confused and a bit frustrated

[ovidius]

We are looking to buy a boat (my wife and I)and we have 3 teenage boys. I know that a perfect boat does not exist and there are compromises to be made. The frustration comes when we find a boat that we both like,..it''s in our price range and then we read some article that would render that particular boat not suitable for our purposes. Here is our wish list:
1. Seaworthy,2. comfort,.3.quality,4.speed.
We will sail it mostly on the columbia river with an anual trip back and forth to the san juan islands (therefore seaworthyness is important)and up and down the oregon-washington coast.
Any advice and what boats might fit our requirements?,..oh budget 20-30k give or take a little. We appreciate any suggestions.Thank you.

[jparker11]

Ovidius,

Ouch!!! Things were going well until you through in that caveat of the annual trip to the San Juans along one of the nastiest stretches of coastal sailing around, not to mention crossing the Columbia River bar!!

With the budget, I would point toward 25 year old production boats with good reputations initially and continuing reputations of well maintained versions today. High on the list would be nearly all of the Mull/Lapworth/Jensen collaborations of the ''70''s in the 29'' to 37'' range. All of these have their own issues as they have aged and are found in large numbers on the West Coast. Find one with a good survey on the low end of your budget and spend the rest on upgrades and refurbishment.

Tops on the list would be good specimens of the Cal 31 & 34 and the Ranger 33. These pocess good fiberglass construction and fun, responsive sail characteristics.

These boats are getting long of tooth, however, PNW boats don''t experience near the UV damage found south of Latitude 38. As you can see from my signature, I am semi biased!!! Great time to buy a boat in the PNW!! Lowest prices in years.

[Kgezella]

I totaly agree with the prevous post about the production boats of about two decades back. I have a 1980 Cal 2-25 and feel she is very well built and comfortable. Other choices would be Any Cal, Alberg ( Albergs are awesome not very fast but really stable with full keel design) Aloha 32, and the like

Good Luck!