Happy Christmas from Israel, all!
I am looking for a modest-sized junk-rigged yacht, or one that might be a candidate for conversion to junk rig, on this side of the world. There isn't much available right now. I looked at the Newbridge Virgo Voyager for sale in Kent, had a great conversation with the seller, but came away thinking it was just too small for my purposes. Chu-Fa, a junk-rigged Vertue II of fairly recent construction in Germany, is priced beyond my reach (even if it seems worth it). There are a couple of others in the UK on the market, also a bit small for me.
That brings me to a Tom Thumb for sale in Lancashire (https://apolloduck.net/564649). I like the TT 24, and I know that there are several around the world that have been built with, or converted to junk rig, successfully. I had a correspondence with Graham Cox, who owned one of those junk'd TT 24's for a long time. I came away not feeling too secure about buying a steel boat with significant timber (cabin top and lots of trim) which can hide rust, and not knowing the builder or previous owners.
The mission brief for the boat would be to move her down here and make periodic passages, most likely single-handed, Israel-Cyprus-south western Turkey-Greece to enjoy those cruising grounds. Any thoughts from the collective wisdom of this group? I would love to hear them!
Thanks in advance,
Don