[litespeedlujak]

My wife and I are dreaming of the day we will retire. We have plans for cruising up and down the East coast of the U.S., going as far North as Southern Labrador and as far South as the central Caribbean. I imagine, for the most part, it'll be just she and I cruising. I'm not looking at buying right now. That's two or three years off. What early 70s to late 70s boat would be YOUR ideal cruiser and why? I am thinking of going with a full keel. Doing you recommend we go with the smallest possible boat we could get by with? That would likely put us in the 27-29' range. Or do you think we should get something closer to the 35-37' range. I'm looking for a combination of easy motion and speed. Yep, I know the full keel kinda knocks that down considerably. So I'm leaning MORE towards easy motion firstly and speed secondarily. I'm looking at keeping my price down around $25,000 and certainly no more than $30,000. If I've not added enough information to help you to understand my requirements, please let me know so I can clarify. Thanks so much for all responses.

 

[Donna_F]

litespeed,

You started this same topic here:

http://www.sailnet.com/forums/introduce-yourself/115673-dreamin-bit.html#post1281825

Is there any reason I can't merge this into that thread?

 

[findrichard]

I have the same plans you do and have determined that I need a boat in the 35 foot range. My last boat 10 years ago was a 1978 Allied Princess which is 36ft with an 11 foot beam, 4.5ft draft, and SA/D ratio of around 16. It was the perfect size boat for my wife and me but I had to sell it during the great recession. It is a ketch rig sporting a full keel with cut-away fore-foot. A strong safe boat in your price range. I don't think I could be satisfied with a smaller boat because of storage and overall interior space which is significant when you have two warm bodies caged up during bad weather. further more,the boat's beam makes a huge difference in interior living and storage space.