Extended cruising in a 30ish Sundancer

That sized boat is more than capable of extending cruising, but are the travellers? A friend of mine at the dock who had a 35' SeaRay Express said he was heading south. I said "where, Lake Erie?" to which he said "no... south". He actually meant the Caribbean and left for 7yrs with his wife (they had just retired). Got as far as Venezuela with that boat and its twin 454's, turned around, and headed back to Ontario. Everyone thought he was nuts, but they had the time of their lives. He sold the boat a couple of years ago (about 5yrs after his return) and had a hard time selling due to over 3000hrs on the original engines. Finally had to almost give it away.
Now thats extended cruising!
 
I don't have my boat yet, so I can't speak personally. However during my own research for extended cruising I was pointed toward this thread about a month long trip from PCB FL, to Key West/Dry Tortugas and back. Its about 450 posts long. But I read the entire thing and it is extremely well written, fun/witty and with a lot of good info about the travels, where they stayed, gas consumption for engines and genny, types of seas, LOTS of great pics throughout the entire trip, etc. etc. It is well worth the time to read it entirely if your thinking about a month long trip. Nice summary and some pointers for others planning a trip like at the end. It kinda reads like a Jimmy Buffett short story, but with real pictures and places and an interesting couple having a great trip.

My limited tech savy can't figure out how to insert the link to the actual thread here (sorry)... so just search for: Month Long Cruise PCB - Key West - 340
 
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One of the best features a cruising boat can have is comfortable seating. Add to that, Kindle readers and you have two of the basic ingredients of a boat that can provide you with days of carefree living. As we've gotten older, the day long hikes have been replaced by hours of reading good books in anchorages and marinas with interesting views and great sunsets.
 
You need one thing for sure heat because when it rains things get damp. With gas boat that means one of 3 things. You have a bus heater off the engine, a generator to plug in electic heaters or a marina with power. Then you need space to be alone some of the time. We had a 28 footer with upper and lower helm. Every 3rd or 4th night we stayed at a marina to get out where you could walk and eat different food. We now have 38 foot with an aft cabin. It is big enouch we can spend a week on it and feel OK
 
Did the Loop in 2013 and we were gone for 7 months. After putting 1200+ hours her in 9 years, this boat seems to have everything that we could ask for. Headed out this April for about a month or so, up the West coast of Florida as far as Caladesi Island. So the 360 has our vote!! Safe travels.
Regards,
Dennis

Dennis,
How did you get past the stretch on the inland water way between Hoppies Marina and Paducah? I think it is 210 miles long with no fuel. What was your secret?
Ted
 

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