Mandala - For Sale!

After the wonderful trip this last summer, after much discussion, I have set my sights on a more extended cruise. I hope to sail from San Diego to Costa Rica and Panama, thru the Canal, up the Yucatan and across to Florida. I envision the trip will take around 18 months, and I may want to continue cruising from there. The long and short of it is that I have decided to sell Mandala and get a bigger boat.

Mandala is probably not the right boat for a trip of the duration that I'm now thinking about. She was the perfect boat for cruising the California Coast. Heck, I'd even go so far as to say she was designed for it! But as a true liveaboard long distance cruiser, she has some fairly serious drawbacks.

First of all, her range of about 285NM under power is too limited for the kind of comfort and security I'd like. From here to Florida there will be many legs of 400 to 600NM between ports, and even though it's a sailboat, there is enormous security in knowing that you can motor to the next port whenever you need to, and never actually be totally reliant on the wind blowing the right way (or at all for that matter).

Secondly, her water capacity of 32 gallons is not enough to last the multiple weeks that some of the more deserted passages will require, particularly, if like us, you prefer to take a shower every 4 or 5 days. The 32 gallons that Mandala carries allows for about 4 days and one shower each as it turns out. Note that the water and fuel tankage also affects the ability to stay on the hook for multiple weeks at a time, something that I would like to do if and when I come across those perfect anchorages, rather than just staying for a few days after all the work getting there, and running to a port just to get water or fuel. In fact, regarding the fuel tankage, the energy requirements will shoot up when I add the desired watermaker and possible air conditioning (that might be more than just a luxury if i have to spend 3 months in Panama during the summer). So there are multiple reasons I want more tankage.

Also, storage, space, privacy, and comfort of Mandala are not what I think I will need for an extended cruise. I'd like to bring a bass as well as an acoustic guitar and a small P.A., and I'll be bringing tons more books, clothes, and so on. Extra room will help (be necessary) so that multiple crew members can each have some private places for miscellaneous personal storage over the trip as well. And Finally, and very importantly, I'm not sure I can sleep on Mandala's bed for 18 months. The forward V berth is just too small for two people to really sleep on, day in and day out, and the aft cabin, tho seeming big, is really awkward to use and is Mandala's only other general purpose storage space, so is always filled with stuff (wetsuits, cushions, canvas, etc).

Final Photos taken for Yachtworld Ad

Some of Mandalas many many features!

So, somewhat sadly, as much as I loved Mandala, I am selling her and looking for another boat ...