HoratioHB
Well-Known Member
Having asked many a question on here and now having had two whole months living aboard I thought others might find some of my experience useful, so here goes:
Buy new or secondhand - a few weeks ago when I was cursing certain bits of this boat I would have said never buy new. I think in retrospect a one to two year old boat is a good idea - let some other poor sap sort out all the teething problems. Not to say I am unhappy with her now but I probably had more problems than I needed.
Deep keel or modern - our new Jeanneau does slam into a short sea but we came to Guadaloupe today on a beam reach and did 43 miles in 5 hours 20 mins with one knot of current against us, an average of almost 9 knots through the water - let see and Island Packet do that. Far more importantly this boat is a doddle in marinas, med moors, cross winds, awkwards jetties all cause no concern as manoeuvrability is fantastic and no, I don't have a bow thruster (also got Kiwi prop which is proving its wieght in gold).
Electricity - boy is it easy to become and 'amp counter'. We have two 80w soalr panels and Kiss wind generator - with this we can run the fridge all the time, watch a movie in the evening and cover all our other use - lights etc. The only time we have to use the motor is for the watermaker - another essential.
Anchor (please just my opinion!!) - we have a 26kg delta - never dragged so far but can need careful setting. Worked even in the lagoon in St Martin when I could not get our second anchor, a Fortress to set at all because of the weed.
Budget - without the kids, Christmas and things breaking £1000 a month is more than enough to live on for two.
Getting on with SWMBO - working well, we have agreed our workshare and the one thing that has reduced me shouting into the wind and her interpreting it as rudeness is the purchase of two cheap hand held CB radios. Absolutely the best buy so far especially when anchoring.
HF radio - I use an ICOM IC 718 Ham set. I have no training and no licence. It works fine and I can use it quite easily. In two months it has purely been a receiver apart from a coupe of radio checks. May well transmit on it soon but quite happy to be a pirate - in the caribbean after all!!
Best things I thought I'd never like - chartplotter and in mast reefing of the main -would never sail like this without them.
Thats it, off to the beach bar now.
Buy new or secondhand - a few weeks ago when I was cursing certain bits of this boat I would have said never buy new. I think in retrospect a one to two year old boat is a good idea - let some other poor sap sort out all the teething problems. Not to say I am unhappy with her now but I probably had more problems than I needed.
Deep keel or modern - our new Jeanneau does slam into a short sea but we came to Guadaloupe today on a beam reach and did 43 miles in 5 hours 20 mins with one knot of current against us, an average of almost 9 knots through the water - let see and Island Packet do that. Far more importantly this boat is a doddle in marinas, med moors, cross winds, awkwards jetties all cause no concern as manoeuvrability is fantastic and no, I don't have a bow thruster (also got Kiwi prop which is proving its wieght in gold).
Electricity - boy is it easy to become and 'amp counter'. We have two 80w soalr panels and Kiss wind generator - with this we can run the fridge all the time, watch a movie in the evening and cover all our other use - lights etc. The only time we have to use the motor is for the watermaker - another essential.
Anchor (please just my opinion!!) - we have a 26kg delta - never dragged so far but can need careful setting. Worked even in the lagoon in St Martin when I could not get our second anchor, a Fortress to set at all because of the weed.
Budget - without the kids, Christmas and things breaking £1000 a month is more than enough to live on for two.
Getting on with SWMBO - working well, we have agreed our workshare and the one thing that has reduced me shouting into the wind and her interpreting it as rudeness is the purchase of two cheap hand held CB radios. Absolutely the best buy so far especially when anchoring.
HF radio - I use an ICOM IC 718 Ham set. I have no training and no licence. It works fine and I can use it quite easily. In two months it has purely been a receiver apart from a coupe of radio checks. May well transmit on it soon but quite happy to be a pirate - in the caribbean after all!!
Best things I thought I'd never like - chartplotter and in mast reefing of the main -would never sail like this without them.
Thats it, off to the beach bar now.
