What kind of yacht should I buy for cruising? If you are thinking about buying a yacht, one word will govern all your thoughts - compromise.
As a general rule, if you want speed, you will have to compromise on comfort and perhaps safety.
On the other hand, if you want to feel perfectly safe out there, then be prepared for a long time to get to your destination - some cruisers think that four knots is an achievement in their boat.
However, if you are into cruising, that's the lifestyle you want - who wants to get to Tahiti in seven days, when you could take fourteen? Advocates of speed may say that they can outrun oncoming bad weather, but any heavy displacement boat should be able to see off the most violent storms with no trouble.
Unfortunately, most boats at the boat shows are plastic fantastics built for speed and luxury, with a price tag to match, which means that to get the heavy boat you want, you will have to buy an old model.
This in itself is no bad thing, as the boat was probably not mass produced, but built by hand by craftsmen.
Get a boat that has been heavily overbuilt for its size, and is virtually indestructible.
If it is a steel boat, look at the thickness of the steel, if it is a ferro boat, make sure it was built professionally, not by some backyard amateur.
Don't worry too much about the age of the boat, if it's been around for fifty years, it is obviously well built, and will last another fifty.
You will have to compromise on the size of the boat too.
Costs come down dramatically with each foot reduction in length, but a bigger boat, say a forty footer will be able to carry a lot more than a thirty foot boat.
Unfortunately, boats these days have to carry a lot more than they used to.
For instance, if there is an engine, there will need to be lots of spares, most of them heavy.
Then there is the fuel required to use the engine, again a heavy load, depending on the number of gallons required.
You will also need a toolbox to carry all the other spares, things to fix sails, winches, rigging, plumbing etc.
If you have a toolbox at home you will know just how heavy it can get.
There's probably a self steering vane hanging off the back, also a couple of solar panels and a liferaft.
Add to all this the food and water for the crew.
Water is heavy, and a crew of two will normally use around 25 litres per day.
If you have a slow boat, your voyages will take longer, so you will need more water.
For a voyage of 24 days, that's 600 litres.
So you see that there is a tremendous amount of weight to be carried around, not to mention the room all this takes up, so why not buy a bigger boat.
Well, a bigger boat will generally be faster and more comfortable, but will cost a lot more in marina fees, outhauling fees and general maintenance costs.
So, buying a boat will always involve compromises, so decide on the things you want, good speed, safety, comfort, low purchase price and maintenance costs, and just accept that you can't get all the things you want in one boat.