Hot weather boating - AWB vs MAB

roblpm

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So I will buy a new (to me) boat in the next couple of years. After a month in Bali last winter, a month in Mexico this winter and a new partner who grew up in a place that was 35 degrees all year it is apparent to me that I want to sail in hot places!

I however live in Edinburgh at the moment and to work on the boat it really needs to be nearby for the next few years. It then needs to sail to hot places with maybe the occasional ocean passage. Definitely an Atlantic crossing. Possibly further.

So in the say 34-38 feet range for a pauper like me it seems like these criteria together do not exist (is that a split infinitive?) :

No teak
Swim platform
Medium displacement
Nice cockpit for hanging about in (will live and work aboard probably for a few years)
Decent shower (for aforementioned partner, promised her a watermaker....? )
Good ventilation

Tbh I think its an AWB as 95% of the time I won't be sailing. I will just have to ignore the dire warnings about the keel and rudder falling off and only sail in good weather upwind in Scotland. I will get decent weather forecasts and promise never to be in a hurry.

So what is the best 38 ft AWB? Maybe a slightly older heavier one?

I think looking at the crap exchange rates that buying in the UK may amazingly be the best plan with access to cheap chandlery etc.for slowly getting ready.
 

dancrane

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Prout Snowgoose, surely?

50825094008_8c042a4043_c.jpg


I dunno how many of your criteria I've ignored there, sorry. If a Snowgoose won't suit, don't let your other half see the pic. ;)
 
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roblpm

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Prout Snowgoose, surely?

I dunno how many of your criteria I've ignored there, sorry.

SWMBO keeps talking about her favourite dog breeds. It's very distracting.

Cmon.... What are her favourite dog breeds? And when are you getting one? Which is more expensive? A dog or a boat?
 

dancrane

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95% of the time I won't be sailing.

Good in harbour...Not so good at sea.

I thought that might be fair logic. And I've definitely heard that plenty of marinas don't hit catamarans unduly hard.

But I reckon £50,000 might leave you a bit short, in a Snowgoose. Although you'd need to be, they only have 5ft8" headroom.

I think she goes for Jack Russells. If she gets one, I'll have the perfect excuse to spend all I have, on a boat, to get away.

I kinda like cats. ?
 

V1701

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How about this? Cooler in hot climes, warmer & less condensation in cold. Friend had a 32, I was very impressed, the steering oddity works well once used to it (apparently) and it felt like a bigger boat than a 32 so the 34 would, I'd have thought, be great for two...
 

capnsensible

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I thought that might be fair logic. And I've definitely heard that plenty of marinas don't hit catamarans unduly hard.

But I reckon £50,000 might leave you a bit short, in a Snowgoose. Although you'd need to be, they only have 5ft8" headroom.

I think she goes for Jack Russells. If she gets one, I'll have the perfect excuse to spend all I have, on a boat, to get away.

I kinda like cats. ?
I suppose sooner or later the op will do his transatlantic passage plus quite a bit further.

Some marinas are very good at pricing to encouraging catamarans. Nice to see.

There are some posters on here that own Prouts. I've met one of them. So it's just my opinion about going travelling long term aboard. But I've only sailed a a Quest, a Snowgoose and an Event for about three thousand miles in total so I might have missed something.

I know there are very well constructed. I helped a friend build one. But their design is somewhat dated now. I certainly looked at them twenty five or so years ago when looking for a liveaboard. Obviously didn't go for it. There will be lots of other boats for the op to choose from and when he narrows it down there will e some on here with extensive experience of sailing the real thing to help, I'm sure.
 

Baggywrinkle

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The people who drone on and on about rudders and keels are best ignored. They argue about how much safer it is to have encapsulated keels and rudders with skegs .... but the majority of them are more than happy to trust their lives to other modern works of the devil like inflatable life-jackets - and the vast majority of boating deaths result from ending up in the water when you didn't intend to, rather than your keel or rudder falling off.

Obviously a self inflating life-jacket can fail - it can puncture or fail to go off - or it can also go off when you don't expect it to and trap you - far safer to have a solid life-jacket made of foam or cork - that won't puncture or fail to inflate - but how many old-salts do you see sporting solid cork life-jackets to go with their boat designs from yesteryear?

The crew will give up long before a modern boat will - so don't worry.

Try not to fixate on one disaster scenario at the expense of the many, many more likely ones - going to sea is a lottery and if you worry about every remote eventuality, you'll never leave port - probably because you'll spend all your time and energy fixing up an old design and worrying, rather than getting out there sailing.

Buy the boat that suits the lifestyle you intend to live on her - one that speaks to you, and ticks all the boxes for the things that are important to you and your crew. If that turns out to be a long-keeled older design, then fine, if it's an AWB, that's fine too - both will do what you want and don't let anyone tell you any differently.
 

geem

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Good in harbour, pricey to moor in a marina. Not so good at sea. In my opinion.
We had one for 11 years. Completely rebuilt her. Went through some pretty serious weather in her a couple of times. The most wind speed we saw was 55 kts in the Atlantic. Crossed Cape Verdes to Caribbean in 15 days. Cheap to moor. We didnt pay extra in most marinas in the North of UK as she was only 15’3” wide and they accepted that we were narrow. I think they make an excellent UK boat as they give great access to drying harbours and provide lots of space compared to a mono. The mast on ours was 8’ taller than standard and we had laminate sails. She would out pace most monohulls in our club and could sail closer to the wind than any of the club twin keel boats. ?
 

capnsensible

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We had one for 11 years. Completely rebuilt her. Went through some pretty serious weather in her a couple of times. The most wind speed we saw was 55 kts in the Atlantic. Crossed Cape Verdes to Caribbean in 15 days. Cheap to moor. We didnt pay extra in most marinas in the North of UK as she was only 15’3” wide and they accepted that we were narrow. I think they make an excellent UK boat as they give great access to drying harbours and provide lots of space compared to a mono. The mast on ours was 8’ taller than standard and we had laminate sails. She would out pace most monohulls in our club and could sail closer to the wind than any of the club twin keel boats. ?
They are marmite. Would have like to have tried a longer trade run but it was always uk waters for me. Once did a Groundhog Day trip from the Clyde to Gosport. Took about four Ming dynasties fighting October gales. Mind you we pit stopped in key haven approaches and did a Trafalgar night bash. Couldn't of done that on a boat with a keel.

Edit. Forgot, took a Quest from the Clyde to Gib a long time ago. Another horrible bash down the Irish Sea but a nice ride acros biscay and down the Iberian peninsular.

Anyway, ideas for the OP.
 
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dancrane

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The mast on ours was 8’ taller than standard and we had laminate sails. She would outpace most monohulls in our club and could sail closer to the wind than any of the club twin keel boats. ?

That must have been a big increase on the standard rig...did you have to hunt around for an insurer?
 
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