Bit of chilling out action here?

No cattle stations up for grabs.

Lifes to short...

It seems that this is getting a bit personal which is not constructive for quigga.

whether anyone sailing around australia has ever sailed through a start line is irrelevant, what is relevant is that some people do it because they dont know any better. My point is that encouraging people with limited experience and with dreams to do what quigga want to do, not to do a yachtmaster course is irresponsible IMO.

The experience requirements and knowledge gained from a course such as this would give him (and the rest of the nay sayers here) the confidence to do this safely. An no I am not a yachtmaster course provider.

Quigga - get educated about what you want to do, understand the risks and dont go gun ho about it, prepare the boat properly and go and do it. Good luck.

Over and out.

racing rules??? wtf are u on about ive won many state titles in dinghys, how to make a sail flow/work AH YEA thats sailing 101 so this is again words without reason.....

wowzers things got a little sidetracked there lol but ANYWAY :D

yea ive definatly steped the budget up another 10k which means more time slaving away on land :P but i knew it would probably get to this anyway so im not too let down by it.

size of the boat is now confirmed at least over 30ft more than likely around 33-34ft just for that extra comfort because i mean i am going to be LIVING on this boat for a decent amount of time.

was weighing up a multi but that JUST IN CASE factor of a roll= no chance of self right
also definatly going a full length keel with some extra weight because im not racing around the country im just cruising, so comfort will lead the way ALWAYS!
also in the case of a knock down which ive experienced a few times on the experimental sam750 crash gybeing which led to keel tearing off as u mentioned maxm which it should help avoid to do

now ive got the basics sorted its time for nitty gritty stuff like whats the best sails for reliability vs cost im obviously not gonna run kevlar sails but what about dacron or is that even to easily warped over time??
inboard vs outboard too?
heaps more but tired will post later

cheers again to all who give the excellent advice and encouragement

Clansman 32. Have a mate who has done extensive coastal cruising on these and loves it. Resonable price too.

Hi Quigga

You sound like me 10 years ago, (only with a lot more experience already than i did back then)
I've only just bought my first seaworthy yacht a Top Hat 25 (literally only a couple of months ago), ive owned trailer sailers with lift keels etc in the past, there great for lakes, rivers & harbours & of course brave &/or experienced sailors could take them around aus'. I spent a lot of time reasearching for a seaworthy yacht on a "budget" (theres that word budget!, imo it can exist in the same sentance as sailing), & i came up with the Top Hat, long keel, lead ballast, solid grp construction, easily handled single handed with experience & properly set up.
When i first started reasearching for a yacht it had to have a realistic, affordable purchase price, or i would be stuck working for a boat that might never happen (life gets in the way of sailing & your dreams!) & it still took me 10 yrs to get this far.
If you like a particular design of yacht, but cant find much info on it, start a group for it on the internet, as i did.
onedrive.live.com/

from my limited experience so far, i'd suggest you get into a boat you can afford now, because it will take you years to figure out what you need & what you dont need, & to set it up accordingly for a trip like you want to take on, get as much experience on the water as you can. Remember your first yacht may not be "the" yacht you decide you need for the trip.

Learn about the weather (i need to do this too!)
Inboard Vs Outboard, outboards are the budget option here, obviously cheaper to maintain, repair & replace. But pushing against heavy seas & swell an outboard will be out of the water half the time & not as effective, & you have to get the outboard leg out of the water while sailing, this can be a big problem(where, how do you store it, can you get it operating again in a hurry). Inboard props foul with marine growth & debris.
Try to have at least x2 (even x3) of all systems as back-ups, charts, sails, radios, gps, batteries, nav lights, torches, harnesses etc..etc..
There are some excellent books to, .. anything by Lyn & larry Pardey, alan lucas & ive found Jeff Toghills books very easy to follow & learn from.
Ive made plenty of mistakes, as you will..but some lessons are only learnt on the job, most importantly make sure the lessons learnt the hard way are only inconvieniences & $$ mistakes not personal safety mistakes.

I hope you stick with your aspirations, you wont regret it!

Cheers
Shaun

wont get much for less than $1000 per foot.
(i.e budget 15 - 20k, 15 - 20 foot boat) which is too small.
Pick the smalles size you think you'll need and do a boatpoint advanced search by price with the size requirements. wont turn up much in your price range.

Ferro will give you the biggest bang for your buck.
You could do a search for anything in ferro. quite cheap for size.
Also might be able to pick up a small wharram (tiki 26) or even up around 30' if you wnated to feral it.

wouldn't be in a rush to do the southern bit but. plenty to see and do sydney to broom.

