Have you ever gone on vacation with no expectations? Vanuatu is one of those places where you think it’s just an average country but are absolutely floored by what it has to offer. This country is incredibly alive in terms of culture not to mention underwater wrecks. Being a staging base for World War II, there are ton of sights to explore underwater whether that’s snorkling million dollar point or diving on the SS Coolidge.

If you ever get the chance, GO! It is full of adventure and surprises.

With Love,

Ben & Ash

 

8 Comments

Ben
March 28, 2019
Tough question! Totally depends on age of kids and how close you are as a family. One thing we would recommend is getting the charter version perhaps so that you have 4 bedrooms. I guess why wouldn’t it work? As long as everyone plays nice! One other thought; Try it out on a similar sized charter cat. I know it’s a lot of money to charter a cat but it’s also a lot of money to buy the wrong boat. We almost did when we had an offer in on a Lagoon 380.
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Mark Cate
March 29, 2019
Hey Ben, Cheers for the reply. Yes definitely looking at the 4 cabin versions ( “sunshine” 4 sale in Aussie ) I just like the price of the 410 and at the price think it will have best options , also looking at 440’s as i love the room/ layout , just more expensive and the fly bridge is a love it or hate it thing ( i’m not sure which camp i’m in yet the” sitting watching sunsets with a beer ” side of me loves it but the ” I’ve never sailed and not been in storms or squalls” side is a little dubious! )
I hear you on the charter side, we have talked about it , just believe our budget only allows very few boats anyway ( that i like ! ) so id rather put the $$$$ into the refit. We are in NZ so not many to look at here.
Kid s are young 8 , 10 and 12 . We are very close , i want it to stay that way is one of the main reason i want to cruise ! there is SO SO much shit they get feed by the fast paced consumer world we live in and i want t to dial back the pace and let them see the world through there own eyes no tainted by media etc ( they watch your videos and love they it …found them up at 5.30 am watching !)
Sorry mate im ranting.
Love your channel have watched 90% And love the how to videos. I watch them all and yours is def top 2 for me.
Cheers Mark
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Ben
March 29, 2019
Looks awesome man. Had a quick peek and she’s got many of the expensive upgrades. No mention of sails. We paid around 7K USD for our main. 3-4K for Cruising Code Zero. Stove also looks like the old 2 burner. We upgraded to a 3 burner and oh man that made a big difference! What about props? Folding? We just swtiched from 3 blade fixed to folding and oh man, 2+ knots of boat speed often. It’s insane! Cuts passage time down drastically.
Ash would be worried about storage with 3 kids but then again you may not have 6 kites, dive compressor, foil boards, SUPS etc etc. Just kids to keep you entertained 😉
I can send you a spreadsheet of all the fixes & upgrades I’ve had to do if you want. May help in pushing down price 🙂 🙂
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Mark Cate
March 29, 2019
That would be sweet mate! I would love to read what you’ve done so far, i will doing all maintenance and upgrades myself. ( I am a mechanic by trade , but am a jack of all trades! ), and yes anything i can bargain with when the time comes will be cool.
Unfortunately we are toy junkies as well so might be an issue…I will be fitting a compressor too ( my 12 year old is doing his open water this year ) and we all wake board etc etc. But i love a challenge LOL. and id rather be out there than waiting for the perfect ride.
Awesome to hear the folding props are worth it , I’ve been looking at them and have them on the “i want it, but do i need it list ” , ill justify and roll it to the “Hell yes i need it”
cheers Mark