What can I cross an ocean in?

It was very interesting to note the types of yachts that people used to cross one of the largest oceans in the world. By far the design that stands out as most common is the Beneteau for the monohulls and Lagoon for the catamarans. Often these are between the 40 and 50ft range. 

Commonly used as cost effective charter boats I had always discounted them as only good for that purpose, however there are plenty of Jeanneau's and Beneteau's out here that disprove that. 

It seems people are getting larger, newer boats for lower costs by going this route.

For the most part, the yachts we encountered were between 35 and 45ft. One of the smallest was a 26 footer owned by a Swedish couple. They did the crossing in 23 days. Very impressive (especially considering there were 3 adults on board too) 

Our other buddy boats that crossed with us included Dolphin of Leith - a 28 ft 108 year old wooden gaff rigged, Scottish fishing boat and a Waka Irie - Mariner 32. Two single handers were included in the fleet that we were with they were in 32 footers too.

We met a number of other single handers along the way; one of whom did not even have an engine in his little gaff rigged boat (although he did have a sculling oar). 

Many of the smaller boats did not have fridges, freezers, SSB, sat phones, radar, generators etc yet they had made it this far with generally fewer problems in many cases than some of the larger boats. Many of the larger more sophisticated boats had what we like to term "gold plated problems" - generally those relating to fridges, freezers and water maker issues.

With regards to budget, so far this month (despite having made landfall and spoiling ourselves with a few imported French foods), we have spent about $200 (half of this on a beautiful carving!). You can see why there are so many more young couples in the pacific than what we encountered in the Caribbean. One can argue that we are living off the food that we bought in Panama, however there is just not much to spend it on out here!

We met a lot of young couples that had left from from Mexico. These were mostly Canadian and Americans. We have yet to meet a single boat that has not raved about Mexico!

Polling the cruisers we ran into, the highest winds most encountered crossing the pacific was 35 knots (and this was generally from aft of the beam so would have felt considerably less). There were few squalls or storms. The need for an over engineered battleship with drogues, sea anchors, storm sails etc to cross an ocean (by that I mean doing the milk run) is a bit of a fallacy in my opinion.  

For anyone out there wondering if they can do it, you most certainly can. The best boat to do it on is probably the one you have right now / or can afford. The hardest part of going cruising is letting go of the mooring lines as my father always says!  

The yacht buying process...

Despite reading a ton of blogs, forum discussions etc there was very little by way of information to help illustrate the steps or the timeframes involved with buying a yacht / boat. Even less so when dealing abroad.

This is a quick post that may aid a future yacht buyer who is buying a vessel out side of their home country. These timings are my experience. Yours may be different.

1. See the vessel and make an offer (1 day)
2. Negotiate / Offer accepted (1 - 2 days)
3. Find and contact surveyors (2 days)
4. Survey vessel - in and out water and sea trial (1 full day - ours was split over 2 days though)
5. Await survey report (3 days)
6. Review survey and major cost items (1 day)
7. Renegotiate price if any major issues are identified (1 - 2 days)
8. Bill of Sale: This is where it is different for certain countries...For Americans buying from an American and going to register the vessel in the US, I recommend going through some one that does this sort of paperwork as it requires a Lien check and a specific Bill of Sale template and Coast Guard registration etc (to my knowledge)
9. A Lien check is always a good thing to do anyway. In the UK if a yacht has a mortgage it has to be listed on Part 1 of the Small Ships Register. In the US they have it listed with the Coast Guard I believe. Worth you checking with the marina / yard (and even chandleries) to make sure all the bills are up to date too. (3 - 5 days)
10. Once you are confident there are no Lien's you can get a Bill of Sale done. This part was trickier than you might think. There are various templates to chose from. No one template is more legal than the next. The US Coast Guard have a template (which has to be signed in front of a notary), the RYA (Royal Yachting Association) has one which requires a witness and there are a few others online.
11. Drafting up a Bill of Sale (.5 of a day)
12. Signing Bill of Sale (.5 of a day)
13. Transferring finances can be a long winded process due to money laundering regulations and limitations on internet banking transfers, international money transfers etc. A friend recommended using an Foreign Exchange currency service and boy am I glad I did. Transfer cash to FX house in your own country in your own currency (this can take a variable amount of time depending on your daily limits)  (3 days) 
14. FX house will transfer the funds on your say so and in a matter if hours the cash will be in the sellers account. (1 day)
15. Confirm payment with seller and get the keys to the castle!
16. But you are not done! You now need to register the vessel. If you are registering her in the US, as i mentioned before, best to get a professional to do this. I believe that this process can take weeks. In the UK if you have bought the vessel outright, you can register her on the Small Ships Register Part 1 (online) and then you await the delivery of your Certificate of Registration / Documentation (4 weeks to arrive).

You cannot exit / enter a foreign port without the Cert. of Registration (I believe), so you will need to wait until this comes before you are set forth on your adventures. 

What I would do differently next time:

1. Line up the funds with the FX House before we finalise the agreement on price.
2. Create an appendix of the yacht inventory and include it in the Bill of Sale to ensure that the yacht you see is the yacht you get. The seller we had was very honest and had removed all his personal belongings before we viewed, but sometimes a seller will strip a vessel of expensive items like tools and hand held electronics etc etc.   

A Buying Methodology...

Consultant speak for "how we intend to buy a boat'!

