First Boat

[SailingChase]

I am looking to buy my first boat at age 15, and want to know which boat you would recommend. I plan on doing some bay cruising, and some local lakes around central Virginia. I have found two boats that seem to be in my price range about 2 hours away each. One is a 20 foot Ensenada, that needs quite a bit of work(bottom cleaning, interior refurb, possibly a new trailer) The other one is a 22 foot South Coast in need of interior refurb and trailer painting. The E20 is asking 750 and the South Coast is asking 1000. The reason I looked at these two boats is because of their location, price, and fact they trailer so easily.

Let me know your thoughts.

Thanks

[sailingdog]

Get the south coast... it's a solid little boat... loosely based on the smaller Alberg designed South Coast 21... More info on them here. A lot of them were made, and the owner association is still pretty active IIRC. That's true of a lot of the Alberg designs then again. Having an active owner's association makes refurbishing a boat a lot simpler, since they're a resource you can't replace.

[kd3pc]

second vote for the South Coast...solid boat and with several similar boats on the bay. Not sure what lakes you will chase in Central VA, but check them out before you drive/trailer and hope to sail.. Smith Mtn is decent (large enough) but the water level is way down, making it tough to load and unload. Kerr Reservoir/Buggs Island (what ever they call it now) is beautiful, but I haven't been in years... Lake Anna during the week is OK, but a field day on weekends and since it too is a power company impound, the level varies week to week.

We love the bay, always something different, last night mid 40's and wind gust to 40 or so. A bit rock and roll.

dave

[retclt]

South Coast.

Don't get a boat that needs a lot of work to get going. At 15 I'm going to want to be on the water! Get sailing!!!

[sailingdog]

That's three for the South Coast, and zip for the Ensenada..

[RXBOT]

What's better 4 learning, fractional or masthead.

South Coast 22- masthead rig-foresail 115.70-main- 112.70
disp-1800-ballast-505

Ensenada 20- fractional rig-foresail 91.02-main- 108.07
disp- 1600-ballast 550

Both boats would be suitable. by the way the Ensenada is a Lyle Hess design. Both boats have same LWL & beam. I think poster should look at both and see which one he connects to. My choice would be Ensenada.

[sailingdog]

The two boats are both excellent for what he wants to do...but I think having an active owners association helps the South Coast a lot. There were almost 3000 of them made... and chances are pretty good that he may have another SC22 owner near him.