Joined
·
6 Posts
Hey all, long time lurker here finally getting closer to buying my first boat. Have 3 years of experience now sailing with a club out of Chicago on Lake Mchigan on various production boats from 30-36'. So far, I have found the bigger the better from a comfort standpoint, especially since the waves on Lake Michigan tend to be so short and choppy. I have done a charter in the BVI for a couple weeks on a 42' Jeanneau as well and felt really comfortable, but think that's too big for me to actually own.
That said, I imagine my next few years to be spent taking a month or so at a time to cruise the lakes. First Lake Michigan, then perhaps Lakes Huron and Superior (not all in one season, but over the course of a few years, always returning to my home port of Chicago). Luckily my job allows me to take long stretches of time off to do that. The rest of my time in summer (about 5 month season here) would be spent on short day sails when I have a day or two off here and there. Racing does not interest me. More interested in family time (I have a wife and a 5 year old daughter) voyaging.
Now.... I am looking for a boat in the 34-38' range. Don't want to go much below 34' since higher wind days really toss you around here, and don't want to go too much bigger since we would just be a couple trying to handle the boat and dock on our own, etc.
My main question is... Since 95% of boats for sale on the southern end of the lake seem to be Hunters, Catalina's, C&C's, and the occasional Beneteau and the like, would it be worthwhile to wait for a true blue water boat to come up for sale so I wouldn't have to worry about some of the 18-24 hour passages I plan on making in the future? On the one hand it would seem that if most of those boats are what people own around here they're good enough for our purpose, but on the other, most people probably don't do lake crossings which can take a whole day offshore when storms could pop up unexpectedly.
Now I have no problem buying a boat more heavily built than I actually need, but my initial impression is that since Hunters, Catalina's and so on are so looked down upon for world cruising, they might not do well in the Great Lakes for longer passages or a month away from my home port either. Curious what others think and if you have any other recommendations that would do well for me. Thanks!
That said, I imagine my next few years to be spent taking a month or so at a time to cruise the lakes. First Lake Michigan, then perhaps Lakes Huron and Superior (not all in one season, but over the course of a few years, always returning to my home port of Chicago). Luckily my job allows me to take long stretches of time off to do that. The rest of my time in summer (about 5 month season here) would be spent on short day sails when I have a day or two off here and there. Racing does not interest me. More interested in family time (I have a wife and a 5 year old daughter) voyaging.
Now.... I am looking for a boat in the 34-38' range. Don't want to go much below 34' since higher wind days really toss you around here, and don't want to go too much bigger since we would just be a couple trying to handle the boat and dock on our own, etc.
My main question is... Since 95% of boats for sale on the southern end of the lake seem to be Hunters, Catalina's, C&C's, and the occasional Beneteau and the like, would it be worthwhile to wait for a true blue water boat to come up for sale so I wouldn't have to worry about some of the 18-24 hour passages I plan on making in the future? On the one hand it would seem that if most of those boats are what people own around here they're good enough for our purpose, but on the other, most people probably don't do lake crossings which can take a whole day offshore when storms could pop up unexpectedly.
Now I have no problem buying a boat more heavily built than I actually need, but my initial impression is that since Hunters, Catalina's and so on are so looked down upon for world cruising, they might not do well in the Great Lakes for longer passages or a month away from my home port either. Curious what others think and if you have any other recommendations that would do well for me. Thanks!