As we plan on jumping off to the Caribbean and starting small, we have had to take a different approach to sourcing yachts.

• First we sat down and discussed what we THOUGHT we wanted from a yacht based on what we planned to do with it and where we wanted to go. Cruising, not day sailing. Comfort, safety, space, performance, turn-key, etc - We soon found out that there is no such thing as "turn-key" when it comes to things that float...
• Then we identified a specification that met our requirements. Deciding on all those features like size, build, equipment, specification, pedigree etc
• I subscribed to Yachting Monthly Magazine and a number of online newsletters
• We started reading blog postings of Lin and Larry Pardey, Beth and Evan, Morgans Cloud, Mahina.com and other such authors and evangelists
• The Q&A with my parents increased 10 fold as we drilled them for information
• We started looking at boats and models that we knew of. Generally UK or South African designs. This expanded to US and Canadian boats as we realised that most UK / South African designs were mainly in the UK / South Africa. Buying in the US, you are better off looking at US designs
• We viewed a number of yachts in our nearby vicinity (of London / Solent) to learn more about boats, speak to owners, brokers etc. You can read a million books, articles and magazines but there is no substitute for actually stepping on board to take a look first hand. We were surprised just how many yachts looked good online and were far from it in reality!
• Online shortlist - created a Excel spreadsheet of a number of potential yachts in our proposed jump off area. Listing out kit it has and does not have. Pro's and Cons to provide a tool for side by side comparison
• On the list we identified nice to haves vs necessities. A radar is a nice to have in my book not a necessity, whereas a bimini (awning) to keep the sun out the cockpit is a necessity in the tropics. Sure you can get one made, but it will cost you thousands of dollars and weeks to accomplish
• We worked out that a cheaper boat with less spec, will often cost more in the long run than a more expensive vessel with all the kit. This even more so if you consider the time involved. Also remember that kit does not tend to affect the overall resale price of the boat. Just because you added a $5000 dodger does not increase its value by $5k...unfortunately
• Arranged viewings with those on the shortlist. All this involves significant time and expense as we hire cars and trains and aeroplanes to do this...The boat is getting more expensive by the day and we have not even bought one yet...
• We would view each boat and weigh up the options. Every boat has its value. Some however are just not appealing and don't fit the criteria. Others need more than just a polish and would be "project boats" for a long time before we could set off. Too long in some cases
• Every now and then you find the right boat but at the wrong price. As we are in a buyers market (the American economy - and the world economy - is in a poor place at the moment) we have considered a few yachts with prices in excess of our budget. Sometime a seemingly cheeky offer is accepted with the right timing and the right seller
• The most difficult part is realising that whatever you spend on a boat, you will spend an additional 40 - 50% on getting her cruising ready. I never thought about this until this was called out by my parents and seconded by John Neal - from Mahina.com. I started doing the math...no dingy, + $1000. No outboard engine for dingy, + $1000, no self-steering, + $2000 etc etc - THAT affected the boat budget!
• When we found one that we did like on paper, but it was far away, we made a few calls to the owners / brokers to find out all about the boat and what the condition was of the big ticket items Namely - the engine, hull, rig, sails etc. An engine rebuild can costs tens of thousand. Delamination on the deck costs thousands to fix. Chainplates are a mission and costly to replace etc
• If we liked what we heard we would go away and research the make, design. There are loads of forums with information from owners. Also some have websites dedicated to the design. We also emailed owners to ask their advice and what to look out for when considering the boat
• If all was to our liking, we would then make a preliminary offer. "Based on the information you have provided I would like to offer you $X for her...subject to viewing, survey and sea trial"
• If the offer was accepted, we would make our way to the boat and view her
• We would have a full survey done and would do this every time from now on. Preferably with the owner present for both the out the water survey and the sea trial. Together we can identify and discuss in an open forum any issues with the boat and it adds a bit of realism to the deal
• If there are any major issues that will require additional capital that you have not budgeted for, negotiate with the seller on price

One step closer...

We have had a lovely relaxing 2 weeks at Dylan's parents on Salt Spring Island (check out the view from their living room below!) being fed amazing food in large quantities. Xmas presents have equipped us with boat related items including a magellan GPS, cruising guides for the Caribbean, a germinator and solar showers. Gem (Dylan's Mum) has given me a cruising recipe book containing her old favourites and I have been using the time to test some out, with successful results!

Salt Spring Island is full of interesting characters and people who have jumped off the corporate treadmill, choosing instead to move to a slower laid back lifestyle, living on an island with like minded people. Hippies aside (and wowzer there are a lot of them), we need to get cracking on our Caribbean adventure.

After hours and hours of trawling through the internet with the help of Dylan's parents, we have come up with a short list of ten boats consisting of 3 Cabo Ricos, 3 O'Days, 2 Tartans, a Hood and an Amazon all between 34 and 40 foot and all in Florida. Flights have been booked to Miami for 4th January and we are now lining up the viewings. By the time all boats have been seen, we will be experts on the geography of Florida! The viewings are taking us from the northern town of St Augustine, all the way down through Titusville to the West coast towns of Sarasota and Fort Myers, ending up where we started in Miami.

Excited and slightly daunted at all that needs to be done pre and post boat purchase, we are under no illusion that there is going to be a helluva lot of work that needs to be done to get a boat ready to head to the Bahamas.