Health Insurance

What is it they say about the best made plans?  Well, in the middle of my search  for a boat, life has thrown me a little curve ball.  A few days ago I had to go in for a minor outpatient surgery.  I'm at home recovering now and everything should be OK, but it has put my search on hold for just a little bit.

This got me thinking about healthcare again.  Of course right now I, like many working stiffs in the U.S., have health insurance provided by my employer.  Over the past years the portion of this insurance that the employee pays for has gone up considerably while the coverage seems to have gone down.  While I haven't received the final bill, between all the deductibles and copayments and multiple billings. I expect I will owe several thousand dollars...for this outpatient procedure.

I'm pretty sure that for the cost I'll end up paying myself, I probably could have flown to one of a number of places where healthcare is both decent and affordable.  If I had been able to think straight at the time, I should have looked into this.  Maybe I could have been recuperating in some tropical locale where I could look at some boats instead of sitting at home.  Oh well.

General Hospital in St George's, Grenada

In the U.S. we always hear that we have the best healthcare in the world. (We should tout that we have the best propaganda and advertising in the world).  While I'm sure we have some very cutting edge research and procedures that can better save lives here, I think the truth is that for most of the average working stiffs in the U.S. our medical care is determined mostly by an insurance company that works as a for-profit business. Their primary concern is to make a profit for their shareholders and their secondary concern is selling their insurance to the companies we work for as a reasonably cost-effective "benefit".  The end result is that I doubt most of us actually have direct access to the "best" due to the prohibitive cost and lack of coverage by our insurance providers.  When pitting my well-being against the profit of a corporation, I don't think I'll be betting on my well-being as the insurance company's primary motivating factor.  So, this leaves most of us with more "average" healthcare.

I have a friend whose father retired to Mexico a number of years ago.  As with most traditional retirement-aged folks, they have had somewhat regular experience with the medical care there.  The father is happy with the healthcare he has received and finds that the quality of care is very similar to that found in the U.S., with many of the doctors and specialists actually U.S. trained. The difference is that the cost is significantly less, on the order of 25% to 33% of what comparable care costs in the U.S.  By the time I calculate what I've paid in insurance premiums and what I'll pay in deductibles, co-payments, and co-insurance (a fancy term for a percentage that you will have to pay out-of-pocket anyway), I'm pretty sure I'll have paid for more than 33% of my U.S. priced medical care this year.

The only thing that the insurance companies seem to really do for us is to negotiate somewhat more reasonable rates with medical providers (you know, when the doctor charges you $100 for something, the insurance says they apply a "discount" and the charge is reduced to $10).  Ironically, this isn't that different from the cost controls used in many of the public healthcare systems in the rest of the world.

When I was doing research on this subject a while ago, I ran across an insurance company that would provide international health insurance.  I don't recall the exact figures but from what I could remember at the time, I could get insurance for my wife and me that would cover us everywhere except the U.S. and it seemed fairly reasonable.  If we wanted to add coverage in the U.S., the cost of coverage was multiplied by a factor of about 8.  So, apparently the U.S. does have the most expensive healthcare in the world.

It seems in most cases we plan to be in places that will have decent healthcare at reasonable prices.  So, do we simply "self insure" (a.k.a. pay our own way)? Buy a policy with a high deductible that would cover more catastrophic issues? Should we consider some sort of evacuation plan (can fly you to somewhere with better medical care if you are not near facilities that can help)?  Lots of questions to be answered.  Depending on the cost, I think we will likely do some catastrophic/self insure combination.  If we do include an evacuation plan, would we evacuate from the U.S. to find reasonable healthcare.  Hmmm...

Here are a couple links for health insurance for cruisers/travelers:
Health Care International
International Medical Group
Diver Alert Network (DAN) - Scuba-oriented, but covers other issues as well.

My Sailing Library Groweth

Wasn't it just the other day when I wrote about starting to sell stuff in preparation for our move onto a sailboat?  Well, one exception to this is that my wife and I are trying to learn all we can about our soon to be new lifestyle.  When possible we've checked out books from the local library (not that you can find a lot of books about cruising or sailing at a library in Colorado...skiing maybe, sailing not so much) and we've slowly started picking up books such as "Inspecting the Aging Sailboat" as we started shopping for a boat.

Well, one of the blogs that I regularly read (the entire sailing list is on the right), "The Retirement Project"  posted that in their cleaning up to get ready to go, they were going to give away a number excellent sailing books, many of which were on my must read list.  Well, in a complete reversal of my recent luck, I actually won the book giveaway.

I'd like to thank Deb and TJ of The Retirement Project for their help in advancing our dream towards reality.

One of the things I've always heard about the cruising community is that they are kind, generous, and willing to help.  I think that this giveaway is a nice example of that mindset.  In that spirit I fully intend to pay this gift forward when we are done with them.  Meanwhile I will soon have an expanded library of sailing books to read.

