Staying focused!
So here is something funny… our friend John, owner of Tiki Island Radio, told us the other day that if his lottery ticket paid off, he’d buy us the boat of our choice. He even sent me pics of his tickets and the site to check them on! After receiving that offer, Rebecca and I both thought about it for a while and ultimately, shared our selections with each other. Her choice? An Amel Super Maramu. Mine? A Boreal 47. Note that neither one of us chose a catamaran! That has nothing to do with any loss of love for cats, and everything to do with how focused we are on our goal of sailing to Patagonia.
My choice…
…and Rebecca’s. This particular Super Maramu, Notre Vie,
belongs to our friends John and Sunny. We’ve been on her and she’s beautiful!
Every single day Rebecca and I invest time and energy into trying to figure out the best way to purchase a boat for this trip. You all know about our Real Sailing Adventure proposal. We have numerous supporters and if it weren’t for some Paypal-induced challenges (Grrrr!), we’d almost be there. When frustrated by those difficulties, it’s hard not to flip-flop back to the idea of simply purchasing a tiny boat and doing it all ourselves. I shared the notion on Facebook the other day that when faced with financial challenges, many wannabe cruisers let go of their dreams. We, on the other hand, just start looking at smaller boats!
Note: Since we didn’t hear from John, I’m guessing that those tickets didn’t pay off. Oh well, sorry John! Sorry us! 🙁
Thanks for props! We hope you guys go with the Amel! =)
We hope our friend’s lottery ticket comes through. 🙂
Both are good choices, although I think many would prefer the Boreal for the higher latitudes. More than likely, you’re already familiar with John and Amanda Neale who offer similar adventures aboard their HR46 (http://www.mahina.com/) John has a nice list of blue water boats that he recommends. Teresa and Ben on their Norseman 447 are relative newcomers to the adventure business with their Morse/Alpha enterprise. (http://morsealpha.com/)
Maybe you can glean some helpful hints.
Good luck!
Hi Tom. Yes, I am familiar with both of them. Thank you.
You’re right, for hi-lat, the Boreal is probably a better tool. Rebecca is thinking long term though.
The Amel is a really nice boat for most circumstances. Some friends of mine are smitten with Hylas boats. I’ve only been on the 54, and it’s nice.
Glad to see you guys setting the Patagonia goal. I am totally in to the basic culture of life style there. The more simple the more opportunity to focus on what’s important. As for the monohull I bet you will grow to love the challenges it will bring. Seems the center cockpit would be nice. A little more visibility. Look forward to seeing your choice..
Us too! 🙂
Mike – it wasn’t lost on me that you picked an aluminum boat, but Rebecca picked a plastic boat. Hmmm, if it were me, I’d certainly go with a METAL boat and likely a steel one at that. Yes, everybody is aware of the boat pox with fibreglass boats, but we’ve come across a surprising number of fiberglass boats where the rudder stock or shaft log have worked loose over the years and started to leak – a lot and at the worst time. In fact, this was the case with Nirvana Now, a Sparkman and Stevens 49 en route from Galapagos to Marquesas just two months ago. If I were planning a trip near Cape Horn, I’d want a steel hull and a PILOT-HOUSE. Neither of you seem to be looking at that attribute.
I wonder why you say steel? Strength?
The reason why I chose the Boreal is, among other things, due to the fact that it is built with an insulated hull. Most fiberglass boats, Amels included, are not.
That said, THE guidebook for the area is written by a couple of Italians who sailed on a Sharki, a 40′ Amel, and they rounded the Horn. I’d feel perfectly comfortable in one of them, especially considering the Boreal, and most Aluminum/Steel boats, are out of our price range.
Hi Mike and Rebecca, not sure why you want the trouble of such big boats for your upcoming trip. The odds of things breaking and being expensive to fix are really high!
Why not look for a Flicka or Dana? They are tough little boats and have been everywhere.
Just my 2 cents!
TTYL!
No thanks. That’s a bit too much like camping for these folks.
Don’t know your budget but you may be able to get a larger ocean going cat for what you are looking at for a monohull. There was a late 90’s? Privilege 482 in Newport RI for around $195K, 2-3 months ago. Boat name E’toile (stars in French). I think it was with Catamarans co brokerage and had been for sale for 1 yr plus, probably because the NE is not a big catamaran market
Two things:
1. No, that is not in our budget, and my guess is that at that price, you’d need to sink a bunch of money into it.
2. In my opinion, it’s not the right tool for the job. I’m sure it could be done but I think the right monohull would be better.
Just in case here was the listing summary in the broker’s 1st person voice. Price started at $289K but went to $199K last fall.
I sold this boat to its’ current owner about 5 years. At the time, the boat was rough, and since, it has progressively been improved. This is a boat that, as is, would make a GREAT live aboard, particularly as a vacation escape platform.
The boat could be returned to charter as well, but would require a re-fit to upgrade a few things cosmetically for that.
Contact – Derek Escher
The Multihull Company
11 Marlynn Drive, Tiverton, RI, 02878 USA
Phone: 617-803-8976
Fax: 215-508-2706
E-Mail: Derek@multihullcompany.com
YW# 38346-2378987
Like I said, it’s going to take some money. My guess is at least 100k.