…In March 2003,several crews in Chaguaramas,Trinidad,gathered to talk about their notions of the ideal boat and how those notions had changed in the course of their years aboard. While those discussions served as the baseline for this article,I've included the results of interviews with other seasoned cruisers as well. Everybody I spoke to has been living aboard in the Caribbean for five seasons or more;some have been sailing for well over a decade.
At the outset,folks were quick to set the record straight on one score. "The ideal cruising boat is an oxymoron," said Carrol Turner of the Tashiba 40 Trinity. Many sailors felt that boats adapted for the Caribbean–where the breeze is dependable,where good shade and ventilation are a must,and where water,fuel,services,and parts are plentiful–aren't necessarily the best boats for other destinations. Several folks said they'd have chosen something different for the South Pacific or the Intracoastal Waterway. Still others,given the benefit of hindsight, would have chosen an altogether different boat for the way they're living now.
"If we were to do it over again," said Roy Romine, "boy,it sure would be nice to have a playpen in the back." Roy and his wife,Carol,are 83. They retired in 1986 from jobs in the Midwest, moved aboard a DownEaster 32,and sailed to South Africa and back. They spent most of the 1990s in the Caribbean.
When the Romines began shopping for a boat,their dream was a 50-footer,but two things happened along the way to change their minds. "We cruised on a 38-foot Cabo Rico,and my wife"–who was 66 at the time–"found out she couldn't handle the big chain and the big 45-pound anchor,even though it had a manual windlass," said Roy.
The second thing came from the power of the pen.
"We read the Pardeys'Self-Sufficient Sailor and found out they went everywhere in a 29-footer." Armed with that knowledge,Roy and Carol found a 32-footer (Downeaster 32) they could comfortably handle and afford,and they set out across the Atlantic:42 days to Cape Town. While in many ways they've been pleased with their boat,the Romines reckon that with an electric windlass and roller-furling sails, they could have handled a boat that was big enough to accommodate the aft cabin and the fore-and-aft queen-size bunk they dream of. If he could do it all over,Roy reckons he'd choose a Prout catamaran or a Morgan Out Island 41. "You can laugh about the slow speeds of an Out Island," he said,"but that back bedroom sure would be nice." Aboard their DownEaster,they've built a wood-structure "Florida room" around their cockpit,where they sleep when in port. ….
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