513 posts
It's The gear that comes with the boat where a lot of money is, you could buy a small day sailer cheap but it still needs similar gear if you coastal hop , and having just gone through the exercise I have spent more on gear than the cost of the boat.
IMOP don' touch steel , sounds fantastic in theory strong, bounce off reefs, they sell quite cheap on the market, but a nightmare to maintain they rust from the inside out ,
Unless it' near new and they can prove how the steel was finished e.g. epoxy paints your first time on the hard stand could send you back to the bank manager.
Sand blasting will be your favourite subject and finding somewhere where you can legally do that, oh and forget the old saying bring out another thousand (BOAT) sand blasting cost some where from $5000 and up and you better learn how to weld sand blasting just loves to show you where all the rust is.
And of course you had to pull the interior out to get to the hull so brush up on your cabinet skills .
Was an eye opener when my mate who flies all over Australia as a specialist welder informs me he wouldn' own a steel boat, put a stop to my fantasy of learning to weld so I could buy that bargain steel yacht I found.
Last point on steel while you and your wife are busy touching up the paint at the new anchorage we will all be waving to you as we chuck the snags on the bbq and open up the esky .
NSW
39 posts
Glad wife on board :)
We have a 27' Northshore on Jervis Bay.
I'm still head scratching as to your plans for the little ones? When you're heeling over, sailing, how are you keeping them safe?
I wouldn't be happy with a 2 year old toddling around the deck when underway. Trapping a toddler in a cabin or in the cockpit for more than a short time is not my idea of family fun, either.
BUT families are out there doing Bluewater sailing... Maybe look for some YouTube videos.
