The MOST stupid idea ever?

[pysmad]

[ QUOTE ]
If you really want your boat to be based in the UK and it (your pride and joy gas guzzler) cant do the big miles, put it on a big ship and fly back as nothing points to windward like a 747. Him.
From SHMBO: if you go to Oz and buy a boat, and sail/drive it there, you will NOT want to go back to the yUK!!!

[/ QUOTE ]

I think we've decided a "gass guzzler" would be a bad move and sailing would be a much better idea for many reasons!

I agree that we won't want to come back to the yUK after sailing around Oz! Having spent time there already, and also in FAR nicer places than the UK (although I do love the UK!) I can see it being quite a struggle dragging ourselves home! I guess at some point we'll need to come and earn a few more pounds though.......sigh...unless you can think of a good way of earning money whilst living the high life??? Taking people out on trips I guess......

 

[pysmad]

[ QUOTE ]
RYA courses are avalable in Australa.....your profile doesnt say where you are! The theory courses even go as far as ocean passages, and are available as internet learning courses from a number of places. There are also some "Zero to Hero" courses, which are designed to take you through all the stages in a very short tme, but IMHO dont give you the depth of knowledge to be able to cope when the [--word removed--] hits the fan. The problem is not the length of time taken to get ready, but the number of miles of experience including tides, coastal navigation, bad weather, storms, breakdowns, repairs etc.

Certainly a sailing holiday first to see even if you like the idea. As you are starting from the idea of a motorboat, I would recommend you go for a catamaran - a lot of the wives get put off sailing when the boat heels right over. You can get used to it, but I prefer not to spill the gin and tonic.

A sailing cat is also a lot cheaper than an equivalent motor boat!

Australia does build a lot of cats, personally they are not a style I like, but It is not my preferences you are catering to. The benefit of a purchase in Aus, is that you wll not have to pay tax on re-entry to Aus. Admitedly there is a scheme at the moment which allows you to buy in USA and then import to aus. If you intend to do that, then a Manta 42 is worth a look.

[/ QUOTE ]

Right, thanks again Mark and sorry, I am in the UK (have updated profile!) so we were going to fly to Oz, pick up a boat and head back to the UK via......everywhere! I guess the tax will have to be paid when we get back to Europe instead.

I think a 2 week (or so) course first to see how we like it, followed by a couple of years getting to really understand sailing more indepth is in order before we set off - otherwise it could easily end in tears! As you say, these short courses don't give you the indepth knowledge. (And who'd have thought you could learn the basics via the internet?!!)

I quite like the idea of a caramaran - as not heeling over appeals to me! I will take a look at the Manta 42.

Thanks again Mark.

 

[mandlmaunder]

If your Gas Guzzler can sleep at least 2 plus crew and you have the required bits of paper for Gas Guzzler and crew, the Whitsunday Islands have a thriving boat charter industry and is beautiful as well, but just about anywhere there are boats there are charter opportunities.
Dont let lack of experience stop you as none of us are born true genius but many forget this with age.
Once you learn how to handle which ever type of vessel you invest your money into the only to get good is to get out there and do it.
We have chartered in the 'Cribian' (other peoples boats, not our own which we keep for ourselves!), but have found that if you have a 'portable skill' (ie building, plumbing, diving, office admin, hairdressing, dentistry etc) you will never be out of work.
Good luck, guys!

 

[Talbot]

I think the no tax import is for Aus citizens only! If you need advice on the boat to look at, then some idea of the value would be of benefit plus size of crew, and where you will buy, then we can give meaningful advice.

 

[Amari]

It used to be Neilson's but ? no longer. Biggest outfit is Sunsail, I imagine they do split holidays of this sort

 

[BrendanS]

Well here is one possibility /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

http://www.ybw.com/auto/newsdesk/20070611175036mbmnews.html

 

[davidbains]

There is in fact an Austrian dentist here who bought his tri in Oz and enjoyed sailing back to Europe so much he continued on round back to Oz again and then stopped in the Med the second time!! And he's still a keen sailor!!
It is possible and I like Australian cats. But i'ts a very big trip for beginners.
Strongly suggest you build up experience in UK/Europe first. If you're not short of funds why not buy boat in Oz and sail in Oz for a while. If funds are plentiful there's no rule against having one boat in Oz and one in the Med!!