The Fountaine Pajot Tobago 35

The Thursday evening before the US Memorial Day weekend, on a whim, we decided to check out airfare to each of the locations where a Tobago was for sale.  Imagine our surprise when we found that we could get tickets to see one of the boats for as little as $68 each way(1).  So first thing Friday I call our broker to see if there was any chance that a broker could show us the boat last minute on a holiday weekend.  A broker would indeed be available so we quickly setup a trip and were off to see a Tobago.

Boarding the Tobago is via the familiar "sugar scoop" transom steps on each hull.  They are a tad steeper than the Lagoon 37, but very workable.  The cockpit is decently sized with wrap around seating and is covered by a fabric bimini. The helm is on the right side with a raised seat.  Visibility at the helm is a bit restricted due to the bimini height (or lack thereof). Access to the foredeck is excellent with wide walkways.  The anchor locker is divided into two spaces with a fair amount of storage for other items.  The boat does lack a separate dedicated propane locker (and shut off solenoid).

The salon has a curved table with wrap-around seating.  It is a galley up design, and the dedicated kitchen space is fairly small.  The salon table is close enough that it can effectively become part of the kitchen.  There is only a single basin sink but there is a recessed area moulded into the counter that contains a drain that might be usable  for some tasks if you can get water over to it.  The refrigerator is front-loading but more spacious than it appears from the door.  There is no freezer.  The views are very nice with wrap-around windows.  Ventilation seems adequate with two forward facing hatches, a small hatch over the oven, and the sliding door to the cockpit.

Down in the forward part of the port hull is the master berth and an optional single berth or additional storage space.  The bed sits across the hull and up on the bridge deck and is queen size on one end but does taper down to 3' 4" at the other end (and there is an overhang for a small part of that). The optional single berth is accessed through a door over the bed or via a hatch from outside and sits in the forward V of the hull.  There is a large storage cubby under the bed, otherwise there is not a lot of storage in the stateroom. While I've seen pictures of these boats with doors, this one actually had roll-up vinyl fabric for the doors.

In the back of the port hull is the primary head.  It lacks a separate shower, but is a decent size for an integrated shower head.  Behind the head is the engine room which contains the battery banks, a good amount of storage, and of course the engines with decent room to work.

This boat was the two head version, so the starboard hull was very similar except the double berth runs along the hull and sits down in the hull so the bed dimension 4' 6" at the larger end and tapers slightly down to 4' at the narrower end and the  optional single berth sits forward of that.  The head and engine room are the mirror image except there are no batteries in that engine room. In the 3 stateroom version, the head is replaced with a berth that sits over the engine.

So, we've now seen both the Lagoon 37 and the Tobago 35.  And...we're torn.  Both boats are nice and have good aspects and bad ones.  In general a 35 foot boat should be cheaper to maintain than the 37 (bottom paint, dock fees, etc.). The Lagoon staterooms are a bit larger with more hanging space. The Tobago is supposed to be a better performing boat than the Lagoon, especially in lighter air.  The galley space in the Lagoon is better with a built in freezer.  The Tobago is a newer boat and more expensive (my broker has proven that the asking price of the Tobago's currently on the market are all well above the comps). The list goes on.

What to do...what to do...

(1) Being a pilot and understanding the plight of the professional airline pilot, I really don't like to brag about cheap fares.  I'd much prefer a capable captain that knows what to do when things go wrong.  Of course these days does the money go to the pilot or the company.  Fortunately Southwest does pay it's pilots better than average so I guess I can live with that.

Maybe a Fountaine Pajot is the Answer?

So, while I was in Ft. Lauderdale I looked at a Fountaine Pajot Athena 38.  It was a nice boat.  But 4 berths and 2 heads seemed like a bit more than we really need.  While they say that all boats are a compromise, when we add in the fact that the heads are smaller than the coat closet in our house, I'm just not sure that the Athena is the best choice for us as a permanent live aboard.

Fortunately, Fountaine Pajot makes a number of boats of various sizes.  So, having seen the appeal of the maker, we decided to take a look at other models.  Back at the Annapolis Sailboat Show, we got to see the Mahe 36 Evolution.  Of the catamaran models at the show, this was one of our favorites (not that we had any idea what we were looking for at that time...or even that we were going to go with a catamaran).  The only negatives I recall were the berths seemed to lack a bit of shoulder space due to their position down in the hulls and the helm seat was molded into the bimini top (out in the weather).  Of course the Mahe is a newer model, in current production, and is a bit out of our price range.

The predecessor of the Mahe is the Tobago 35.  Just like the Mahe 36 they come in a 2 berth, two head version as well as the 3 berth, single head model.

