IYHO comments please

[oldsaltoz]

Ok this is the deal; the eldest son has decided he wants a boat of his own. He is sure if he wants a stinkpot or a rag and string; with a budget around $200,000 Aussie dollars we agreed on a displacement cruiser if stinker and catamaran if a string job.
Oh the area we sail is 20 degrees south by 150 east (The Whitsunday Islands) good rag and string with plenty of pristine beaches to park on with a cat and a multitude if Islands to explore (74 in all), and we are not very far from the Great Barrier Reef, great fishing. Sea conditions are mostly fantastic with the odd bluster but nothing lasting.
So having spent a couple of weeks searching brokers web sites and flicking through mags to get a feel for the market and having selected 186 potential craft what do think he should buy? A catamaran (30 to 36 feet) will cost less to operate and provide more scope for beaching, but will cost more to keep in the marina. A displacement powerboat (36 to 42 feet) will cost less to berth, a bit more to operate and may not be practical to beach.
So how about a line or two with your opinion, you never know I might even win a bet on this.

Soavagoodweekend Old Salt Oz.

 

[Viking]

If now to spend $200,000 is your only problem my heart bleeds for you.
Is this a real question or are you just showing off?

Buy the 'Cat'

 

[oldsaltoz]

I wish it was my problem but its my Son not me

Try to avagoodweekend Old Salt Oz......

 

[Miker]

Sailing around the Whitsunday Islands. I'm green with envy.

 

[tony_brighton]

no brainer really - do you want to sail or drive to the next island? If sail = cat.

 

[tcm]

I have done both, and if it's a good sailing area, the cat lets u sail and power, the motocrusier only power. A powerboat ensures that you arrive exactly when and where you decided, good if have loads of non-boaty types. But cat won't be far behind. Being able to drive up the beach means the cat wins hands down, so I'd have that.

did u win your bet? And dare u put this on the motorboat forum to check other responses?

 

[Guest]

Isnt $200,000 australian about £9.50 ? Surely you should be encouraging him to save his school dinner money and stop dreaming of the unachievable, thats what us Brits do.

 

[BrianJ]

Shit...save for another 6 months and even at that conversion rate he could buy ENGLAND.
Having sailed that area a few times I woud now buy a cat if permanently based there.
BrianJ

 

[Guest]

Definately get the cat for that area, having sailed around there a fair bit, nothing else compars. Now the problem of the mooring fees is very simply solved, go into a leasing deal with one of the 70,000 boat charter companies for them to charter and they'll moor it for you, keep it clean, you can still use it as much as you want provided you give them a bit of notice and hey presto it MAKES you money instead of costing you!! You will even find there are some tax advantages for doing this.

The people that run these charter companies are experts at this. You don't think they OWN any of those boats do you?

A friend of mine did this with a 40 something foot CAT a few years back and has laughed all the way to the bank since.

Cheers