Dolph >>Do what you can and have the comforts you can afford or choose to have. Go plush, go spartan, who cares, just GO!<< This is true if you want to go cruising. We have all seen people spend 7 to 10 years working on a boat and never go cruising. We had a fellow here in Oregon 20 years ago work on a boat for 10 years, dreamed of his life long cruise. Put in the water in one of the bays on the Oregon coast (famous for its treacherous bars) Loaded food on it, big farewell party and sailed the boat onto the bar at the mouth of the harbor where it was pounded to pieces. No loss of life. He had one of the shortest dream cruises on record about 1 hour. Certainly a tragedy. He had little boating experience did even know about buoys let alone which side to pass. On the other side of the coin he had 10 years of joy building the boat and planning the adventure. Certainly that was worth something. Like the other friend who only sail over night before he gave up cruising. For some, maybe for most, the fun is in the anticipation and the preparation. These people should not go. They should stay at the dock and pipe dream. The ice man cometh. It takes a certain kind of person to cruise. Many are called but few are chosen. This is why the drop out level is so high in the first year. A boat can give enjoyment at many levels. The trick is to determine at what level you should play. My brother enjoyed his boat because it was the one place where he could put a book down or a tool away and it stayed where he put it. Most of the time he just sat on it at the dock. The trick is stay where you are comfortable. Working on a boat is as much fun as cruising. Cruising is just a life style like any other life style, it has good and bad. Not everybody should go. It is considerable different than how it is painted in boating books. Don Dodds Don Dodds