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Out with the old in with the ???

1K views 8 replies 8 participants last post by  Hudsonian 
#1 ·
I know everyone hates this question. Heck, I hate seeing this question. But, I have to ask it because i'm frankly lost...

I need some guidance on the next boat purchase. Yes, its the old what boat is best question but with a twist.

So here's the background. I'm a OK decent sailor definitely not salty yet. Been in a few sailboat races. Been offshore. River piloted down the Columbia and over the Columbia river bar. Been in big 30' swell in the Pacific. Never done some 2000nm seaquest or anything.

I live on the west coast of Florida. Skinny water BIG TIME over here. I just sold my boat I have enjoyed for 10 years. A 1980 Stiletto 27. She was a rocket!!! Super fast and fun but too much for my wife and small children. I was usually solo.

I want to move into a monohull. I miss the feel of sailing a single hull around. I've done the hot rod thing with the boat. Now I want a cruiser. A stable cautious relaxed boat with an AC and fridge and a place for some beer. Spend some time with the family.

Here's my thoughts. I don't need or want massive so would like to stay around 32' give or take. Probably long weekend style trips with the occasional go out and drift around for a few hours with a beer solo kind a thing. I would like to stay under 100k so I have a reasonable budget. My wife must have a decent interior and stable seakindly behavior. A super tender 30 degree heel is NOT her cup of tea. I've looked at a beneteau oceanis 31. Nice boat but a little too IKEA in the interior. Great hull. A little worried about the keel and our skinny water. Also looked at a few IPs. Very nice interior but worried about being too much of a dog sailing... That said I've done the high speed thing. Now I want the chilled out and relaxed thing. I have time on a Hans Christian 33T so i'm OK with big displacement heavy beasts. I'm leaning in the IP direction but i figure there has to be other options out there i'm missing. I DO NOT want a fixer upper or ancient Greece era vessel that I need to fix every ten minutes.

So captains... Any one have any advice or a boat worth checking out? Please help a guy out before I lose my mind... or more precisely lose more of my mind.
 
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#4 · (Edited)
Never been a huge Catalina fan but I may want to give them another look. Something about the topsides always rubbed me the wrong way. I agree the interior is nicer looking than I would have expected.

Hmmmm The J109! I had not thought of that boat. I like it! Looks like it is challenging to find one on this side of the pond. Kind of like Dufour and Hanse... Hard to find but might be worth looking into further. Nice thought!
 
#5 ·
Never been a huge Catalina fan but I may want to give them another look. Something about the topsides always rubbed me the wrong way. I agree the interior is nicer looking than I would have expected.

Hmmmm The J109! I had not thought of that boat. I like it! Looks like it is challenging to find one on this side of the pond. Kind of like Dufour and Hanse... Hard to find but might be worth looking into further. Nice thought!
Are you sure you know what "topsides" are?
 
#6 ·
The J/109 is up on the performance end, but it gets there with pretty deep draft - not handy for your area. A sharpie is more in line with your draft needs, but may fall short on the interior aesthetic. For a growing family that needs a nice interior and shoal draft, perhaps a Pearson 35 would be an option. (The older, centerboard one.) It has a huge cockpit for having everyone together, but is big enough so everyone can have a space of his or her own. With the centerboard up it only draws about 3'6". It is not fast, but it is dependable, pretty solid and fairly inexpensive. Beneteau and Jeanneau have newer more sporty models (shoal draft keelboats) that may have more appealing interiors. They are going to cost a LOT more. It may be early, but don't forget that college is coming...
 
#8 ·
I love my 1986 Nonsuch 30U and have not looked at another boat since I bought her in 1995. Though you could check out the 33 and 36 foot models too. Lived aboard mine for a number of years. Great Coastal cruiser. A regional Nonsuch group operates out of Key Largo BTW.
 
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