[Jeff_H]

(continued from above)
The Bay is known for predominantly light winds (under 10 knots) punctuated by moderate to heavy conditions. A good Bay boat sails well in our predominant light winds but has good sail handling equipment that allows it to quickly shift gears when things get a bit dicier. I understand that your wife would prefer a boat that rarely leaves the slip but if you buy a boat that is not a good Bay boat then you will almost never sail and, with all due respect, you would be better off buying a trawler yacht, which would have better accomodations, a bit more speed and frankly you will spend less time motoring on than a heavy offshore sailboat on the Chesapeake Bay.

For better or worse, in the few conversations with the folks at Gratitude Yacht Sales, I find that they are very oriented toward heavier "distance cruisers". In my mind they are pushing the wrong boats for the middle Chesapeake Bay. I would suggest that you look at some other boats that might represent a contrast to the Compac. You will not see bronze ports on these boats (Bronze ports are not necessarily the best way to go in the low salt environment of the Chesapeake where Bronze ports mean the need to keep them polished and waxed so our acidic rain doesn''t cause the bronze to corrode and stain the adjacent fiberglass.) but that should not matter. Properly made aluminum or even plastic ports are perfectly adequate and much lighter and lower maintenance than the bronze ports which in the Bay read as an affectation rather than a sign of great quality.
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