boats

Ok so I am at least looking. That I can do. I really don't want to take the plunge yet though. Case in point. Last May I found the perfect boat. Just back from an extended, blue water cruise after a refit. Price was right, in low tax state Alabama, in a hurricane hole. Of course, Hurricane Issac made a direct hit on it last month so I saved myself a bunch of worry. I looked closely at some videos and realized that it is not the wind that does the damage, but the effect of the tidal surge along with the wind. After all Cook Strait, back home in NZ regularly gets 100km/hr winds along with a 10m swell. Actually I came across another pretty good one last night. A Contessa 32 that is pretty well set up for cruising. Nowhere as good as the Southern Cross though. That boat was perfect. Had everything you could possibly want and then some. There are 4 for sale on Sailboat listings and 3 on yachtworld so no worries about picking one out at the last minute. Besides I don't want to lose the momentum (which I may if I start too early.) If it is still for sale at the end of October, I might wander down to Fort Pierce in Florida and take a look. There is also a Pacific Seacraft Mariah down there that I could also look at. I looked at one at Lake Guntersville west of here a few months back but found it was cavernous inside. Too much room for me. I like the idea of a smaller boat. More manageable and less maintenance.