Solo cruising

I am 70, solo, fit and settled in a house after a lifetime of ocean yacht racing and power boat cruising. I play golf and have a good life with many friends. I feel I am part of the small community where I live. However, I recently discovered that I had the feeling that my life was"mouldering" away. I started idly looking at boats and the Forums. I then stumbled on the Kadey Krogen website, where I fell in love again. I find I am now seriously considering selling out, buying a boat like a Krogen 42' and going cruising solo. I can't afford to do this without selling out.

Unfortunately, there are no Krogens (or any other similar small displacement boats) here in Australia, I would be looking at buying a boat in the USA and cruising it home. A major undertaking but not insurmountable from where I see it.

Once here, we have superb waterways on the Aussie East Coast and Barrier Reef to cruise and they are not crowded. In fact, finding company in most of them would be unusual. We also have the Pacific islands not too far away to cruise. There is a cruising fraternity on the coast, mainly based on "Going North" to Queensland and the Barrier Reef for the winter, mostly yachties.

My problem is, I sold my last boat 10 years ago because my marriage of 30 years had broken up and I needed the money. I am now on the horns of a dilemna as to whether to take the step and sell out and go or just stay with the comfortable life I have. Are there other solo cruisers out there who have been thru this paradigm shift around my age and who can advise me how they handled the transition and how they find cruising alone now?

Hey Douglas. Welcome aboard! You may want to repost your question under live a boards. It will be seen more and fit in there. The Krogen 42 would be a great choice IMO. Few steps would be easy on the knees, and they are a great vessel! Keith on the forum has a very nice Krogen in Kemah Texas. I'm sure he would be happy to answer any questions you may have about the boat. What type vessel was your boat in the picture? I see a great looking set of davits on it.

Thanks for that Steve, will follow thru as you suggest.

The boat is my last one, sold in 2001. It is a game boat, Aquarius 36', built in Queensland. Had an intercooled turbo Perkins, did about 18 knots but was just a bit small for living aboard and of course, range was limited. . The davits I built myself to carry an 11' tinnie with o/b. Worked well. I used to do a lot of crabbing and fishing from the tinnie and it was easy to launch and retrieve using the davits. Much better also than towing the tinnie when travelling.

I like the wheelhouse, interior layout and hull design of the Krogen. I'm planning a trip to Seattle shortly to have a look at a couple of 42's with Denis Lawrence of Kadey Krogen who has been very helpful and understanding of my dilemma. I hope this visit will help in the decision making process.

Will keep the Forum informed if I get the courage to proceed.

Regards,

Doug

Sounds great. Keep us informed!

For single solo cruising you need to be close to the bathroom, galley, engine room and easy quick access to the dock. Its not really the size as once you get over 40+ ft, 90% of the maneuvering/docking is at the helm.*A bowe and/or stern thruster does help, as I can almost wlak the Eagle side ways.*However, I usually have/request someone at the dock to toss and secure the lines as I do not like to get off the boat until at least the mid line is secured.*
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When away for the dock usually 100% of the responsibility is mine as my wife and most of our guest are of little help.* The best feature for a solo boat is an auto pilot and GPS/electronic charts.* The auto pilot sand charts do not have to connected.* Going 6 to 10 knots most of the legs are long runs of san hour or more before having to change course.* A remote control for the auto pilot is nice so you are not stuck at/behind the helm.* I want wander 25 ft and many time I can sit out on the front deck.* ******
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We sell equipment work wide, so I am frequently the craters and dock.* There are a lot of older boats and car being shipped from the US to many parts of the word, since the US dollar has decline in value and prices are depressed.* I use DHL as our freight forwarder as they handle picking up the equipment from the plant to deliver to the customer door.*
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I have priced shipping the Eagle Down to Mexico, its costs a little more than on its bottom, but saves a lot of wear and tear on the boat.* After my wife and I cruise Alaska/Canada, we would like to move to warmer climate and a cheaper place to live south of the boarder.* The Eagle is 58 ft long, 14 ft beam and 40+ ton. The closer the boat can be the max 39 ft long, 8 ft wide, and 8 ft high which is a standard container size the cheaper and easier shipping it would be.**

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Thanks for those tips Phil, the variety of nav. aids nowadays has obviously burgeoned since I sold my last boat. You've still got a lot of interesting stuff ahead by the sound of it. I priced shipping a Krogen 42. to Australia as deck cargo from the East Coast, US$48,000 - $56,000. Too rich for me, hence I'm narrowing the the idea to buying on the West Coast and cruising home via. the islands. Best regards, Doug.