Wauw just get your boat 26-30 foot is fine hopefully you are handy with tools
Get yourself a mooring in morton bay ($160 year) marina to restrickted and very expensive. I been motering for years here and in holland now have 26F sloop
I live on the boat in morton bay my budget $15000 and living with in my means
Still be able to save over 7K per year to spend extra on boats or other things.
( if you want i can send you budged in excel)
The boat is at withsundays and i wil sail back nex month to brisbane
You wil know when you are ready to make any crossing in due course
by that time i would invest in www.flemingselfsteer.com/cgi-sys/suspendedpage.cgi
cost around $5000
than you wil be able to sail solo on long crosings.
You must have good GPS/plotter/sounder and maps and a spare GPS hand held for back up and you wil be alright good sailing

Boat details you wil be able to buy this type of boat between 15-28K in good order
Build in 1992 by Len hedges
1-Designer Ray Olsen -Type of boat Cruising Sloop
Length 7.9 meters Beam:2.4m Draft: 1.6 -Hull/Deck GRP
Displacement 3500 Kg - Fixed Keel -Mast Fractional rig with s/steel rigging and 2 spreaders
Forestay: Furler -Main sail: Slide Lazy jacks and boom bag
Spinnaker pole and sail -Sail inventory:2 main 1x storm and Genoa
1x Dbl bed in front and 1x single -Cabin dinette and storage
Cabin lots of head standing room -Plough anchor + 30m chain =2 spares
1 x danbuoy pole -1 x Manual pump- 2 electrick pumps
Bimine + ropes -Steering: Tiller -Fresh water bladder 200L
Fuel tanks fibreglass 2 x 70L -Hand shower
Manual pump toilet -2 Burner Metho stove - Sink with hand pump
Large icebox -Motor Yanmar 2GM 15Hp diesel motor 1L/ph
25MM S/s shaft with bronze 3 sprong propellor
Cruising 7-8 Knots -Voltage 12Vdc and 240v x1500W inverter
2 x 120Amp 12v batteries -







Light are LED
1 x 80Watt-5Amp solar panel
GPS with mapping s/ware, and Fish finder sounder
Auto pilot and inglass Compass
VHF radio-Epirb 406 - safety flares-life jackets
Wireless broadband up to 2 NM out (Optus )

ah some more great advice thanks again guys that was exactly the kind of information i was looking for thanks lynger

The journey (hahah monetary anyway) continues it seems the progress is ALOT slower than i thought but im slowly building up my "voyage items" such as a good set of wet weathers, tool kit that wont rust to a million pieces, now have a laptop with gps for plotting and weather (trailing on a mates yacht for now) and a garmin hand held gps. I have 2 more cars (one ****box runabout and a datsun that im resto for a tidy profit but have to wait till car market picks back up a little)

would love to see the budget lynger if you just pm it to me

planesailing, im not going for a multi just for the purefact they cannot self right in the unlikely chance of a knockdown/roll

Hey Champ,

Squigga mate I'm planning to do the same thing as you. I bought a duncanson 29 as you were talking about b4, for $18000 about 6 mths ago. Talked him down from 26.6k (cheers credit crisis). She is sturdy as, had it surveyed and dad expert so had him go over it too (he got CT 38 in Brunei). Checked out roberts 34, compas 28, S&S's, anythnig with a definately solid seaworthy reputation (scrap any boat that is not dead set seaworthy)

I'm like u, state champ in dingies once, been saling since i was 8 (im 29), raced less than you but done a few trips like phillipines to brunei too. Intend to sail around my area (SA - K.I., yorkes, etc) for a few years to get my s*** together. Then plan and be heaps careful on my hops from place to place.

But of course a lot of prep to be done (new spars and riggin, engine overhaul <diesel only option, at least 18hp>, new ropes, electroncis overhaul, 8 oz dacron sails n strom sails, liferaft, 2 spare gps plus chart plotter, perhaps windvane, new winches, re-configuration of halyards, etc to cockpit, new furler, maybe radar, definately any other safety equipment i can afford (epirb of course, couple a sea achors, led nav lights, collision bulkhead, as much fittings & fasteners), harnesses n automaticly inflating jacket/harness if u on your own n get knocked out by boom, etc. n lastly seal as many leaks as u can, u will never get em all tho.

My advice to you is get someone to do the boat hunting with you (old man or a qualified dude the go). Check out compass 28/29's or duncs if u can get em up east coast as they are old school sturdy as, with full (or 3/4 keels like mine) with skegs on rudders so if u hit anything they won't f*** up like any most new 1's on the market. Forget about anything lightweight, fast n racing orientated.
Laptop gd idea, make sure your electronics sorted coz if u rely on chartplotter, radar, etc if that goes your f***ed. Scam some world map software if u can. Garmin 550 ++ have inbuilt maps for whole of oz, check em out. Use the sun n get solar power if not wind power. Nothing replaces paper charts though.
Rally all your resources. I'm lucky my dad is an expert in yachts, get yours involved if you can (of course as you say do it yourself so u know your boat, but don't knock back someone like that). I got a rigger mate to help with the rigging etc n an a upholsterer mate to help w comfort etc. Walk around your marina n talk to fellas n scam ideas from checking out other boats (people think I'm a freak coz i stand a peoples boats at night checkin em out for ages).
Speakin of comfort, definately get what u can get your hands on to shelter yourself from the elements. Cook your food in advance coz i get sick down there. Always way more water and fuel than you need, spray your cans w clear laquer to prevent rusting - good food in cans these days too. Just a few ideas u might like.