From what I can tell, this boat has a good amount of space in the cockpit and good access above deck.  They seem to typically have a soft-top bimini, but it does cover the helm station which is a plus.  Inside the salon and galley up design that is typical of FP makes for a decent size table and the usual small galley. Down in the hulls you find the berths and heads.

The interesting thing I see is that one of the berths is turned sideways and is up on the bridge deck.  I'm hoping this would make this berth a bit wider than those down "in the hulls".  The floor plan show that it might be angled (or is that just a cut-away view), and if so, I wonder how much. The head (or heads if the 2&2 version) appear to be larger than those on the Athena, which I think would help make this a more livable configuration for us.  The Fountaine Pajot's are known for being more performance oriented than the Lagoon and, with just over a foot less draft, it should be able to get us into more interesting locations as well.  The big question here is if the berth and galley is enough space for us.  This one definitely has potential.

During my research on the boat I ran across a blog of a couple and their two dogs cruising on a Fountaine Pajot Tobago.  Could it be a sign that this is the right boat for us? Unfortunately there are only a few of these boats currently for  sale, and based on comparable sales numbers, they are overpriced.  Here's another one of those cases where it really sucks to be 1000 miles from an ocean.  It will be another trip just to see one, if it doesn't sell before we get there.  Guess we need to figure out how to go see one of these sometime soon.

A Weekend of Boat Shopping - Day 2

Day two began with us making a quick trip from St. Augustine to Jacksonville as a nice couple who recently bought a 39 ft Prout graciously allowed us to come check out their boat (saving us a drive to New Port Richie or New Bern, North Carolina).  The Prout is an English design and pretty much every one that is in the United States sailed here from Britain, so they are sturdy blue-water boats.

Walking around the outside of the boat you can tell it is a quality boat.  Unlike the Gemini from yesterday, you hardly see any cracking in the gelcoat and the deck doesn't give under your feet (and this boat is around 15 years older than the Gemini from the day before).  Similar to the Gemini, the Prout has a solid forward bridge deck.  You won't find any trampoline here which does add weight (they are known to be a bit heavier for a catamaran).

Inside the boat there is a lot of space with an absolutely huge salon.  It is a galley down design with 3 large berths.  The boat has a lot of nice wood accents (even a small built-in bar...or maybe that is for afternoon tea), but being a mid 1980's boat, the interior does feel a bit dated (something that could be easily addressed in a refit if one wanted to).  My wife and I liked the boat. The one thing I didn't particularly like is the rather small entrance from the cockpit into the boat.  It is a roughly 4.5~5 ft high hatch and the idea of having to duck thru it every time I want to go in or out doesn't appeal to me.  I actually did take some pictures (I know...I'm surprised I remembered too) but I won't post them as this was a privately owned boat and the couple was in the middle of refit work and repairs and the pictures wouldn't do justice to how nice the interior actually is.

(Brown and Nancy, Thank you again for your hospitality.  We will hopefully see you soon with some time to sit down and swap boat refit stories over dinner or sundowners.)

After Jacksonville, we make the short hop to Ft. Lauderdale (yeah, a mere 330 miles away in our overgrown roller skate).

The Fox "Economy" Rental (anyone have a shoe horn)

In Ft. Lauderdale, we took a look at a couple more large catamarans mostly for the sake of looking at features (we'd love to own some of these boats...but short of winning the lottery it just isn't in the cards). We got to see a Voyage 43, a Fountaine Pajot, and a couple others. Here are a couple images of boats about 5x our price range (sorry, don't remember the models...but if you are interested in one I'm sure our broker would love to show them to you).  A nice looking galley up and you can see a washing machine in the distance.  And I think my wife liked the "master berth" below.

Nice Modern Galley Up Design

Master Berth that spans the bridge deck

Back to reality, we also looked at another Gemini.  I was able to confirm that the gel coat cracking and deck flexing was not limited to just the first one we saw although this one was a bit better.  We also determined that the Gemini, while may be sufficient for a couple or a small family for vacations, we think it would be too small for us and our dogs as a permanent home.  It was described to us as an efficiency apartment and I'd have to agree that seems a good description compared to other catamarans in the 32 to 38 foot range.  While I have no idea of the maneuverability of the Gemini under power, I do think I prefer the redundant safety of two engines over the single engine configuration.

Another thing I learned from this boat is that the hoses used for waste plumbing can actually begin smelling like the stuff they are carrying.  I don't know if it is just cheap hose or if all hose will eventually do this, but I think a replacement schedule may be in order on  any boat to prevent leaking as well as smells.  phew.

With the long travel time, this was the end of boat viewing on day two.  Fortunately, this was a 3 day trip for us and day 3 will actually include 3 boats that are all on our list (part of the justification for heading to Ft. Lauderdale) before we catch our flight back home.

