Suggestions for a first time sailboat

Hey,

How many people are going to be on the boat? What sort of creature comforts do you want / need?

For example, if it's just you or you and one other person, then a boat around 27' would be a good size. Big enough to have an inboard diesel and wheel steering (if that is important to you), a real marine head, decent galley, standing room below, etc. And small enough to single hand easily, dock by yourself, afford decent sails, etc.

Some good boats in that size include Catalina, Beneteau, Sabre, Tartan, Newport, C&C, and a few others.

If you need more space you'll have to move up to a 30' boat, but everything gets way more expensive.

Lastly, IMHO, you can't get a decent '34 or bigger boat for that money, but 30' or less should be fine.

Barry

I once heard:
Cocktails for six
Dinner for four
Sleeps two!
A 26' trailerable would be a very manageable boat for one or two. You would get a lot more use from it if you slipped during season and hauled out for winter but transient moorage is not always easy to come by.
I have a 26' MacGregor (26M) that I bought new and have sailed since 2003. You can get a well optioned one second hand in your price range. They are inexpensive, very versatile, forgiving of mistakes and easy to maintain. They also have as much or more livable space below as any comparable 28-30' sailboat. They are water ballasted and easily trailered with a class 3 tow vehicle. It is a hybrid though and not everyones cup of tea, but I have enjoyed seven summers on it and never looked back. They have an amazing amount of room for a 26' boat and can handle some fairly rough weather. I am in the Pacific Northwest and sail the San Juans and Gulf Islands and my boat gets me anywhere in the Georgia Strait I wish to go. It is a nice weekender boat and will sleep more than two but we never have, just my wife and I, Nice couples boat.

Hello,

If I were you I would look for boats in the 28-32' range. Do look at a Catalina 27 and see if you think it's big enough. If so, there are many available in your price range. If the C27 is to small, then there are lots more boats for you.

Before you buy anything, look at lots of boats and see what features are important to you. Things like swim platform, walk through rear transom, forward or aft head, stateroom with a door, etc are available on some boats but not others. Also, some boats may come with more features, that while you could add to any boat, would be very expensive. For example self tailing winches can easily cost over 1K. Same with dodgers and biminis. A good set of sails is worth a lot of $$.

Probably the best thing you can do is find a good broker and work with him. I don't know any in your area so I can't help.

Yachtworld is also your friend. I did a quick search:

http://www.yachtworld.com/core/listing/cache/searchResults.jsp?toPrice=30000&searchtype=advancedsearch&Ntk=boatsEN&type=(Sail)&fromYear=1980&hmid=0&sm=3&enid=0&luom=126&cit=true&toLength=32&currencyid=100&boatsAddedSelected=-1&fromLength=27&ftid=0&fromPrice=15000&slim=quick&rid=101&No=0&Ns=PAll_modelYear|1

And got some great looking boats (but all boats look great in ads).

Good luck,
Barry

A trailer sailer is by far the most cost effective for day sail/overnight use. Rent a bigger boat for the cruises. I once did a paper in the economics of this for a grad course. Sounds like you've got you heart set in a bigger boat.
Some other things. Boat depreciation statrs to flatten out at about the 5 year. Depends on the boat. At that point you also have some years left in the electronics. Rather than planning on doing a lot of upgrades look until you find a boat that's has most of what you want and competent TLC. Preferably an owner whose boat is a monument to thier existence. You only get a small fraction out in resale of the money you put in. The excaption are boats sold for pennies at auction... often marinas do this. Then you need a real good survey so you don't end up with a multi year costly project. If you have a few boats in mind that are acceptable your search will be more effective than locking. Still plan on spending a lot of time looking a lot of boats. For a new sailor getting a boat that's got a strong class organiation in your area is a big help. Not only do they do cruises but also there's a lot of experience on how to do repairs and upgrades. They also know about the boats that are being sold. Catalina 22s and 30s often are ubiquitous.

I have a 30 ft Cal and a trailer sailer so I half follow my own advice. I got the trailer sailer when I relocated from Seattle to D.C. and Rhode Island. I could hitch the trailer sailer and cruise waters from Penobscott Bay to Chincatogue (sp?) It was also great for gunkholing in shallow waters. Now that I'm back in deep cold water the keelboat is a great comfort.

Good luck