What boat for cruising / island hopping the Caribbean.

[bmc...@ti.com]

Have thought of cruising the Caribbean for a couple of months after
retirement. I see the rent on boats in the 28-32' range are in the $3000 /
week range. At this rate, I could buy a boat, keep it a couple of months,
use it and sell it, taking a $10k hit, and be a lot of money ahead. What
would be a good type boat for gunkholing the Caribbean?
Bill

p.s. Do I need one with a solid deck for a 50 cal. gun mount. ;^}

[Ted G]

I would think an older trawler like a Grand Banks 32 would do the job for a
few months. They can be had for a moderate price and seem to be set up very
well. They are also fairly plentiful and hold their resale value. the wife
and I have been thinking of long-term cruising when retirement time comes
and I hate to admit it but a large multi-hull sailboat seems pretty
attractive. It would be nice to go long distances for free(especially if
fuel keeps going up) and when they have twin diesels they run close to the
same speed as a trawler on the auxiliaries. Plus the fact there is lot's of
room for all your stuff.

Ted

"bmckee...@ti.com" <bmc...@ti.com> wrote in message
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[Craig A]

You'll probably get a much better deal than the weekly rate if you charter
the boat for the longer period. Call some brokers.

I seriously doubt you would end up ahead after outifitting the boat with
what you'd need for 2 months in the Bahamas. And I think you would take much
more than a $10,000 hit on resale.

Craig

"bmckee...@ti.com" <bmc...@ti.com> wrote in message
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[Keith]

Here are some notes I took from the Trawlerfest in Annapolis a few
weekends ago. Hope you find some of it useful. The seminar was put on by
a couple with extensive experience in the Caribbean.
________________
ISLAND CRUISING - Dennis and Mary Umstot, Teka III

Good seminar focused mostly on the Caribbean and Bahamas. Trade winds
run mostly E-W in the southern Caribbean. Important to remember for
anchoring. A good cruiser with a 500 mile range is sufficient to explore
the Caribbean. You'll need stabilization in the southern part. Drafts:
6' limited access, 4.5' OK, 3' you can go about anywhere. They used (in
order) CQR, Bruce, and Danforth anchors. DON'T travel at night. They
used an aluminum dink. Take a handle extension for your outboard,
because most people stand up while traveling in them to avoid the spray!
Navigation / course note: Remember Gulf stream runs North pretty good
between FL and the Bahamas. Need to set your course to compensate. Their
favorite place was the Exuma islands. Charts: ExplorerÔ chartbooks good,
ChartkitsÔ bad. Mostly sand bottoms, moderate hardness. Some sand with
weeds, tough to anchor in. Used CQR for grass/sand, Bruce primary in
sand, and Danforth as secondary in sand. They had an interesting
Bahamian anchor setup. Primary rode was all chain, then they shackled
the secondary to the main rode 2' below pulpit. Secondary used an all
rope rode. They used a watermaker, and you should have a plan to collect
rainwater whenever possible. Water is about 40 cents a gallon in the
Caribbean. There are permits needed to cruise the Caribbean, about $100
total… fishing license, cruising license, etc. Remember, that other than
Nassau, there are no banks, ATMs, etc. You'll need to bring cash,
nothing bigger than a $20. It's best to clear customs at a location
other than Nassau. Green Turtle Key was good, they just got a letter
from the police chief that they were ok. Don't enter during weekends…
you may incur an overtime charge from customs officials. Buy Patelco
phone cards to use calling home. Pay phones very available. Take hiking
boots for exploring the islands. They didn't really use standard bikes -
too hard to dink over to land. They did buy folding bikes later.

--
__________________
Keith
Beam me up Scotty. This isn't the men's room.

[Tom Brown]

Craig A wrote:

> And I think you would take much
> more than a $10,000 hit on resale.

Why do you say that? A 20 year old boat is worth that much more than a 20 year
+ 2 month boat?

> Craig

Tom Brown

[Jon V]

Actually, it is. Or, it can be, depending on how much the boat is really
worth.

After 20 years, a lot of insurance underwriters, and a lot of lenders,
won't touch a boat. This is amazingly silly with fiberglass boats, but
true. This limits sellers of 20+ yo boats to cash purchasers (few and far
between) and people people willing to deal with weird and hard to get
financing and insurance. That is a far smaller pool than the usual "add a
$500/mo payment? No problem!" crowd, so the value of the boat goes down.

Supply and demand, as impacted by red tape.

--
Jon
___________________________________________________________________________
If you float on instinct alone, how can you calculate the buoyancy for
the computed load?
-- Christopher Hodder-Williams

[bmc...@ti.com]

I was thinking the same thing. If I paid $50k and even paid a 15% sales
commission, I am only in $7500, and could probably make a deal with the same
broker to resell it at a lower commission.
Bill

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