darkside

We had a both Mini M satphone and SSB and pactor Hardly used the Mini M at all. Once you get a decent SSB signal (put some effort in and do it right) the combo with the newer pactors works really well. I used the gribs a bit but still liked to look at the faxes where you could get decent ones. Sounds like an awesome trip and nice ride.

Yep Booboo we even flew an asymmetric like that on the cat, one of the advantages of a 25' beam. I agree with the keep it under 10.5m for cruising in NZ to keep the costs down. I had a 34' foam cored Robertson that was a lot of fun and plenty big enough for the family. We even did a lap of the Pacific Islands on her. Not the right boat for that? Maybe, but we had a blast.

Royale as much as I like an 88 (my first keeler) I'm not sure if I would want to sail one home from Europe. I would sail this though: http://au.yachtworld.com/boats/2007/Hanse-470-e-470e-2725596/Italy#.U9Xh1fmSxqU Deep keel, bow thruster, watermaker, liferaft, slab reefing, self tacking, LPG cooking and one electric winch for the old buggers. It ticks a lot of boxes for the price.

Jon full disclosure here I paid asking price for the boat we did the big trip in and never regretted it. We sold it at over 95% of asking price and I don't think the buyer ever regretted that either. However that was a while ago and the market is different now. Also in Europe I think boats are more commodities than the emotional tie they are here. I wouldn't be embarrassed offering 70% with winter coming over there. They can always counter offer. Perhaps lower if there are a few things you don't like. Always buy a boat you will be happy to own yourself if it doesn't sell when you get

Jon if you have time offer low. Plenty of people are still hurting in Europe there will be bargains to be had. Also why rush? Cruising the Med is a lot of fun or park it up in Grenada/Trini for the cyclone season and come home. Really hard to get the time to go do it so make the most of the opportunity . As to quality there be good ones and there be lemons. However the liveability of a modern boat is miles ahead of old kiwi designs. I agree with going with owner/live aboard boats as opposed to charter if possible. Having said that we met people out in ex charter boats having the time

An example of a 10m liveaboard cat. Pretty sure Alim was the first Turkish national to circumnavigate his own boat. No standing headroom on the bridgedeck apart from the cockpit. This photo was taken on a freshwater lake but the boat did cross oceans OK.

Yes those two options are bigger than 10m However you can still have a nice "sitting only" saloon on a 10m cat and standing headroom in the hulls, which was the point. The other issues of two engines to maintain you can't really avoid, that said two can be handy at times. The do cost more to park. The weather in NZ can be bad. So why sail here? Has there ever been a better time to start your trip from somewhere else? The NZD is in great shape at the moment. Why not start in the Caribbean And how cheap will Greek charter boats be at the end of this season?

We lived on a cat for 4 1/2 years. We bought it for space and speed and ended up just enjoying the space. Speed is great and it was nice to be able to carve off some big days. However you spend 90% or more of your time at anchor so for a liveaboard optimize your boat for that. I don't agree that 10m cats don't work. They won't be fast unless you are really minimalist and you will only be able to stand in the hulls, unless it looks like a block of flats. If you want to stand on the bridgedeck on a reasonable looking cat it starts somewhere between 35' and 40'. If you want to stand on the