From one boat to another?
I was quite certain I would end up buying the Islander Freeport 36 down in Rio Dulce, Guatemala. I had an offer to purchase price much below the asking price and the location was good as it is where I plan to keep the boat much of the year..hurricane season. Granted I had hoped to find a boat closer to Duluth but was planning to head south in a year or 2 anyway. I searched online for a bluewater sailboat on the Great Lakes in my price range without success. I widened my search range and found several Tayana 37s and several Islander Freeport 36s...in my price range. Both of these sailboats were designed by well known and respected Robert Perry. Needless to say, being a true bluewater boat, a Tayana 37 was my preference between it and the Islander Freeport 36 just in case I might want to eventually cross oceans? Two Tayana 37s stood out as both in my price range and in great shape with a list of extras. However, they were not ideally located. One was in Antigua in the lesser Antilles and one in Venezuala. I had difficulty getting in contact with the broker or seller of either of these Tayanas but received good response from the broker on the Islander Freeport 36. Also, airfare to these 2 locations was almost 3 times as much as to Guatemala when I was checking. This is when I turned my focus to the Islander Freeport 36 in Rio Dulce.
The Islander Freeport 36 is a very nice liveaboard known to sail very well. It’s a very sea worthy coastal cruiser, though not designed as a true bluewater sailboat. The bluewater liabilities are the fairly large cockpit lacking a bridge deck with the companionway going almost down to the cockpit floor. It makes for ease of going in and out of the cabin but could allow a large wave astern flooding the cockpit flowing into the cabin as well. The other liability are the large windows on the raised cabin which creates great headroom and lots of natural light in the main cabin. However, if crossing oceans and hammered for extended periods with heavy seas these oversized windows could implode, quickly flooding the boat. Still, with modifications, people with these boats have crossed plenty of oceans and a couple have even circumnavigated the earth. My costs on traveling to check out the Islander Freeport 36 added up....the airfare, marine survey and haul out plus a little more for lodging and meals. Oh well, I had a good time. As it turned out I decided against buying this sailboat. This decision was after the haul-out and discovering some bubbles in the hull. The bubbles or blisters weren’t really a deal killer. It was that during the 3 day wait on results if the survey, I decided to once again contact the broker about the Tayana 37 in Antigua. Surprise surprise..this time I received a response right away and confirmation the boat was unharmed by last seasons hurricanes. So I decided to go for the boat that was initially my first choice. As it stands now I’ve received a second counter purchase price to my initial offer and counter offer. The price was agreeable to me but I decided to try one more counter to that offer. If they hold fast I’ll take the deal but maybe they’ll come down a bit? It’s always a buyers market so they say. Airfare to Antigua in early December has also come down substancially from earlier searches.
Assuming I end up buying this boat I’ll need crew (2 people would be ideal) to help sail the boat to Rio Dulce. Anyone interested in joining me on a Caribbean voyage beginning in Antigua stopping in the Vigin Islands, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Haiti... from there it’s either Jamaica to Cayman Islands and the long stretch straight to Rio Dulce or if time allows the south side of Cuba and across to Mexico with a few stops in Belize on the way to Guatemala. It’s not too early to contact me if you have that freedom of time. I’m guessing it will be about 2.5 months January, February and into March. Use the contact form on this blogger site.. or friends who already known Contact me by phone, email or facebook. Obviously friends come first in seeking crew. But anyone intesered should introduce themselves.
The Islander Freeport 36 is a very nice liveaboard known to sail very well. It’s a very sea worthy coastal cruiser, though not designed as a true bluewater sailboat. The bluewater liabilities are the fairly large cockpit lacking a bridge deck with the companionway going almost down to the cockpit floor. It makes for ease of going in and out of the cabin but could allow a large wave astern flooding the cockpit flowing into the cabin as well. The other liability are the large windows on the raised cabin which creates great headroom and lots of natural light in the main cabin. However, if crossing oceans and hammered for extended periods with heavy seas these oversized windows could implode, quickly flooding the boat. Still, with modifications, people with these boats have crossed plenty of oceans and a couple have even circumnavigated the earth. My costs on traveling to check out the Islander Freeport 36 added up....the airfare, marine survey and haul out plus a little more for lodging and meals. Oh well, I had a good time. As it turned out I decided against buying this sailboat. This decision was after the haul-out and discovering some bubbles in the hull. The bubbles or blisters weren’t really a deal killer. It was that during the 3 day wait on results if the survey, I decided to once again contact the broker about the Tayana 37 in Antigua. Surprise surprise..this time I received a response right away and confirmation the boat was unharmed by last seasons hurricanes. So I decided to go for the boat that was initially my first choice. As it stands now I’ve received a second counter purchase price to my initial offer and counter offer. The price was agreeable to me but I decided to try one more counter to that offer. If they hold fast I’ll take the deal but maybe they’ll come down a bit? It’s always a buyers market so they say. Airfare to Antigua in early December has also come down substancially from earlier searches.
Assuming I end up buying this boat I’ll need crew (2 people would be ideal) to help sail the boat to Rio Dulce. Anyone interested in joining me on a Caribbean voyage beginning in Antigua stopping in the Vigin Islands, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Haiti... from there it’s either Jamaica to Cayman Islands and the long stretch straight to Rio Dulce or if time allows the south side of Cuba and across to Mexico with a few stops in Belize on the way to Guatemala. It’s not too early to contact me if you have that freedom of time. I’m guessing it will be about 2.5 months January, February and into March. Use the contact form on this blogger site.. or friends who already known Contact me by phone, email or facebook. Obviously friends come first in seeking crew. But anyone intesered should introduce themselves.
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