The 2nd of three parts of our article recently published in Pacific Passagemaker magazine.
Sources of cruising and technical information
Those interested in the live-aboard cruising lifestyle can find valuable information from:
- Voyaging Under Power, the Bible of passage making by Captain Robert P Beebe, 4th edition updated by Denis Umstot
- PassageMaker magazine (US)
- Seven Seas Cruising Association
- Cruising blogs
- Web sites of various passagemaker builders, often with links to cruising blogs
- Brand owners’ websites
- Noonsite.com
- Cruising guides to various areas
- OEM instruction Manuals and manufacturers of the equipment
- Technical books (e.g. Nigel Calder‘s Boatowners’ Mechanical and Electrical Manual)
- Other cruisers
- Local marine engineering companies and/or agents for equipment
- Internet and You Tube searches
- Previous owners of your boat
Buying your passagemaker
Although the boat market has come out of the bottom of the trough it’s still a buyer’s market, and now is a good time to purchase and enjoy your new or pre-owned passagemaker.
A passagemaker is a modest-sized motor vessel that can safely, comfortably and economically cross oceans to take its owners and their families anywhere in the world.
Typically it will be heavy-displacement, single-engined, diesel powered, around 12 to 23 metres in length, with sufficient in-built fuel tank capacity to cruise at least 2,500 miles, easily handled by two people, able to proceed in open seas in most weather conditions, and equipped for long periods of living aboard.
To simplify your selection process a good first step is to decide the specific brand and size of boat you want to buy. An excellent resource is the US magazine, PassageMaker, having a wealth of useful information about passage making as well as listing many vessels for sale and providing an excellent guide to market values.
Passagemakers are technically complex making a comparison of different vessels for sale with varying equipment levels challenging. We used a spreadsheet to list vessels plus their equipment and inventories so that we were able to objectively compare what was included with each vessel, and judge their relative value.
Consider the location of vessels for sale and your intended cruising area. We wanted to use our passagemaker in the Med so primarily looked at vessels located in Europe.
Allied to the location issue is the complex one of port of registry. If you importing a vessel to your home country you may be required to pay some form of tax or duty. If you are locating a vessel elsewhere you will often be able to avoid this indefinitely. For example our New Zealand-registered vessel can remain in EU waters up to 18 months at a time without paying tax (VAT). Before the expiry of the 18 month period it’s only necessary to leave EU waters for a few days, and the 18 month clock is re-set. This is a complex issue and if buying offshore we suggest involving an experienced marine solicitor to ensure the vessel is unencumbered, and that correct documentary procedures are followed to minimise your liabilities.
You can cruise to stunning places like this bay in Croatia
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Do all live-aboard cruisers cross oceans?
Absolutely not; there are literally thousands of people living aboard all manner of boats, and some do cross oceans, but a much large number enjoy what I’ll describe as adventurous coastal cruising.
Our live-aboard experience is five years cruising 11,000 miles in the Med but we’re rarely more than 40 miles from the nearest land. Many cruisers enjoy fantastic cruising locations like the Med, the Bahamas, North and South America, and South-East Asia without needing to venture across the major oceans, and while it’s a great feeling to have a boat that is ocean-capable, the majority of cruisers elect to ship even these vessels aboard purpose-built freighters rather than traverse the large distances on their own hulls. From a cost perspective the two options are generally considered to be similar. Many of the cruisers who do cross oceans take extra crew along to assist during that part of their voyage. We greatly admire the exploits of folks like Jim and Suzy Sink, who in 1990 were the first to circumnavigate the world aboard a production motor yacht, Salvation 11 – a Nordhavn 46, covering over 50,000 nm during five years, but we don’t plan to do that ourselves.
Read the 3rd and final part of this article next week.
Sources of cruising and technical information
Those interested in the live-aboard cruising lifestyle can find valuable information from:
- Voyaging Under Power, the Bible of passage making by Captain Robert P Beebe, 4th edition updated by Denis Umstot
- PassageMaker magazine (US)
- Seven Seas Cruising Association
- Cruising blogs
- Web sites of various passagemaker builders, often with links to cruising blogs
- Brand owners’ websites
- Noonsite.com
- Cruising guides to various areas
- OEM instruction Manuals and manufacturers of the equipment
- Technical books (e.g. Nigel Calder‘s Boatowners’ Mechanical and Electrical Manual)
- Other cruisers
- Local marine engineering companies and/or agents for equipment
- Internet and You Tube searches
- Previous owners of your boat
Buying your passagemaker
Although the boat market has come out of the bottom of the trough it’s still a buyer’s market, and now is a good time to purchase and enjoy your new or pre-owned passagemaker.
A passagemaker is a modest-sized motor vessel that can safely, comfortably and economically cross oceans to take its owners and their families anywhere in the world.
Typically it will be heavy-displacement, single-engined, diesel powered, around 12 to 23 metres in length, with sufficient in-built fuel tank capacity to cruise at least 2,500 miles, easily handled by two people, able to proceed in open seas in most weather conditions, and equipped for long periods of living aboard.
To simplify your selection process a good first step is to decide the specific brand and size of boat you want to buy. An excellent resource is the US magazine, PassageMaker, having a wealth of useful information about passage making as well as listing many vessels for sale and providing an excellent guide to market values.
Passagemakers are technically complex making a comparison of different vessels for sale with varying equipment levels challenging. We used a spreadsheet to list vessels plus their equipment and inventories so that we were able to objectively compare what was included with each vessel, and judge their relative value.
Consider the location of vessels for sale and your intended cruising area. We wanted to use our passagemaker in the Med so primarily looked at vessels located in Europe.
Allied to the location issue is the complex one of port of registry. If you importing a vessel to your home country you may be required to pay some form of tax or duty. If you are locating a vessel elsewhere you will often be able to avoid this indefinitely. For example our New Zealand-registered vessel can remain in EU waters up to 18 months at a time without paying tax (VAT). Before the expiry of the 18 month period it’s only necessary to leave EU waters for a few days, and the 18 month clock is re-set. This is a complex issue and if buying offshore we suggest involving an experienced marine solicitor to ensure the vessel is unencumbered, and that correct documentary procedures are followed to minimise your liabilities.
You can cruise to stunning places like this bay in Croatia
Do all live-aboard cruisers cross oceans?
Absolutely not; there are literally thousands of people living aboard all manner of boats, and some do cross oceans, but a much large number enjoy what I’ll describe as adventurous coastal cruising.
Our live-aboard experience is five years cruising 11,000 miles in the Med but we’re rarely more than 40 miles from the nearest land. Many cruisers enjoy fantastic cruising locations like the Med, the Bahamas, North and South America, and South-East Asia without needing to venture across the major oceans, and while it’s a great feeling to have a boat that is ocean-capable, the majority of cruisers elect to ship even these vessels aboard purpose-built freighters rather than traverse the large distances on their own hulls. From a cost perspective the two options are generally considered to be similar. Many of the cruisers who do cross oceans take extra crew along to assist during that part of their voyage. We greatly admire the exploits of folks like Jim and Suzy Sink, who in 1990 were the first to circumnavigate the world aboard a production motor yacht, Salvation 11 – a Nordhavn 46, covering over 50,000 nm during five years, but we don’t plan to do that ourselves.
Read the 3rd and final part of this article next week.
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