> > All hands-- > > > > Join me in welcoming Robert Franklin to the List. > Gladly Georgs. Welcome Robert and Patty! > > > >> > > My wife Patty and I live in Lynchburg, Virginia and are certain to >> > > be the most inexperienced and least knowledgeable members of the >> > > list. We have never owned a motor boat. >> > > > > >> <snip> ...in a former life I was a >> > > chemical engineer and still do some consulting... I challenge the least knowledgeable part. You will be surprised at how useful your chemical and engineering experiences will be on a list where fuels, lubricants, paints, building materials (particularly composites like FRP), etc. are common topics. Most of what we all learned about how to live on land extends onto the water as well: finance, cooking, relationships, insurance, health care, etc. etc. etc.. > > > > > >> > > <snip> Since we are both in our 50's and are coming to boating late in life >> > > we will probably only buy one boat so we want to make the most >> > > informed decision possible. >> You certainly can do that, but instead of a single momentous decision on which so much rides please consider that real experience is the only way to develop and understand your own capabilities and preferences. The only way to learn to ride a bike is with both feet on the pedals and a couple of Band-Aids in your pocket. I strongly suggest instead that you get a progression of boats from the smaller, simpler and cheaper working your way toward your ultimate goal of a coastal cruising power catamaran. And don't fixate on just one single unchanging final goal here, feel free to re-evaluate as you go. You will need plenty of help and advice along the way, and these lists are great places to find it. You will clearly find that there is seldom a single choice that everyone would make the same. 'Different boats for different folks!' Get lots of different advice, evaluate it with your own experience and keep moving ahead. And get out on the water as soon as you possibly can. Charter crewed boats at first, then take bareboat chartering classes together. Charter boats you are attracted to. You couldn't possibly have too much real, personal, on the water experience to inform your important choices. That way you can get the mistakes over with earlier in the game and minimize the risk of finding that single huge decision was somehow wrong. I also suggest paper magazines, two of my favorite about the cruising lifestyle are _Latitudes and Attitudes_ and _Cruising World_. Actually you can score Lats and Ats online for free I'm told, and I kinda recall that CW is available online as well, although I think a subscription price is involved there. Save a tree. Both mag.s extensively cover long term cruising and liveaboard lifestyle. Recently there are a spate of new blogs about everything, including those from cruisers of every sort. Check them out. So feel free to meld our opinions and experiences to form and guide your own, and again, welcome, Gary Bell, sometimes known as that old drone Mister Science.