All the pictures on this site are 'borrowed', but they represent the ultimate Wind Wanderer to us, if we had rediculously deep pockets! Obviously this page will change when we can fill it with details of our own, far more humble 'new home'.
But we do want to be able to feel lucky when we look at our particular little ship. It needs to be a boat that captures the romance of sail and the mystique of far away places. After all, that's what living this new life is all about. Few designers have captured it as well as William Garden with his Vagabonds and Formosas, and Flying Cloud, the CT54 heading this page and our home page from the drawing board Bob Perry and Ted Hood.
But we do want to be able to feel lucky when we look at our particular little ship. It needs to be a boat that captures the romance of sail and the mystique of far away places. After all, that's what living this new life is all about. Few designers have captured it as well as William Garden with his Vagabonds and Formosas, and Flying Cloud, the CT54 heading this page and our home page from the drawing board Bob Perry and Ted Hood.
When we first started putting our plans together, we fully expected to wander down to the local marina, talk to a few brokers, check out a few suitable candidates and choose a particular model from the 'budget cruising' end. Then we'd know how much we'd have to find for a boat and how much we'd have left to live on.
I was thinking a 40-45 ft ketch or cutter would do it, given that Just the Ticket was a 33ft sloop and easy to sail, and Gypsy-Belle was 45ft, but she was a houseboat and had way more space than we'd need.
Sandy was thinking the Titanic looked good in the movie, maybe scaled down a little...
It didn't take long to discover a few home truths, the three most relevant being...
a) 45ft was not going to be big enough;
b) America has a far greater range of the heavy displacement, fibreglass boats suited to our idea of a full time sailing home than
Australia; and
c) in the current financial climate our limited budget would get a lot more boat for buck in the USA/Caribbean/Mexico area than
here. Better include Greece!
Suddenly the simple, easy transition from land to water has become a major project. Logically, it makes little difference if we start our sailing life here, or anywhere else in the world. We're planning to travel widely anyway.
But in reality it means greater preparation of the boat, and us, much earlier in the piece... and a few more leaps of faith .
Then of course there's the voyage home through the South Pacific... a combination of ocean passages and island hopping through paradise.
But hey, someone has to do it...!
Fortunately we agree on the important stuff, ie. safety, reasonable sailing performance, comfort and aesthetics.
Safety is a given and there'll be no compromise there.
Sailing performance? This area is very subjective but to us, it's far more important to be able to handle strong wind and big seas if we have to, than to win races with the wednesday afternoon and weekend yacht club mob. The full time liveaboard life in reality turns out to be about 85% at anchor somewhere, and 15% sailing, so if we want to be happy 85% of the time...
Comfort is very important. We enjoy it on land, and if this is to be our home, possibly for a long time, why would we settle for a different standard?
Many living the cruising life are water camping and feel that things they'd take for granted on land are unnecessary luxuries on a boat. We're a bit beyond the hairy chested, running up Everest in thongs and a T-shirt mentality.
So, we plan to have a big battery bank and plenty power generating capacity. At least a diesel generator in addition to the alternator to start with, and solar panels and possibly a wind generator eventually.
Unlimited water. Not only enough tank capacity to cross oceans, but desalinators are now readily available although still a significant investment. However, if we want to be able to shower daily, do laundry, and go for months at a time without having to pull into marinas (they can really eat into the budget), they make a lot of sense and will be part of our set up.
Laundry. Most people cruising use laundromats but again, we wouldn't expect to do that living in a house so we'll have some kind of laundry on board. Whether it's a hand turned drum, which is fine for shorts and T-shirts, or the washer/dryer combo depends on available space.
Communication. Apart from normal marine radio/s, it's now fairly easy to have email capability everywhere, and Skype and the internet 90% of the time. A satelite phone operates anywhere, at a price, but is a great comfort for emergencies and special occassions.
Well, that's some of our thinking for Wind Wanderer. It will be interesting to see how close we get to it!