Can I Haz A Boat Broker?

It seems like forever since we started looking for a broker to assist us in locating a boat.  We decided that this would be a good idea since 1) we are first time buyers and 2) we are about 1000 miles from the nearest ocean.  The problem has been finding one.  What we wanted was someone that knew more than the average about catamarans and could assist us in locating and "pre qualifying" the boats (so our trips to the coast wouldn't consist of a lot of time spent looking at junk).  It hasn't been an easy task.

I started by consulting the oracle for any reviews or recommendations we could find.  I quickly found that there weren't any glowing recommendations for brokers, only a couple of "beware" comments, and none that mentioned catamarans specifically.  So, we then started looking for brokers specializing in catamarans in Florida since we figured that would be the most likely location for finding a boat.  From there we would read the bios of the brokers and search for any comments specific to the broker.  When we found one we liked, we would send out an introductory email.

After a number of emails, we got a single response.  Initially he said he was busy but would look into things for us and get back to us.  About a week and a half later, we get an email stating he was going to be working on a charter for the summer and would have an associate of his...in Washington State...contact us.  It took another couple weeks before his associate contacted us...but that was OK since we wanted someone in Florida and had moved on anyway.

We decided to try and contact a couple of the brokers that we had initially contacted about specific boats we were interested in (and who responded) to see if they would be able to help us as a buyers broker.  After what we thought was an email miss-communication we thought we found one.  We agreed that it would be a good idea to chat on the phone and he suggested talking on a Saturday afternoon.  I didn't get a response when I asked for a time and so we ended up waiting around starting at 10am on Saturday (noon in Florida).

We waited patiently at home for the call until about 4pm.  At that point we gave up as we needed to get some chores done.  He finally called...on Sunday evening.  We weren't there so he left a message that he was "out on the water" over the weekend. He didn't offer any sort of apology for missing the initial call, even when we later explicitly mentioned that we waited most of Saturday for his call.  Not a good demonstration of the communication abilities we will need for this process.

We decided to write this guy off when he contacted us via email again to say he would have "one of his associates" work with us.  We didn't really expect much, and were pleasantly surprised when his "associate" contacted us almost immediately.  He setup a day and time to call us and called when he said he would.  He has also provided us with a number of listings just to help gauge what we are looking for in a boat.  He seems to understand the difficulties we are trying to work around shopping from a distance and thus far has also provided a lot of useful information on the boat buying process.  So, after disappointing performance from a number of professional boat brokers, this latest hand-off seems to be a promising prospect.  Glad we gave him a chance even after the poor experience from his "associate".

Given the economy and that the typical commission on a boat is 10% (5% to buyers agent, 5% to sellers agent), I'm surprised that it's been this much of an exercise to find someone willing to help us spend $100~180k.  I know we aren't looking at multi-million dollar boats, but a motivated buyer with cash ought to be worth something.

I think we finally have a buyers broker.  Now to find our boat.

The Annapolis Book of Seamanship

It's winter, we're in Colorado, and I'm trying to find a buyers agent (thank you to those who suggested it) so we can purchase our first sailboat.  Unfortunately, as is usually the case this time of year, it's been cold and snowing and just not conducive to anything sailing.  Trying to keep something sailing going on in my life while we try to locate a good agent, I stopped by the local library to see if I could at least find a little light reading.  As you might imagine, libraries in a land-locked and rather arid state don't have a lot of titles on sailing, but I did manage to find The Annapolis Book of Seamanship.

I would not consider this book to be "a little light reading" (although the hardcover version might be useful as a self-defense weapon).  It seems to be more of a reference for everything you need to know as a sailor. While I haven't read through it all yet, what I've read thus far seems to provide more detail and theory than the textbooks we used during our sailing classes (so it appeals to my engineering side that loves to know how things work).  I now better understand the sail plan/rig options and the concept of hull speed and am getting a jump on understanding the use of a spinnaker (one sail not covered in any of our classes yet).

While I would prefer to have electronic copies of most books that will be going on the boat (they can be heavy you know), there are some that I think we want in print so we can access them even if we have no power or charged batteries.  I was thinking our class texts would be good candidates for print copies, but maybe this one will take the place of a couple of the other books...if I can find a paperback version.

How Do You Buy A Boat From 1000 Miles Away?

This is a question I've been grappling with for quite a while now.  The middle of Colorado is about 1000 miles from the nearest ocean.  The largest bodies of water in the state are what I'm sure many in other places would call ponds.  Needless to say, there aren't a large selection of boats you (or at least we) would consider living on full time.  Even if there were, we would still need to get it to the ocean where we want to be.  And I don't think we could sail it down the creeks we call rivers here (even though a few rubber ducks may fit).

