the future (just in case) and turned my flybridge roof into 2700 watts of solar. I only mention this because of the pain in the ass it was to install LifePo4 batteries and all the wiring for solar. A much easier task during a build. Good luck and hope to hear more about your progress.

 

[MVTara]

Beautiful boat! You made the right choice. Living aboard now six years, I can say the openness of the living spaces and the views/light from the windows are worth it-all things that are weaknesses in big seas. I plan on making 1/2 acrylic storm windows in the future (just in case) and turned my flybridge roof into 2700 watts of solar. I only mention this because of the pain in the ass it was to install LifePo4 batteries and all the wiring for solar. A much easier task during a build. Good luck and hope to hear more about your progress.

We have opted to have LiPo4 batteries installed but not the solar panel. I am not sure what the benefits of using a solar panel are. Maybe I will discover them when I start living on the boat.

 

[JDCAVE]

We have opted to have LiPo4 batteries installed but not the solar panel. I am not sure what the benefits of using a solar panel are. Maybe I will discover them when I start living on the boat.

It depends. It depends on how much you run your generator. How much real estate you have on deck. For some of us, it has been a game changer and lengthened the life of our house bank. Once they are installed, they are one of the few systems on boats that are largely maintenance free. Our solar panels have paid for themselves many time over.

Jim

 

[mvweebles]

We have opted to have LiPo4 batteries installed but not the solar panel. I am not sure what the benefits of using a solar panel are. Maybe I will discover them when I start living on the boat.

I view my solar panels as a battery charger. I frequently see 40Amps (12v) being driven into my LFP battery bank. While I am not "net zero" due to refrigeration requirements, solar more than satisfied energy needs when boat is unoccupied so can be unplugged - no shore power needed.

Hard to ignore the beauty of a maintenance free battery charger that requires no plug-in.

Peter

 

[rslifkin]

Solar is definitely a great convenience. Having power "just show up out of nowhere" is really convenient on a boat.

 

[Mac2]

For me it was a no brainer. I was going to have to replace the rotting canvas. Im guessing the panels cost a third of the price but will last at least twice as long.

 

[JDCAVE]

Brilliant!

 

[bowball]

Seems like he disappeared after this post. I wonder if he ever bought a boat and is out cruising?