# A 5yr. plan to a cruising retirement



## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

My wife and I are still learning to sail. We bought our first boat (Hunter 240) last year and have been sailing it at the lake. I took the ASA basic keel and coastal cruising course and have many others to take. We are planning to retire in 5yrs. I''m 57 now. We will have more sailing experience by then and hopefully know what kind of boat we need for what we want to do. We mainly want to cruise along the coastal area of Florida (Keys), Bahamas, etc..with occasional offshore passages. We plan to charter some boats before we make a 
decision on a purchase. We would like to liveaboard for 2-4 mths. out of the year. We have read everything we can get our hands on, researched a few boats and came up with the Morgan 41 OI as the ideal boat for us. If anyone has experiences/information they would like to share with us, please e-mail us at [email protected] Thank you...Ernie & Jo.


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## Guest (Jun 30, 2001)

The Out Island series offers a lot of liveaboard space for the dollar. They were quite roomy for their day and had a simple but very workable interior layout. 

As sailboats they are very mediocre sailors especially when it came to beating to windward. Some of this reflects my own prejudices toward faster and easier to handle boats. I really do not enjoy sailing slower boats but more than that, I really hate to run the motor and so prefer boats that sail well because it means that there is substantially more sailing to motoring time. All boats are a compromise and trade offs are made to accomplish specific goals. In the OI series, the goal was clearly maximizing accommodations which took precident over good having more sterling sailing abilities. If you are trying to develop sailing skills these are probably the wrong boats as they are comparatively numb to sail. 

The quality of the constuction on these boats apparently varied pretty widely over the course of their very long constuction period. I have been involved with OI''s that were very poorly constucted (with hull deck joint problems, poor hardware and hardware attachment, junky electrical installations etc) but have also seen postings from OI owners that descibe their boats as being constucted to a higher standard. 

One gripe that I had with these boats, and my experience was actually with the smaller OI36, was that they did not have very good ventilation. 

Most of these boats are getting a little long in the tooth and are bound to have some of the older boat blues. There is a Morgan OI series website but I apparently have misplaced its bookmark in my computer.

While I personnally have never liked these boats, they do have a cult following who seem to love them and defend them voraciously. So, if your concern is finding an inexpensive liveaboard that you can motor up and down the ICW and occasionally sail, then the OI41 offers a lot of boat. Some other boats that you might look for with similar virtues and perhaps better construction and sailing abilities are the Morgan 43, or the CSY 44 (or the earlier and rarer 41) 

Jeff


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## Bilge_Scum (Apr 4, 2000)

Jeff,

I am with Ernie and Jo as far as goals are concerned. However, I want a boat that sails to windward well and has overall lively performance as well as comfort. What would you recommend in the same ball-park price range as the Morgan OI 41?

Dan


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## jack_patricia (May 20, 2001)

Dan, don''t mean to jump in front of Jeff, but one choice you might consider is a Bristol 40. Strongly built, cruising layout (tho'' not the Barn Dance interior of the OI 41) and available in large enough #s over time to avoid too much price gouging.

Jack


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## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

You sound like a man with a dream. I live on the east coat of Florida and have sailed to the keys several times. The things that I have found most important for sailing here are draft (less than 5 feet), lots of ventilation, screens, and ziplok bags (humidity is a killes in the summer. I agree with the previous comment about having a boat that sails well. One knot may not os so may niot seem like much but it can make the difference of arriving in daylight or after dark. In the Keys daylight can be your best friend, considering the nature of the areas inside the reef. If i can help E mail me.


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## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

<We have read everything we can get our hands on, researched a few boats and came up with the Morgan 41 OI as the ideal boat for us.>

Which features make this the ideal boat for you? A bit more information about you, your needs and expectations would help to make responses a bit more helpful.


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## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

The OI 41 is easy to fall in love with for her space and twin cabins. My wife fell in love with the first one we were aboard. However, it''s poor windward performance is lengendary. One thing you might consider is an OI 41 classic, which had a reworked underbody for faster sailing. They may be a little harder to find and a bit more pricy, but you could have your cake and eat it too!

Randy Talley
Author: Emily''s Gold
http://www.bn.com


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## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

I plan to use my Hunter 23.5 when I retire. I think it is the ideal boat for the Keys. To enjoy uncrowded anchorage spots look for the shallowist draft boats possible. We go where the big boys cannot with regularity. We sail more often because our boat is easy to sail and small enother to handle the sails in any weather. Feel free to contact me if you want info on what we have done to make our boat more cruiser friendly.


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## Don Brown (Aug 15, 2001)

Has anyone any experience of the Hitachi Worldstar internet radio that has just come out on the market in Europe.(Meddi?)
It seems to be a good concept - I''m fed up withall the whistles and squeaks from Shortwave and other small radios when cruising in the S.E .Aegean.
Any comment on it''s performance would be much appreciated.
many thanks
Don Brown
NYorks-UK


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## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

I sailed a Morgan41 Classic for five years, 
It was a up grade in performance over O/I I
loved the way it handled, great boat would
reccomend bow thruster if sailing short handed it tight docking with wind.


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## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

ern-n-jo,
I know the Morgan OI 41. I am in general agreement with the others comments. I am hoping to take off in 2 years. I have been researching, searching and always looking at various models of boats for years. I have a similar purpose to you. Take a look at some of the mid to large Irwin''s. I like the 41 and 43. I bought a 43 mkIII. They are not without there problems (what boat is?). If you find one in good shape it is worth the money. They are center cockpits, very roomy, shoal draft (mine has a 4''11" wing keel) and the hulls are built well ... safe decks with high bulwarks. My 43 sails very well (7 knots with 16-18 knots apparent). It is substantial at 26,000 lb.s and has very adequate engine and tankage (66hp, 105 fuel, 180 water. I have never cared much for their smaller boats and almost let that get in the way of looking at their larger ones. The 41 is usually a ketch and a bit older, while the 43 is a sloop with a cutter option and a bit newer. Good luck - they''re all a trade off. Find what works for you!
Bob


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