[PUP] scott Bulgers' posts

[Peter Pisciotta]

> I have been primarily focused on
> purchasing a N40,and am wondering, what about a
> Nordic Tug 42 or similar vessel for an extended
> coastal trip and liveaboard, Primarily
> single-handed.Victoria to Sea of Cortez for the
> winter.

Last year, Patrick Gerety was kind enough to invite me
to join him and his wife aboard Aloha, their 2001
Willard 40. We were part of a 165 boat fleet, all but
4 were sailboats. The other power boats were a 25-year
old (approx) Defever 37 single screw, and a pair of
approximately 50-foot motoryacht style boats. I knew
someone who cruised a Uniflite 42 down there for a few
years too. When I was actively delivering yachts along
the West Coast, I moved some unlikely boats fairly
long distances, including a Florida-based Sunseeker
50-footer with a jet-ski on the swim platform instead
of a dingy from Seattle to San Francisco (it proved a
fairly capable sea boat, though the windows leaked
like a sieve). And I have to observe, the most
frequent type of recreational boat along the
low-latitude coast (Cabo to Florida through the Panama
Canal) is neither a trawler nor a sailboat but a sport
fisher being moved from one fishing ground to another.


Everyone needs to make their own decisions. If I owned
a Nordic Tug 42 (or smaller) and wanted to head to
Mexico - I'd have no hesitation in doing so. I'd watch
the weather, leave Victoria in September and slowly
meander south, planning to be in Cabo no sooner than
November 1st. Fortunately, the Channel Islands off
Santa Barbara are wonderful places to hang-out so
killing time in Southern California's warm climate is
easy to do. The difficult part is returning home to
the PNW - many folks want to do it in April which is
an awful time of year to head north due to incredibly
persistent head winds in the 20-25 knot range. Better
to hang-out for another few months and head north
in....you guessed it, September or October.

What's the thinking of other folks?

Peter
Willard 36
San Francisco