18-30 Sailboat build suggestions - First Build

My family recently bought a home in Big Pine Key in the Florida Keys and while we have a nice fishing boat I've always had an interest in sailing. I've been reading the forums for a few days and searching online but was hoping some members can point me in the right direction or make some suggestions. Heres what im looking for

Sleeps atleast 4

Shallow draft - Some of the flats around the house are as low as 1.5 feet maybe even lower it would be nice to navigate some of those areas.

Ocean worthy - I dont plan taking this boat around the world but if I could take it to the tortugas or the bahamas that would be great.

A space for a decent Head im sure my wife which ever couples join us would appreciate it a little privacy.

Ideally id like to keep it in the water for alot of the year.

Thats all I can think of for now.

So far ive looked at these
http://www.hartley-boats.com/sailboats.htm The TS18 and 21

Thanks !

 

Nick,

I would highly, highly recommend you just go buy a boat. It will be faster, cheaper, and a lot less trouble than building your own. The size difference between a 30' and a 18' is so drastic I not even sure where to start recommending something.

My advice would be to find an old centerboard you should be able to pick up for <$1,000 and get out and sail. Just do some afternoons and mornings on the boat, and take some classes on how to sail. After a year or so you should have a much better feeling for what you want to do than you do now.

A decent day sailor is just a radically different boat than someone you would want to take across to the Bahamas. Sure it's only 20-30 miles, but if you get a north wind the waves can build very quickly and become very steep in almost no time. This is not a good thing for an open cockpit 20’ boat, regardless of build quality. Conversely a boat I would feel comfortable taking to the Bahamas is not likely to have a draft as shallow as you need. They are just too different for one boat to do everything in this case.

For the Bahamas trip I would recommend something like a San Juan 28, J-30, ect... Heavy, displacement boats with a reasonable interior for weekends. But remember you are going to be going off shore in this boat, and will need to equip it properly, coastal liferaft, EPIRB, reserve water, ect...

For day sailing in your bay, a used Lightning, maybe a Flying Scot, really any one of a hundred small centerboard designs than can take having the centerboard bounce of the bottom without problems.

 

Thanks for the feedback I actually posted the thread twice and some of the other users are echoing similar feedback.

Ive located two boats right in my area.

http://keys.craigslist.org/boa/2930892722.html

and

http://keys.craigslist.org/boa/2984638369.html

What do you think ?

 

To keep the discussion together, let's have the discussion continue at the first thread http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/sailboats/18-25-sailboat-build-suggestions-42903.html