Advice for a solid coastal cruiser

[montigre]

Hi Everyone,

I hope you do not mind yet another what kind of boat for cruising question, but I really would like to ask your advice regarding a few boats that we have on our short list and I’ve found that because of the multitude of choices available I am becoming more than a little confused. I have been reading these posts for a few years now and although I do not always agree with what everyone says, the majority of the advice offered contains true gems of wisdom that I really appreciate.

For a bit of our history, my husband and I are still novice sailors having only owned 2 boats in the last 7 years, so although we have a good grasp of the basics, there is still very much for us to learn. The 2 boats we owned were a Catalina 30 and an Alberg 30. The Catalina, though a great boat for entertaining at the docks and sailing around the Chesapeake (in high tide) tended to literally beat us up when caught in a blow and we also did not like the fact that we could not easily reach the handholds while down below when the waters were rough. On the other hand, the Alberg was a much nicer sailing boat overall and was definitely more sturdily constructed, but we felt it was too small for us and our eventual plans to branch out and start cruising the Eastern US and Caribbean islands and it also had a very annoying tendency to become rolly on some points of sail under certain wave conditions. Finally, we primarily sail as a couple, so we’re really are not interested in purchasing a sailing condo that can accommodate a household of people, we have no aspirations to cross an ocean, but we do want a sturdy, safe, and reliable distance coastal cruiser.

As for our likes, we really prefer the lines of the more traditional boats and find them very aesthetically pleasing to the eye and our choices are further limited by the fact that we wish to spend about $30,000 for the boat. We realize that because of this, anything we buy will have to be seriously upgraded and updated before we actually start any serious distance cruising and, therefore, plan to use the next 5 years performing those upgrades while cruising around the Chesapeake getting to know the boat inside and out.

The boats on our short list thus far are the Tartan 34 classic, the Luders 33, and the Allied Seabreeze 35. Right now, of the three, we’re leaning more toward the Tartan for being able to morph into a comfortable distance cruising platform while still being a fun boat to sail around the Chesapeake. The fact that it has a shallower draft means we’d be able to get in and out of the skinny water areas of the bay without having to wait for high tide like we had to do with the Catalina before some of the channels were dredged. We’d likely not even seriously use the centerboard until we started distance cruising. We’re also interested in getting a boat that has a workable seaberth and can be single-handed without too much problem just in case one of us gets seasick or is somehow incapacitated while sailing.

So, the questions I have for you are: Are we on the right track with the Tartan 34? Is there anything inherently wrong with any of the boats on our list in light of what our current and future plans are? And finally, are there other boats we should be considering?

Sorry for the length of the post and thanks in advance for any information you’re able to share.

Regards,
Gail

[camaraderie]

Hi Gail...Nothing wrong with your choice for the waters you plan to sail though I must admit I don't like centerboards for bluewater cruising though there are a lot of them out there! Looks like that is a preference of yours.
You might want to further your investigation into the T34 with these links:

http://www.tartanowners.org/reviews.phtml
Tartan Owners Website: http://www.tartanowners.org/
Chesapeake Bay Tartan Sailing Club: http://www.cbtsc.com/

[PBzeer]

Though priced above your budget when sold in Canada, I find my Ontario 32 to be a great boat for coastal, limited off-shore work. 4'6" draft, 45' mast height makes it pretty much of a go anywhere boat on the US coast and Carib. Has good stowage, and a fair amount of tankage for a boat that size. If you can find one in the US, it will generally fall within your budget.

Regards, and good luck in your search,

[montigre]

Camaraderie,
Thanks for the vote of confidence. Regarding the center boarders, no, it’s really not a matter of preferring them; we have never sailed a boat with a centerboard, it’s just that within our price line, many of the boats are so equipped. I would like to know why a centerboard would not be your choice for bluewater cruising especially if, like in the case of the Tartan, the board is not weighted and it can be locked. Have I missed something in my research?

Also, thanks for the website links. I had already found them and that is another reason I am leaning more toward the Tartan, like with the Alberg, there is a very strong and active owners association which I have found to be a priceless commodity when restoring or maintaining an older boat and the fact that the factory is still in business is an added plus. Tartan still can provide some (certainly not all) replacement parts for their discontinued models. Thanks again.

[montigre]

PBzeer,
I do like your Ontario 32 and if we had chosen to add $20,000 to what we wished to pay for a boat at this time, it would surely have made it onto our take a hard look list. The Ontario along with a couple others like the Contessa 32 seem to be nearly the perfect compromise between having more traditional lines yet with more modern accommodations without sacrificing either Tankage, stowage, or sailing ability.

[ehmanta]

The Tartan 34 is a great boat. This design has been around since the late sixties and the last production 34 is now thirty years old. What you need to look for in this boat that might be bad , are the decks. The large fixed portlights and the chainplates have a tendancy for leaks that go unchecked for years and this water will migrate into the decks; although this is true for any boat, the T-34 seems to be susceptible to this.I've owned a T-37 for over a decade and can attest to its sailing ability. The T-37 is a design that evolved from the T-34. The Sparkman-Stevens designs are tops in appearance as well as performance.

[T37Chef]

T34C will surely post something soon.

[montigre]

ehmanta~
I’ll have a much better idea of how the T-34 sails once we have an opportunity to do a sea trial on one in the next couple of weeks, but meanwhile, perhaps you might not mind answering a few more specific questions. I’ll also pose these to the T34 list. Since the T-37 and T-34 are similarly designed how would you classify the sailing characteristics of the T-37 in very rough weather (like squall or tropical low conditions)? What is the motion like when it gets really rough? Does she tend to sail over or through the waves as they start to exceed 5’? Have you noticed excessive hobby horsing? How easily does she motor through heavy waves? Is there an excessive amount of pressure on the helm while under power? Thanks for your post and opinion.

[T37Chef]

Gail,

Your research looks good. Some of the reasons we choose our Tartan 37 are its value, sturdy construction, versatility, character, and the vast support Tartan owners have access to.

I don't know much about the T34 but if its a basis for the T37 I can tell you I think your looking at a great boat for your intentions.

[camaraderie]

Montigre...You asked about my non-centerboard preference. I've owned 2 boats with keel centerboards for bay cruising and they certainly opened up skinnier waters to me. The reasons I don't like them for blue water are:
1. The centerboard is there for windward performance so it must be working properly for proper performance under sail.
2. They require maintenance and pennants and attahment points give way and cannot generally be repaired without a haul out and when the board is down you often can't get into the haulout slip due to the draft. You have to find a way to get the board back up in the trunk.
3. They are relatively flimsy and suseptible to impact.
4. I prefer a well designed and ballasted keel to keep me on track and the boat upright and "stiff"

Before everyone jumps on me with reasons why my reasoning is faulty....I will say once again that I recognize that there are MANY quality boats designed for blue water that use K/CB arrangements and sail happily all over the world. Just responding to the question about my personal preference!