Mike, you''d get far better advice from BB''s like this one if you were more specific about how the boat will be used. "Cruising" is perhaps the most abused generic term in boating. Lay out specifically what kind of cruising (liveaboard? long-term?) while sailing in what waters, in what seasons, and with how many/what kind of crew.
Also, please try to think displacement more than boat length when thinking about your choices. The former is a better benchmark of the "size" boat you might buy WRT storage, handling, berthing, upkeep costs, equipment costs, and such. E.g. in your case and depending on what boats you focus in on, a 40 footer of interest to you could be twice the "size" of a 35 footer. Many implications ripple off of that one reality.
I assume you are digging into BB archives and reviewing many of the ''which boat'' threads which already exist. Don''t reinvent the
wheel unnecessarily.
BTW it''s very normal for folks to struggle when being specific about their cruising plans. In fact, to some degree ''specificity'' is exactly NOT what people strive for. One of the most common replies we hear goes something like "We plan to sail down to the islands and then, who knows, maybe head into the Pacific..." That sounds wonderful of course, but is terribly unhelpful. Are the "islands" just the Bahamas? Only the E Caribbean? For only one winter season? Five? Oh, you want to cross an ocean? This guy might only aspire to reach the Exumas and we''re off telling him about the necessity of storms sails and wind vanes.
Jack
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