Greetings!

Heard the pod with the Gieschens.
Was sad, discouraging and infuriating how many times they have been led astray and simply damaged without recourse by sailboat "professionals".

Stories like this we hear from such ordinary sailors to Matt Rutherford and Zingaro, involving yards from the expensive Florida ones to remote, shady ones.

These folks afraid even to publicise who damaged them for fear of retribution by those who wronged them!

Even Kretschmer: after all the time and interviewing he did with Alison, knowing how apprehensive she was to go offshore, his top recommendation for that was a light displacement boat (187 D/L ), with CR of 28 and CSF pushing 2?!
Would be interesting to hear the logic behind that.
https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/taswell-43/

Of all your pods I've heard, that episode was the most discouraging and concerning for inexperienced cruisers.

Just luck of the draw how much such people are financially damaged by maintenance professionals and other experts they trust. Might as well do all maintenance DIY and learn everything by own trial and error. :(

I do all of my own work, but I have the advantage of having been a carpenter, so I have a lot of tools and it hasn't been too difficult to learn the new skills I have needed. I think doing your own work is preferable, even if you have to learn how to do it first. One reason is that you save a lot of money, another is that you can't trust someone you don't know to do it right, and that when you are offshore or somewhere remote and something needs fixed, you will have only yourself to do it.
I replaced my sailboat's engine and transmission before setting off for long-term cruising, and I think that's a good idea. I chose a Beta, partly because it is very simple, without electronics, and so easy to repair.
I'm not familiar with the Taswell 43, but it also made John Neal's list of boats to consider for offshore sailing.
https://mahina.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/10.-Boats-To-Consider-v4.23-1.pdf
Cruising is full of risks, but the rewards justify the risks. Go for it!