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LETTERS<br />
LATITUDE / JR<br />
of them haven't gotten it over the years.<br />
What would we look for when buying a first cruising boat?<br />
The first, second and third things are proven ocean capability.<br />
Everything else is details and personal preference.<br />
It's hard to make recommendations for a first cruising boat<br />
in the 28- to 30-ft boat range because we're unaware of your<br />
specific needs and desires. But if you're looking for a huge<br />
cruising bang for the buck, and don't need or care for an interior<br />
that's as big as or looks like a London men's club, we'd suggest<br />
a Wylie Hawkfarm. These are basic but capable and fast<br />
boats that were built locally. Skip Allan has cruised and raced<br />
his Hawkfarm prototype Wild Flower with great success all<br />
over the Pacific. Synthia Petroka has sailed her Eyrie in a Pacific<br />
Cup and a<br />
Singlehanded<br />
TransPac, and<br />
H a w k f a r m s<br />
have a long<br />
history of being<br />
raced in the<br />
ocean. Because<br />
this was a popular<br />
one design<br />
class, there are<br />
Synthia Petroka has sailed her highly capable<br />
Hawkfarm 'Eyrie' to Hawaii twice.<br />
often a couple<br />
o f t h e m f o r<br />
sale, even in<br />
the $6,000 or<br />
less range. Because<br />
they were raced, there's an ample supply of good used<br />
sails sitting in garages that could be bought on the cheap.<br />
If our total budget was $10,000 for a year of cruising pretty<br />
much anywhere in the Pacific or the Caribbean, we'd go for a<br />
Hawkfarm or something similar. Make no mistake, we're not<br />
talking about luxury, but we are talking about capability and<br />
small bucks. If you wanted more of an interior — but also a<br />
project boat — there was recently a Classy Classified for an<br />
Ericson 32 that needs TLC for $6,500. The bottom line is that<br />
there are many Ha-Ha-capable boats out there for very little<br />
money.<br />
⇑⇓I WANT TO SAIL TO CUBA THIS WINTER<br />
I'm writing to ask the best way to find a sailboat heading<br />
down the coast of Mexico. I'm an avid sailor from Santa Cruz<br />
and a longtime reader of <strong>Latitude</strong>. From reading the November<br />
and December issues, I know there are a lot of Ha-Ha boats<br />
headed to points south at this time of year.<br />
I'm currently camped at the beach at the surf break just<br />
south of Todos Santos and a little further north of Cabo. I<br />
would be able to leave my car with friends here should I be<br />
able to find a boat. My ultimate travel goal this winter is to<br />
get to Cuba. If I need to take a plane, so be it. But I would<br />
like to try to crew for a sailboat for at least part of the way.<br />
I'm a longtime surfer, diver, and spearfisherman. I've also<br />
sailed a Hobie 18 for the last six years, and have chartered a<br />
Morgan 41 and a Gemini catamaran for a couple of weeks each<br />
in Baja and Florida respectively. I've been traveling in Mexico<br />
for 20 years, so I speak decent Spanish. I love the ocean and<br />
this part of the world, and I am easy to get along with, so I<br />
think I'd be a valuable crewmember for just about any boat.<br />
I worked on commercial fishing boats in college and currently<br />
am in construction in Santa Cruz.<br />
So if you have any ideas, I'd sure appreciate them.<br />
Thanks also for putting out such a great magazine. When<br />
home, I read the local paper, The New Yorker, and <strong>Latitude</strong>.<br />
Page 46 • <strong>Latitude</strong> <strong>38</strong> • <strong>March</strong>, <strong>2008</strong>
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