Rubber Ducks on Boulder Creek

The internet certainly makes some research much easier.  Since we decided to go with a catamaran we've been looking at various boat specifications, plans and pictures online.  A task that would have been much more difficult 30 years ago without the web.  But I'm still a visual person, and I really need to see these boats in person.  What I see in a picture and reality often differ.

Of course, trying to see every possible boat that might work would only lead me to singlehandedly fund the US airline and hotel industry...and not something I can do for long if I actually want to buy one and sail away.  So we've got to narrow things down a bit.

The "longer list" of catamarans that might work (basically every catamaran that we could find that were sufficient to live aboard and under 40ft) are:

• Fountaine Pajot Athena 38
• Fountaine Pajot Mahe 36
• Fountaine Pajot Tobago 35
• Gemini 3200/105M/105Mc
• Lagoon 35 CCC
• Lagoon 37
• Lagoon 380
• PDQ 32 (& LRC)
• PDQ 36 (& LRC)
• Prout 33 thru 37

I know there are a few readers that have some knowledge or experience...so if you have any insight on what you would choose (or have chosen), I'd love to hear any thoughts.  We're looking for a coastal cruising liveaboard boat that may make occasional longer passages and can accommodate 2 plus 2 dogs and guests. Oh, and while the more reasonable the price the better, I'd better throw out a cap of $180K or so.

Right now the top 3 on our list seem to be the PDQ 32 & 36 LRC versions, and the Lagoon 37.  While some boat-specific items were considered, most of the appeal of the above is based on the creature comforts.  So, to my friends and family reading, feel free to click thru the links above and provide any thoughts you may have as well.

A Good Book on Cruising in the Caribbean

There has been a book that has been mentioned on several blogs that I follow.  I finally got a chance to read "An Embarrassment of Mangoes: A Caribbean Interlude" by Ann Vanderhoof.

The book chronicles the real-life two-year trip of Ann (a publisher) and her husband as they put their careers on hold and sail from Canada thru the Caribbean and back and how that trip changed their perspective on a great many things.  You are introduced not just to the locales that they visit, but the people they meet along the way and the challenges of making a lifestyle change like this.  At the end of each chapter you are also introduced to some of the local cuisine they encounter in the form of recipes.

It is not the typical travel book and is a very good read for anyone that is considering this sort of lifestyle.

Annapolis Sailboat Show, the Traditional Sailboats

The final installment of the Annapolis Sailboat Show posts, here are the traditional mono-hull boats that we looked at. Included is our favorite or our vote for "best in show".  Again, these impressions are based on our naive eye with a focus on the livability aspects of the boats and are again boats we should be able to afford...at least used.  As the specific details of each day fade, these are in alphabetical order.  Unlike the catamarans, we often looked at two or three models of each in the 35~42 foot range.

In the Beneteau line, we looked at the Oceanis series 37 and 41.

The Oceanis 37 was a nice two-berth layout.  As is typical on a mono-hull, the forward berth is a V-berth (think triangular shaped bed to fit into the pointy end of the boat), the salon takes the center portion of the boat including an L shaped galley and head, and another larger berth that tucks under the cockpit.  One thing I didn't expect was how light it was inside the cabin.  Often people describe the interior of a traditional sailboat as "entering the basement", but I found these to have a lot of light for a basement.

The 41 was similar, but instead of a single berth there were two berths aft and a little larger salon.  Both boats were well appointed with  a lot more wood accents than I recall seeing on the cats.

At Catalina we started off looking at the new 311, which is the newer edition of the 309.  This seems a bit small for a long-term live-aboard, but we will be renting one soon and wanted to see one in person ahead of time.  It should be suitable for a few days.  Stepping up to the 387, the space improves as it should.  The rear berth is a better size and other than the headroom would make a fair owners cabin.

The berth is angled, so it may not be quite as comfortable as it appears in this image.  stepping up again to the 440, everything seems to improve space wise, except the berths.

We also saw a couple Hunters and an Island Packet 370.  Given Hunter's reputation, we didn't really spend a lot of time looking at them.  The Island Packets, having exactly the opposite reputation was more interesting.  The design was rather old-school in general with smaller portholes instead of the larger windows found on most newer boats.  The forward berth is quite different than the typical v-berth as it has a more respectable shaped bed instead of the typical wedge.

I do wonder why they didn't use some of the space to the sides of the pedestal as storage/nightstand space though.   While most boats seem to have a larger rear berth when there are only  two, the IP 370's rear berth is smaller than the forward berth.

Our final contender were offerings from Jeanneau.  We got a chance to sail the Sun Odyssey 379 as part of our Take the Wheel seminar and found it quite a nice boat to sail.  Taking a little more time at their booth, we found the interior to be a pretty typical layout for this size boat: a v-berth at front, a salon seating area behind that, followed by an L shaped galley on one side and head on the other, and finally a berth aft.  Then we took a look at the Sun Odyssey 41 DS.  This is our pick for best in show. They raised the deck so the lower spaces have bigger windows and the most light below deck of any of the traditional sailboats we checked out.

