Hi Bob, I did see Champion, the boat Larry Briggs first circumnavigated in is for sale on Yachtworld. When we met him last year, he couldn't say enough about this boat; in fact it seemed to us as though he might consider going back to her. A reasonable price, indeed, but a wood hull. > Unless the budget is high, as it often seems to be on this list, I would consider an older boat, such as the Choey Lee LRC--there are a number of these which have the range to make extended passages. There is one on the market which has just finished its 2nd circumnavigation and I believe has a range close to 6,000 miles. ********************* Just a comment, here; not to argue, but to present a different view of deep draft experience. Seahorse draws 7.5 feet when trimmed, and we cruise the East Coast annually from Lake Champlain to New York via the Champlain Canal and Hudson, then along the Jersey coast and up the Delaware, through the C&D Canal to the Chesapeake. We have been up most of the rivers to places like Philadelphia, Baltimore, & Washington and usually visit Annapolis, Solomons, and other places, including small creeks on the Bay. We then travel the ICW from Norfolk south, visiting friends in New Bern before back-tracking to Morehead City, where we go offshore to Mayport, FL, perhaps stopping in Charleston, before heading up the St. Johns to Jacksonville where we lay up for winter. Ninety percent of the time we anchor out in the same anchorages everyone else uses; of course there are some into which we cannot go, but that is no big deal as there are plenty of other spots which are deep enough. Although we are often in 9 feet of water at low tide, we have not had a problem (OK, of course we have run aground once or twice in the ditch) and whereas we watch where we go, we are not slaves to the tide tables. The upsides of deep draft are several, but basically, because Seahorse has a sailboat hull with a wide cut-away full-keel, the ride, without stabilization, is much better than in a "trawler" hull. If we do touch bottom, it is touching a few feet below the hull on a substantial keel where damage is unlikely. That is unless you are on coral or rock, but most of the areas we cruise in have silt or at worst hard sand. If we need to, we can anchor in water where there is more of a fetch, and therefore larger waves, and be more comfortable than a smaller boat would be. We are also able to travel comfortably in weather that smaller boats would not put up with, and in the spring, when we are anxious to get back to the Lake, we can run offshore from Mayport to New York at 7.5 knots through the water and with the help of the Stream, be there in 4-5 days. We have not been to the Bahamas with Seahorse, but the PO cruised her there many winters; he tells me that you just have to watch where you go. Personally, from what I have heard, I'll stick to the Eastern Caribbean. > One of the problems which folks get into is to buy a deep draft boat--and then try and cruise the East Coast and Bahamas. So look at the area where you will be doing the first coastal cruising. Regards, John "Seahorse" ************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com