Jeff,
I appreciate your reply. It was a great education and from what I''ve seen, you''re right on target, especially with the Com-Pac.
You probably guessed that I''m new to sailing.
I only started last year but I''ve had some fairly good experience. In September of ''99, I leased a 25.5 Hunter for the month of September and sailed it quite a bit on Barnegat Bay with sailor friends. In October of ''99, I did a 5-day sailing trip on the Chesapeake on a chartered 37'' Dickerson Ketch with 2 very accomplished sailor friends and we did the same thing this past October on a 34'' Catalina. I''m a retired pilot, age 61, and it seems that some of the skills are transferable. As a retirement gift, my company gave me a 5-day Bareboat sailing course at Annapolis which I intend to take advantage of early next Spring. I was really taken with the Chesapeake so I have a rented a slip at Rock Hall, MD for next summer. I will then have the schooling and the slip - now all I need is a boat!
That tells you about me - now for my objectives. My wife also fell in love with sailing last year - but in a different way.
She loves the marina atmosphere and she loves sleeping on the boat. She will sail with me (reluctantly) but if I decided to buy a boat and cement it to the dock, she wouldn''t mind at all. Therefore, I''m not interest in performance (yet!) but moreso in the amount of quality and comfort for the money.
I''m also a real quality freak. I was really impressed when I saw the bronze port holes on the Com-Pac. I have also looked at a 27'' Island Packet and I thought it was great. It had tremendous room for its size but it wasn''t in very good shape and it turned my wife off. Not loo long ago we were in Florida and saw two Pacific Seacraft - a 24 and a 34. They were the most incredible boats I''ve ever seen but the the small one - although great - was too small (although thinking back to it I don''t think it had much less room than the Com-Pac 27) and the big one was too big. (Actually, it was also too pricey for me and whereas I understand the reason for the boat tail, it really destroyed the size of the cockpit). At my age, and in view of the fact that I''ll be a one-man crew with a passenger, I''d be very reluctant to go any bigger than a 28 footer.
As I said, after spending that time on the Chesapeake, I''m concerned with the lack of a quarter bunk under the stern on the Com-Pac. The storage bins under the cockpit hatches, particularly on the port side, are huge. However, I''d hate to have to get something out that''s on the bottom. You''d actually have to get down into it to do that and I think that would be very inconvenient to do during the night as opposed to access from the main cabin.
Addressing one of your comments, there is great access to the engine from both sides but once again, that would be tough to do if they were filled with stored items.
Also, I had great interest in a Catalina 28 until I discovered that there is no such thing as a mid-cabin double bunk in them. That''s where we like to sleep so that eliminates them from contention.
I''m really getting slightly discouraged because although there are a zillion boats out there for sale, I don''t seem to be able to find one with acceptable compromises.
You probably think I''m nuts, but what I really would like to have is good quality, a fair amount of room, 1990 or newer, wheel steering with an inboard diesel and a jib roller furler. There are other things that may be necessary but that could be installed later - a furler on the main, although I know it cuts down on performance,
an autopilot and a combination air conditioner and heater for dockside use.
Thanks for spending so much time with me on this. If you have any ideas, I''m all ears!
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