Don't know what they were thinking with orange in this picture.

The V-berth in front is pretty standard fare.  But the aft owners cabin is quite impressive.  A queen size berth with two seats, plenty of storage make this a space you don't see on many boats.

With the aft cockpit, the headroom is still lacking.  My only real concern with this layout is the same concern I have with most of the boats we got to see at the show and that is how well you can take advantage of cooling breezes at anchor (the bow points into the wind at anchor which puts the aft berth at the lee side of the boat).  But the space of the owners berth and the windows and light that rival some of the catamarans make this boat an overall winner.  Of course, this boat is new for 2013, so no used boats making it unlikely we'll end up with one.  Maybe we can find something similar.

So, you may be wondering if there was any progress towards a decision between catamaran and mono-hull.  Sadly, not too much.  Each have advantages and disadvantages and we're still having a bit of a hard time determining which items are essential and which are not.  Hopefully we will gain more insight during our ASA 104/114 course.

Catamarans at the Annapolis Boat Show

As promised, here is more information and impressions from the boats we saw at the show.  Remember we don't know a lot about buying a boat...so it will be very interesting to see what we think about these comments in a few months or years.  We will likely not buy new, but that's most of what is at the show.  At this point we didn't know if we would prefer a catamaran or mono-hull, so we were looking at both.  Here are the catamarans:

The first catamaran we looked at was a Gemini Legacy 35.

This is a newer variant of the popular Gemini 105MC.  I can see why these boats are popular.  They are a reasonable size at 35' length and with a 14' beam they should be a bit easier to find a slip for than the average cat.  In this small space they have a queen size master berth which is impressive.  This berth is up front where cooling breezes should be easily obtainable at anchor.

 There is a double berth and an option for either a second double berth or a second head.  The boat is a "galley down" which means that the galley is located down in one of the hulls.  It doesn't seem all that separated as the floor in the hull isn't that far below the salon deck.  As with most catamarans, there is a lot of window and light in the salon and since the master berth is in front of the salon it shares the same features.  The boat does have some items that feel a bit cheap...such as a number of hatches that explicitly state "no step"...wonder if that would be a concern if stumbling about on a rolling deck trying to correct a fouled sail or line.  Overall, this floor plan would work nicely for us.  The difference between the 105MC and the Legacy appears that the Legacy now has two diesel engines and has replaced the centerboards with shoal draft keels.

Other than the Fountaine Pajot 41 we were able to sail on during the take the wheel course, we also looked at the Mahe 36.

This boat was a "galley up" design with a smaller galley space than the Gemini located in the main salon area on the bridge deck.  Again light and airy as one would expect on a cat.  The model we saw was the two stateroom version, but I understand that it comes with a three stateroom version that looses one of the heads.  Going from the salon down into either hull you found a cabin with a tapered near queen size berth in the rear of the hull and a head in the forward part.

Unlike the Gemini, you were pretty isolated when down in one of the hulls...a good thing since they are basically the bedrooms.  Outside we found it easier to get from cockpit to the fore-deck as the walkway widths were wider than the Gemini.  The view at the helm was better too, although I'm not sure if a bimini or dodger is available for the helm station (and I imagine it would suck to be baking in the sun or drenched when manning the wheel).

We also saw another small catamaran we hadn't heard of prior to the show called a Tomcat 9.7.  The layout was fairly similar to the Gemini, with a couple of quirky exceptions.  The master cabin was open to the salon area and the access to the master cabin was through the head.  The boat did have a trampoline on the fore-deck while the Gemini had a hard deck.  It also had two outboard gasoline engines instead of the inboard diesel(s) of the Gemini  and Fountaine Pajot models.  The quirks are just not something we felt we could live with, so we didn't look at this boat very long.

The final cat we took a reasonably serious look at was the Lagoon 380.

The largest of the cats we would consider (without winning the lottery anyway).  The one at the show was the 4 stateroom version with the two smaller heads.  This is also a galley-up design.  The space in the salon is nice and the galley was a bit larger than the Fountain Pajot, but I'm not sure it was larger counter space wise than the Gemini.  The berths were all contained in the two hulls.  The aft berths were larger, but I think they were shy of queen size.  The forward berths were closer to v-berths.  Overall, for the increased size of this boat, it seemed that the space was not very efficiently used.

Of the catamarans, I think our favorites that would be within our budget (at least used) would be the Gemini and the Fountaine Pajot.  The master stateroom, overall size, and galley space are the big winners for the Gemini while the deck space and guest room space were the winners for the Fountaine Pajot.  I'm wondering how important having the master berth be at the front of the boat where it can take advantage of any breeze at anchor will be.  In the tropics I assume this will be important.

