Greetings everyone.

[Arlen]

New member and long-time boater here in NW Florida. I'm now retired and currently waiting impatiently for my wife to complete the upcoming last school year of her career as a teacher, before we become semi-permanent cruisers next year.

 

[Comodave]

Welcome aboard.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Welcome aboard.

 

[Old Sea Dog]

Welcome

 

[OldDan1943]

Welcome.

When you worked, what was your profession?
What is your ‘mission’ for the boat?
Do you and your bride have boating experience?

Have you written up a list possible boat?
How many folks will be onboard, traveling with you? What experience do they have?

 

[Arlen]

Welcome.

When you worked, what was your profession?
What is your ‘mission’ for the boat?
Do you and your bride have boating experience?

Have you written up a list possible boat?
How many folks will be onboard, traveling with you? What experience do they have?

I'm a retired pilot and flew in both in government service and civilian commercial aviation. Concerning the *mission* for the boat, we live in NW Florida and plan to initially spend six months of the year doing shorter trips along the Gulf Coast, then later down to the Keys, along the East Coast from FL up to NC and over to the Bahamas. Eventually, we'll likely go full-time on the boat for extended periods of time and begin traveling to more distant locations.

As far as boating experience, I've been boating for a little over 50 years now. I began in an old 12ft skiff back in 1972 and worked my way up over the years to a Trojan 30, Grand Banks 32, 42, Kadey Krogen 42, Bertram 46 and my most recent boat before I sold it, was a Symbol 51. I've been without a boat for a few years now, so I'm looking forward to getting my next one soon.

I've already got a short list of boats we'll be looking at when we begin shopping around early next year and will be concentrating on pilothouse models in the 42' to 50' range. We've identified several newer generation models from North Pacific, Helmsman and Kadey Krogen which we like. However, if an older yet nicely refitted/updated DeFever 49 Pilothouse or similar is available at the time, it would be a serious contender.

As for those travelling with us, it'll be just the two of us and our dogs most of the time.

 

[OldDan1943]

Sounds like you are ‘on your way’. You have a list of your requirements/needs.
You do have boating experience so it wont be ‘first out of the box’.
I suggest you add American Tug. You might look for a used 40 something range. They are scarce and expensive. I have an AT34, which is now called an AT36. Space is always a problem.
You are about to be covered up with suggesting. 2 staterooms, 1 or 2 engines, 1 or 2 thrusters etc.
No matter what you buy, you will ‘make the boat ‘yours’ by adding ‘stuff’. This is part of the refit process. Start slow…… plan the refit process then follow, the plan. Nothing is carved in stone.
May I suggest, you start with a boat with stout engine(s), semi displacement boat. Everything else is for your comfort.
Contrary to the phrase ‘cruse ready’, it ain’t.
Okay, hold on tight, start the process.
You can always charter a boat or boats. If you find the opportunity, visit boats, walk around the inside to see it will fit your mind. Remember, include your spouse in this process too.
One major advice, you dont want a ‘project boat.’
Unless you have specific questions for me, I will let others with more experience and knowledge advise you.
It’s a process.

 

[Arlen]

Sounds like you are ‘on your way’. You have a list of your requirements/needs.
You do have boating experience so it wont be ‘first out of the box’.
I suggest you add American Tug. You might look for a used 40 something range. They are scarce and expensive. I have an AT34, which is now called an AT36. Space is always a problem.
You are about to be covered up with suggesting. 2 staterooms, 1 or 2 engines, 1 or 2 thrusters etc.
No matter what you buy, you will ‘make the boat ‘yours’ by adding ‘stuff’. This is part of the refit process. Start slow…… plan the refit process then follow, the plan. Nothing is carved in stone.
May I suggest, you start with a boat with stout engine(s), semi displacement boat. Everything else is for your comfort.
Contrary to the phrase ‘cruse ready’, it ain’t.
Okay, hold on tight, start the process.
You can always charter a boat or boats. If you find the opportunity, visit boats, walk around the inside to see it will fit your mind. Remember, include your spouse in this process too.
One major advice, you dont want a ‘project boat.’
Unless you have specific questions for me, I will let others with more experience and knowledge advise you.
It’s a process.

Luckily, I've got adequate cruising experience and have spent a considerable amount of time on the Gulf Coast and the Western Caribbean over the years from Mexico down to Panama along with a few trips to the Northern Bahamas. However, since it's been awhile, I'm going to initially be doing shorter trips closer to our home port for the first few months just to build my confidence back up and familiarize myself with the new boat.

As far as American Tugs go, I'd love to have a 485. However, as you said, they're "scarce and expensive." I'd likely have to wait for a new one to be built and that's not a possibility for a variety of reasons. I love the brand though and have had several opportunities to spend some time on one .

While I'm semi-flexible if a great deal comes along, my preference is for a two stateroom, one engine boat. I'm older now and really don't like having two engines to maintain, nor the usually more restrictive access to perform that maintenance. My last boat required me to occasionally contort myself in ways that I really don't want to attempt now. I want a single engine with wide open access all the way around and if I install a Wesmar APU(aux propulsion unit), there's really no need to have two engines for redundancy. A bow thruster would also be nice, but I've never really seen enough benefit to want a stern thruster.

As far as a "refit" goes, I don't mind adding needed components such as a water maker, isolation transformer, solar panels, etc., but I've done complete rebuilds on two of my boats over the years and I'm not going to do that again. They were fun projects and I enjoyed the challenges, but I'm now not interested in spending months doing the work myself or trying to find reliable contractors who do quality work at fair prices, which is becoming more difficult all the time. Lastly though, if I were to buy a project boat, my wife would more than likely kill me, so.....not happening.

While I'm ok with a full-displacement boat, I'd prefer a semi-displacement if possible. As you know though, the semi-displacement category is a wide one which varies from a boat that with enough power will barely creep up onto the step to boats that are almost a full planing hull. I have a preference for the benefits of a displacement hull with an efficient cruise speed in the 8-9kt range, but would also like one with the practical ability to achieve 13-15kts if needed. However, since a boat is nothing more than a series of interconnected compromises that float, I'll have to wait and see what I actually end up with. lol

My wife and I have a fairly workable partnership going when it comes to what we both expect out of our next boat. She's all about the livability, storage and comfort while I'm all about the seaworthiness, safety and operational aspects including reliability, simplicity and maintainability of the various systems. However, we are both mindful when it comes to things like fuel consumption, insurance and other direct/fixed operational expenses of any proposed boat.

Thanks for your input.

 

[SaltyDogg]

Welcome.
Have you ever watched “What Yacht to do” on YouTube? He is a retired Pilot and She is a retired Teacher.

 

[OldDan1943]

Arlen,
That water maker
Oil change system
Fuel polishing system
Solar panels
Inverter
Generator
Thruster(s)
They are the icing on the cake. Great to have but, we can live without them.

There are far more folks in here that have far more knowledge than I.

 

[Arlen]

Welcome.
Have you ever watched “What Yacht to do” on YouTube? He is a retired Pilot and She is a retired Teacher.

I think, I remember seeing one of their videos quite awhile back.