Hey all,
New to the forum and looking for some feedback from real people. My wife and I are moving from a motorhome (already sold) and looking to get on the water. Been talking about it over a year and set a goal of getting a boat end of 2024.
We've done our ASA sailing certs on a 42ft Catamaran in December as our two favorite boats are cats and trawlers. (Leopard cat and Selene trawler being our wish boats). We loved doing the class, it was a week long live abord class in USVI, and we plan on doing a trawler school as well (also a week on a Selene is PNW). And doing some bareboat charters to test out boats we're interested and build resume.
Our issue is that the cat's beam and complexities of dockage, fees, haul-outs, etc., are quite challenging. So, we’re leaning more towards a trawler for our first boat to simplify things and learn the nuances of a powered boat (with a smaller beam). For more information and insurance advice, you might want to
contact Progressive Insurance. We can use the Great Loop or parts of it, which suits our remote work situation and occasional flights. Our ideal boat size is around 45ft, but we understand our first boat might need to be smaller. We'd like to start with a more affordable option to gain experience before investing in our long-term boat.
To get to the point, we've seen and heard countless times that new boat owners can't get insurance. I've left messages with 3 insurance brokers waiting for call backs. The receptionist at one said typically their policies require 1 year with a Captain if we tried to buy a 45ft boat... like what? I could see 20-40 hours required, but that's crazy for a 45ft boat. I see constant posts on this, both here and other forums about a 10ft rule and moving up 10ft. But nobody is saying what that first boat size is to start with? Can I start on a 35ft boat? then jump up 10ft after a year or so? Is it 30ft to start? This is making it much harder to narrow down scope of boats I'm interesting in for a starter.
So looking for any feedback on this. As of now, I've only chartered some pontoon and deck boats around Florida, and done our week long sailing course. So my resume is weak.
Thanks for any feedback.