Next time I'll go through the mono-hulls we looked at as well as our favorite boat overall.

If you want to see a sailboat

It's no secret that we really don't know a lot about all the various live-aboard sailboats out there.  So, what do you do when you want to know about sailboats...you go to the largest sailboat show in the world*...the United States Sailboat Show in Annapolis.  So, that is what we did this past weekend.

Not of the show itself...but Annapolis is a sailing town

It was quite an experience.  You can look at pictures and floor plans, but until you actually see them in person, walk the decks, stand (or hunch over) in the berths, climb around and generally experience them in person, you really never know.  You can find boats of all sizes and price ranges at the show, but with our limited amount of time we focused on the sizes and makers we thought would likely fit our needs.  On the monohull side, we looked at Beneteau, Catalina, Hunter, Island Packet and Jeanneau.  On the catamaran side, we looked at boats from Fountaine Pajot, Gemini, Lagoon, Tomcat.

Most of our first full day at the show was participating in their "Take The Wheel" workshop. This consisted of breakfast, presentations for new sailors on purchasing your first boat, lunch, taking two boats out for a demonstration sail, and a wine and cheese party.  The presentations contained a fair amount of information we recently learned in class but had some other good information. We got to take a Fountaine Pajot 41 and a Jenneau 379 out for a spin.  The catamaran was having some issues, so we motor-sailed it.  It was fairly maneuverable with the engines, but I don't know how she would be under sail alone.  The Jenneau on the other hand wasn't having problems and we had a real chance to see how it performed.  It was fun to sail and I could easily see sailing it just the two of us.  Despite the issues on the first boat, they were both good experiences and I would highly recommend taking this workshop for anyone new to sailing that would like to experience larger boats.

In my next post, I'll cover more details on the boats we saw at the show, and what we've determined so far about our future boat.  Stay tuned...

*this is a claim that was made at the show...no idea how true it is...but the show is pretty big.

This One is Good

A little while back I ran across a blog that had a very similar story to ours.  A couple with no sailing experience that heads off cruising.  Sound familiar?

I've been going through this blog "from the beginning" and have finally caught up with the current postings.  Thus far it has to be one of the best sites I've found for both information and inspiration related to our plans.  As of today their site states they have been cruising for 718 days and they make posts just about every day (where do they find the time?).

So, if you have some time, check out Mike and Rebecca's story on Zero To Cruising.  And for those that think my wife and I are crazy...we are definitely not alone.

How About Cooking

There is no doubt that many things will be different in our cruising life than it is now.  One is certainly cooking.

Pork with Brandy Apple Cream Sauce

Right now we really don't do a lot of cooking.  For a while my wife and I had different dietary needs and cooking two "meals for one" at each meal wasn't feasible.  While that isn't the case anymore, getting in a habit of cooking dinner just hasn't really happened.  So, I guess the bright side is we are fairly clean slates on the subject.

The first obvious issue is space.  A boat galley isn't anywhere near the size of our home's kitchen.  We will definitely need to be careful about what we keep and what we get rid of or we'll never get it all to fit.  Things that stack (or nest) will certainly help.

Another issue is motion.  Since we don't live in California, our kitchen doesn't really tend to move much.  A floating kitchen will definitely be different.  While stoves seem to generally be gimballed to stay level, everything else moves.  Not sure how this will impact things other than I know we want to avoid breakables (glass) and will need ways to secure stuff.

Provisioning will be another new task for us.  At home, we can just zip over to the store and pick up anything we are missing.  A little more hassle if you are at anchor near a town and impossible if you are otherwise traveling.  And with limited storage on a boat, we really need to figure out menus that use a lot of the same things so we have space for it all.

Energy is another big issue on a boat.  At home, stoves and appliances have unlimited supplies of gas and electricity.  On a boat, you have only the energy in the batteries and maybe an alternate fuel for a stove/oven (propane, alcohol, kerosene, etc.).  Definitely no American size refrigerators. Conservation is the key.  One very clever conservation idea is cooking using a Thermos.

We are starting to try to deal with meals more like we would on a boat.  One cool resource is The Boat Galley that has lots of tips and tricks (added to the research page).  For dinner last night we had fish tacos:

• Frozen Mahi (since fresh caught isn't an option in Colorado)
• Pinto Beans cooked in a Thermos.
• Cabbage, carrots, peppers, onion.
• Homemade taco seasoning.
• Sour cream made from Media Crema and lime juice.
• Salsa
• Minute rice (tried rice in a Thermos...but that didn't turn out well)

Other than the thermos rice, everything turned out well and was quite yummy.  5 minutes or so of pan frying the fish and boiling water for the beans and rice was all the energy used to cook.  Not counting the fish, salsa was the only refrigerated item (although leftover fresh caught fish would be refrigerated).  Even though I'll need to try the rice experiment again, overall I consider it a success.