 

[jeremyshaw]

There are very few power boats suitable for circum nav. Nordhavn (www.nordhavn.com) is the only one that springs to my mind, and they cost serious money.

So I'm with the sailing cat fraternity. But I would say that wouldn't I.

Take heart from a Frenchman I met in Bonaire who had done two afternoons on a Hobie cat. He bought a Lagoon 45 cat, took it with friends from the factory to Portugal, swapped them for the wife and 2 kids then set off across the Atlantic, Brazil and Caribbean for 2 years. Had a great time, no problems.

Mad, yes perhaps. But as others have said anyone can do it if they really want to.

 

[pysmad]

Brendan - that boat would surely get us there, but might be a leeeetle bit expensive?? Not sure what it would cost but probably a bit above our budget!! Thanks for the link though.

David - we've decided that's the way to go: either buy a boat in Oz and sail around there for a bit first or go the other way and buy one in the UK and sail around the med first. Either way we're going to rack up some experience first because we still don't even know if we're cut out for it!!! Thanks for the tale of the Austrian dentist - people like that really give me hope that life doesn't have to be just for working 9-5 in an office!

Jeremy - I think my finance and I are with you - cats do seem to be the way to go! (The Nordhavn looks great, but a wee bit over our budget I think). Love the story about the Frenchman too! Tell me, are all sailors a little (OK a lot) eccentric??!!! ;o)

 

[Brierley]

[ QUOTE ]
Often in life you daydream, and most people never take it any further, but *occasionally* people do. Recently my finance and I decided (knowing absolutely nothing about boats apart from they're cool and we love them!) that it would be a good idea to buy a really nice, big, powerful motor boat in Australia and bring it back to the UK over a prolonged period. Please, I'm not mental, stay with me for a second!!!

Now, we realise that there are dangerous stretches of water and the open ocean can be harsh and unpredictable. We've also discovered that most motor boats only have a range of about 200 miles (although catamarans can be up to 1000). There are I'm sure problems with docking in some countries and I'm sure it wouldn't all be as jolly as it sounds, but, as you clearly know more about boating that we do, are we being totally ridiculous? Are you laughing as you read this? Or, assuming we had some very intense "training", would it be possible?

Any advice or criticism gratefully received!! Cheers.

[/ QUOTE ]

Is this a wind up? If not, I'm curious as to where your daydream comes from, if neither of you know anything about boats!

People have given you lots of good advice - if you're serious about starting to make a daydream a reality, probably the first thing to do is to work out what you want to achieve. Are you trying to escape the rat race for a bit? Do you want to travel relatively cheaply / independently? Are you seeking a big adventure that expands your stretch zone?

You may find your dream gets modified or morphs into something quite different, depending on your motivations. Escaping the rat race or travelling cheaply might be covered by back-packing. A big adventure may come from crewing for someone else on an Atlantic crossing or on a Tall Ships race.

Our year-out changed dramatically as we considered various options and went through the planning stages (& even while we were actually out there) but we have no regrets about having done it.

 

[pysmad]

To be honest we're not sure where the dream came from either – it just came out of my mouth one day and then we talked about it and decided it actually seemed like a really great idea, but we weren’t sure if such total amateurs could pull it off!

With regards to why we want to do it, it’s not really a matter of wanting to see the world – we’ve already been backpacking for over a year – maybe it’s a case of seeing it from another perspective, or maybe it’s that we want to get out there and doing something that most people only dream about doing……?

As some people have pointed out we might absolutely hate it, but at present we’ve both decided we really want to pursue this and see where it takes us. I can’t imagine any better way to spend a year (or more!) because it’s active and interesting so you don’t get bored, but also (I imagine!) a wonderful way to see the world.

Yes we've been given tons of great advice (for which we're grateful) and I've printed it all out so we can go through it and follow up it up properly. One of my friends suggested crewing other people’s boats so we’ll look into that too. Whatever happens, we definitely expect our minds to change many times about all aspect of this “dream” between now and realisation!

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[CPD]

Spaz, dont worry about where the idea came from, or why, or perhaps even if it make sense (although I reiterate - doing it in a power boat simply, well, doesnt !). I think I am right in saying that fewer people have circumnavigated solo than have climbed Mount Everest. That is my goal (circumnavigate, not Everest), and I will do it. It doesnt particularly matter what your dream is. What does, is making it happen .............................

