I'm leaving on a Jet Plane..... NOT

[Marlene A. Sassaman]

Tomorrow I meet with my financial advisor. By the end of our meeting I will know what my boat buying budget will be for my solo circumnavigation. While my beer budget will realistically be close to $75,000 at the top end, my champagne taste will yield a Dragonfly 1200. Sometime between now and my 1 pm meeting tomorrow I promise to buy a Florida lotto ticket.

In the meantime, I seriously request suggestions for boats in the 30 foot range. A trimaran is my #1 choice. If I have to succomb to a lead mine, a CSY 33 or a Contessa seem to be good choices. Most important is a seaworthy boat. Though attracted to racing boats, for safety's sake, a pokey little puppy may be wise.

I expect to depart for the Panama Canal in June of 2012. In the meantime, with trepidation, I am putting my Corsair F28 AC up for sale. It's a great boat, having solo sailed the Abacos and a round trip 2500 mile cruise from Palm Bay, Florida to Chesapeake City.....not to mention lots of local day sails and overnight campouts.

Whether it is naivee or brazen, I am also looking for sponsorship for my great Sailing at Sixty voyage. Ideas for marketing my plan are also requested. Lastly, please join me in prayer that I do not need to sell my house to make this dream a reality. Rather, I plan to rent it - beautiful 4 bedroom with swimming pool, one block from infamous Indialantic boardwalk (surfer's delight) and a 3 block walk to the ICW. Great little 1 square mile beach town. On and on, I can brag about how much I love my house, but it just won't float,,,

[h]

Marlene,

 

If you can, try to rent out your house to provide the continuous funding for the loong sailing trip. I figure it out that a monohull with 2 / 3 persons on board, should be able to survive on a budget of $15,000 per year per person. That is broken down into $ 100 per week contribution to boat maintenance and tunning cost, and $200 pw for food etc. I worked this out for my 34 ft cruiser. Bigger boat may be more. Although I have estimated this, I have not tested the number in real life.

 

On boat selection, if you look at who you meet at remote cruising anchorages, you will always see people with monohull and increasingly catamarans. Very few trimarans. Catamarans are a little more expensive than monohulls, because of space and their inherently younger age.

 

You can pick up a monohull for a lot less. IE better value for money. If you want shorter passage times, you can always go for longer monohull. With bigger sails etc, mainsail reefing becomes an issue. The go around for this is to get a boat that is already fitted with the mainsail reefing gear.

 

Good Luck,

 

h