And yes, the food pictured at the top of this post was a creation of mine...just because we don't cook much doesn't mean we can't. ;-)

Interesting New Resource

While pondering the question of "what would be a good boat for our plans" (and searching the web...looking at pictures and specs and floor plans), I ran across the following site:

Atom Voyages

Two circumnavigations and 20 years sailing.  Pretty impressive, especially in a 28 foot mono-hull sailboat.

In an earlier post I mentioned that I hadn't found many people that kept up this lifestyle for a very long term, and while I don't know how much of the time he was living aboard the boat during the 20 years, it had to be a fair amount and does bode well for the longer term.

Picking a Direction

When we started looking at this sailing idea, I identified several courses that I felt we would need to take at a minimum:

• Basic Keelboat (ASA 101)
• Basic Coastal Cruising (ASA 103)
• Intermediate Coastal Cruising/Bareboat Chartering (ASA 104)

And, if we decide to go catamaran:

• Cruising Catamaran (ASA 114)

We've completed the first class (except for the test...which we need to schedule) and the question is where to go next.  The school we used for the first course does offer the coastal cruising options...but does it make sense to learn this in Colorado when we plan to sail on the ocean.  Um...no (if you think otherwise, you may want to consult a basic US map. :-) )

Now, there are some pretty cool classes that teach all these courses over a week or so while you live aboard the boat.  The problem is that we don't have the ability to get away for this sort of class until the fall...and I just can't wait that long.

What I'd like to do is take the basic cruising course locally and then rent a boat and do some sailing locally on our own to practice the basic skills.  Then, in the fall, do a live-aboard option for the last course and maybe take the boat out just the two of us after completion of the course.  Unfortunately I'm not finding much that works that way.

Maybe we can charter a sailboat and find an instructor that will go with us to create the class I want ourselves.  Happen to know a sailing instructor with some free time in the fall?

More Cost Research

Just a quick post this time.  In my continuing research on the money issue, one of the best "answers" to the annual cost of cruising question I've found was in this article from the Beth and Evans site:

Cost of Cruising

They have collected real user data and created three fictitious families to demonstrate the average annual cost of living and cruising on a sailboat.  Obviously everyone's situation will be different, but this article written in 2006 seems  to be a reasonable starting point.

Making Lemonade

Well, I thought by now I'd be writing about our "on the water" sailing lessons, but I've come down with a cold so I haven't scheduled those lessons yet.  In the meantime, making the best of it when I've been feeling well enough, I've continued with some research.

For the research, I've created a new page (as previously promised) where I can save the more useful links I run across.  You should now see a navigation bar just below the site banner that will take you there.

As for the current research, I've been looking at the dreaded "money" question.  How much does it take to go cruising?

It is the question everyone wants answered yet doesn't seem to have one.  Well, OK there is one: "It takes just a little bit more than you have."

I do understand why there isn't a good answer though.  Just as everyone who lives on land lives in different homes and on a different budget, the same would naturally hold on a boat.  Our daily lifestyle choices make a big difference, things like:

• Do you eat out a lot or cook meals at home (and how gourmet are they)?
• Do you have a big home and lots of "toys" (and can you live without them)?
• Are you a do-it-yourself type or do you have lots of "people" on speed dial?

And if your plan is like mine, to drastically change how you live, that only complicates the equation.  While lifestyle differences can have a big impact, I think one of the questions that many struggle with is this:  How does a boat compare with caring for a home.  I'm still trying to figure this out, so sorry, no answer here today.

What I can say I've found is that, while there are examples of annual cruising budgets from $6000 (US) a year and up, there do seem to be quite a few in the $12000~$18000 (US) a year range.  That's pretty cheap living in paradise.

Check out some of the links I've added to the Money section of the research page.  And as I find  more information of interest, I'll add it to that page.

Cruising Thru Research

Sitting on the deck of the boat with a margarita in hand working on your tan...that's the life, right?

I think reality may be more along the sentiment I've seen several places that cruising is the art of fixing your boat in exotic locations.  Fortunately I'm reasonably mechanically inclined so I hope that will serve me well.

Eventually I intend to create a research page, but for now I thought I'd start with a few links that I've found helpful in learning about cruising and living aboard in hopes it may help others that may follow...

Confessions of a Long Distance Sailor - Free online ebook.  Older story, a good read.
The Cruising Life - Essay from a cruising couple.
Cruising Life - Another essay from another couple.
Youtube Videos - Because you can find everything on Youtube.

The one thing that worries me a bit is that it seems that of the people that have tried this (that I've found so far), many seem to have only lasted between 3 and 5 years.  Still looking for an example of 20+ years.