Check out this book as well, big time, he is an expert, and definately relates to the topic head on wiht budget, etc.

http://www.seekbooks.com.au/book/How-to-Sail-Around-the-World/isbn/9780071429511.htm

My bit to say is only a portion of what the other guys have said, I'm no expert, so i plan to take into account all they have said. I'd do the qualis if you're that close to finishing them (can't believe people would assume u wouldn't know port from starbord if u wanna cruise oz!) No doubt the racers have seen some unbelievable scary s*** to say the least tho. N I gues remember the ones that went through the scariest s*** of all aren't here to tell it. so better safe than sorry.

Anyways keep posting champ i'm keen to know what u get up to.

Dream big, plan well, have a crack

Hey dude, was looking around today and found a few boats that I was talking about, compasses and duncansons, and thought i would post it coz i had nothing better to do. All between 25 and 32.5k:

http://boatpoint.com.au/boats-for-sale/boatdetails.aspx?R=6869966

yachthub.com/index.html?page=list/ed.html?de=48604

yachthub.com/index.html?page=list/ed.html?de=47285

The duncy 29' "Mistal" is near mine and looks decent. He wants to get rid of it.

How is your prep going??

I'd say go for it, Quigga. Sounds like you've got the right ideas.

There's a bunch of old Half Ton class cruiser/racers around, asking high 30s. Just about all of them (S&S 30, Currawong 30, Ebbutt Custom 30, etc) are designed for and fully capable of taking on Bass Strait. Being beamy, they have more room than the Compass 28/Dunc 29/Clansman style. They are also great boats, though.

The whole fin or long keel thing is a big question. Maybe it depends on the type of sailor you are, how adventurous you want to be, etc. My family spent years cruising to the Reef etc and found that they really wanted upwind speed and performance, because it gives you more options in terms of getting into new ports at the right time (ie when the tide is right). And I know at least one owner of one of the most legendary "tough little full-keel cruisers" who found his keel falling off near Lord Howe! Certainly some people with a lot of cruising miles prefer fin keelers.

BTW the right lift keeler could work (Noelex 30s have done the Hobart a couple of times, their ultimate stability's not too bad) but they are normally outside your price range.

As soon as you move aboard you'll start saving money, and it's a great lifestyle. I lived for four years on a 2,200kg 28 footer which is much smaller than the other halves, so that I could pay it off; then I got married and never took it on the big trip. Sigh!

your quite right Cisco Peterson 30 Santana 30 excellent boats sailed many miles on them in San Diego. Doug Peterson's home office
Also agree better to have the ex racer now cruiser sitting at anchor while the other guy is still beating to weather and probably tacking at 110 degree angles.
Plenty good boats around just have to ask the right people

I reckon your right about the ex racing yachts. A lot of them have running backstays though. I sail a bit on a Peterson 30 and it's a great boat but the runners are a hassle. Would be much nicer if it had a mast head rig or swept back spreaders.

G'day all, new to the forum an relatively new to keelboats, not so to sailing in general though.

As a recent proud owner of a Top Hat 25 Mk 3, I can see where some of you are "naysaying" the smaller boats for what Quigga is planning, but on the other hand everything is relative.

What is a cheap boat? Well, that all depends on your perspective, and how much you currently earn. To someone who earns a million a year, a cheap boat could be as "little as a mere $100k". To others, $10k is about all we are prepared to spend. Because it was all I was prepared to spend to get into keelboat sailing, I wanted to find the most seaworthy, solid and easy to handle boat I could find, and not spend more than about $10k.

Now, the Top Hat isn't a fast boat by any stretch, but will hold it's own in lots worse weather than I'd want to be out in. It has a pedigree (Primrose and Illingworth) and also has some global circumnavigations, Tasman and Pacific crossings to add to the make's credibility.

It's all a matter of what one person is prepared to accept in the way of comfort, handling and price.

Check out this little gem of a story. www.mysailing.com.au/news/remarkable-aussie-circumnavigator-sails-in-this-weekend
If 25 feet is too big, how about this then acrohc.com/
lastly,
www.microcruising.com/famoussmallboats.htm which documents all the well known small boat adventures right back to William Bligh.

Go for it Quigga, but most importantly, go for it with good preparation of you and your craft.

Michael,

Hi,
mmmmm have just read most of the replies to ur question.

Have a look at Tophats, they r 25 ft, unbreakable and one guy has just retirned from a trip around the world.

I have had one since 1992 and have NEVER had any probs in big seas or small.

There is bunks for 4, sep. head, good little galley, full headroom and most are powered by an outboard.

They have plenty of stowage room and are comfy in most seas.

DONT let the doom n gloomers put u off, but do practise patients and get some sea time b4 u go.

There is a good website, www.tophatyachts.org have a squizz there.

Good luck n never let go of ur dreams!!!!