 

[Durcott]

Spaz - I'm just down the road from you - if you PM me, I'll put you in touch with a 'local' school that does practical taster days, and a few folk who are starting out on the same dream.

Jeff

 

[CPD]

I know you shouldn't laugh at your own jokes, but hey ho ............

Spaz, if you want to do the trip in a hurry, then I have found another reason why you should sail ....................

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/1513590/an/0/page/0/gonew/1#UNREAD

 

[pysmad]

Alan - thanks again and don't worry, the power boat idea has been knocked on the head (even us total novices can now see that, that really WAS a stupid idea!!). Good luck reaching your goal too!

Jeff - it's probably very obvious, but I'm afriad I don't know what "PM" means??? But I've got your email address fromy our profile so I'll email you. Thanks for your help with finding a 'local' school - I was looking for them yesterday and there were hundreds to choose from so bit of a mine field!

 

[chrisarcher]

We had an idea 5 years ago; to live somewhere warm on a big old wooden boat. Simple enough we thought, but it took five years of research, planning, training, hard work and many, many set backs before we finally realised our dream.

You can do it, if anyone says you cannot, just strengthen your resolve to prove them wrong! Take as much advice as you can get, analyse it and decide yourself what to follow and what to dismiss. Be prepared for a lot of work, possibly even a change of lifestyle, before you reach your goal. We can certainly attest to the fact that despite all of the problems, it is so worth the effort when you succeed!!.

There’s lots of good advice been given already but my advice is simple; focus on what you want , don’t let anyone put you off and you will get there in the end!! Best wishes and good luck!

Chris & Elaine.

 

[Fin]

Have the dream and just find a way to make it happen. The advice about doing the RYA courses is good but before you go off and buy a boat make sure that you experience one long passage of at least 2 weeks out of sight of land. There is a big difference between pottering about from bay to bay and pub to pub and doing long distance cruising.

It shouldn't be difficult to arrange, get your experience on the RYA Courses and then find someone going on a long journey that needs crew. The classic is the ARC that goes west from Europe to the Carribean but there are others such as the Blue Water rally. It should only cost you food and drink as a few boats may just want an extra hand or two for the journey. The knowledge you gain should make it more than worth it.

Being a long way offshore is a weird feeling the first time but in my case became one of the most enjoyable bits.

Goodluck with the plan, its not stupid, there's enough people out there to give advice and get you to your happy endstate, whatever that may be.

The first person who tied a bit of cloth to a stick and put it on his canoe must have felt pretty stupid but look where its got us..........

/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[pysmad]

Chris, Elaine and Pete - thanks for your advice and encouragement. My fiance and I are so excited about this trip now (and we still have acutally even tried sailing!!) that it's all we've talked about for the last week! All our friends and family think we're mad, but as I keep pointing out, you guys on the forum are the experts, not them, and you seem to think it's perfectly possible!

Anyway, our resolve is as strong as ever and just as soon as we've finished *trying* to buy our house (which we can keep and rent out while we're on our trip) we're going to book some sailing lessons to see how we get on. We've been recommended a good local-ish sailing school by another forum subscriber, which is really helpful.

Anyway, thanks again for your posts and I think the idea about helping crew someone elses boat is a great plan - we'll look into that too before we rush out and buy our own boat!

 

[Jonny_H]

Have you decided on your route yet? I know you initially mentioned Oz to the UK? We are leaving the UK next July and taking an 18 month career break from work and sailing to Sydney (I've got a transfer to our Sydney office on arrival for 2 years). So the other way round to your initial thoughts.

Have a browse of our website as we went through a simalar planning process - choosing where to go and what boat to do it in.

Good luck with your trip and learning to sail - you'll quickly become addicted!

Jonny

 

[mandlmaunder]

...just as a follow up from the other day:- our plan was a 10 year one (how much commitment?) and we achieved it in 12.
The initial idea was to take 2 years to sail from UK to Caribbean and back.....after the first 6 months we were still only half-way down France and considering never returning.
We now have been in the Caribbean for 3+ years, will do whatever we have to do to stay away from the yUK and continue on around.

When you become a cruiser, all plans are carved in jelly and you join an extremely large and world-wide family - there is nothing else like it! Whatever it is that you need, someone will be around to help or give advice.

As with all other forum users, PM if we can help.....