Father / son

[Dansk]

Admitedly I've been a stalker on this site for a few months, just reading and never having posted anything.

I'm in the market for a sailboat that I can sail with my father who is turning 77 this year. He learned to sail a small daysailer with his father (who was a Captain for Maersk) when he was in his teens. My mother never cared much for the motion of being on the water and so my dad abandoned one of his passions.

My parents did charter a boat with my older brother in the Carribean (it was a Beneteau Oceanis - I forget the size) about 12 years ago which they liked.

Recently my father said he wanted to sail again and this has got me to thinking it would be wonderful opportunity to share one of his childhood passions. I never did alot of father / son stuff growing up because he was always working.

Living in Vancouver and having a lot of protected water ways seems ideal for us enjoying weekends on the water.

I don't have sailing experience beyond sailing a laser and would be taking my CYA - Basic cruising course.

What's a good boat to start with that could sleep 4 adults, preferably has inboard power, would be easy to sail, but that we could also grow with ? (Oh... I'm 6'5" and would prefer not to crawl too much in the cabin, so headroom is a bit of a factor)

Not having looked at anything other than ad's for Catalina 27's, C&C's, Cal's, Sunstars, etc... and not knowing anything about the advantages / disadvantages of various types of rigging, designs etc.

Any advice would be wonderful.

[djodenda]

Dansk:

Welcome to Sailnet!

If you are ever in the Seattle area, I'd be happy to take you both sailing on my boat, a Catalina 30, if you would like to "try something on"

My father, also 77, and an "old salt" is comfortable on the boat.

This may be the type of boat you are looking for.

David

P.S. You are TOTALLY doing the right thing... sailing with your Dad..

Here's a picture of my Dad and I together on a cruise in some cold, rainy weather..

[blt2ski]

I would shoot for something 30' and longer. Of course, you have different ways of measuring 30' too. Davids C30 is a BIG 30', more like 31', my Jeanneau, is a small 30'. Catalina measures by the deck length, Jeanneau and some other European companies, use the whole length, including the reverse transom.

Any of the bigger companies boats will work fine for around the NW US, SW BC area. Catalina, Jeanneau, Beneteau, Hunter, Tartan, C&C for some newer models. Go older, and look at Erickson, Islander, Ranger, San Juan 30 and 34, possibly the 28. Most of the brands I mentioned have boats in the 30 to 40' range. All of which would work for a group of 4.

If you find your self down towards Seattle, edmonds to be precise, let david and I know, you can look at his boat on D dock, mine on E.

Good luck.

Marty

ps, the long legged creature hanging off the side of my boat in avitar are my 5'16" twin sons. I feel you will find many of us that enjoy being out with dad or sons! Step dad taught me to sail, many fun days on lake washington with him.