>$180,000 Good offshore 36-40 for 2 to Sail Atlantic Coast bottom to top

[Bluebound]

We've been looking at boats for combination of performance, reliability and storm robustness. Trying to keep the price around $150,000. We are planning to cruise from Largo to Long Island sound and use the seasons for years of cruising.
38 seems about right for us. The 2 of us need to be able to single hand the boat and don't need any other passenger space.

Passport 40, Panda Cutter 38, Wauquiez Centurion 40. These seem built to handle most anything and not sluggish. Any other suggestions? Most of the boats I've looked at seem very light and not well made for blue water.

[Jon Neely]

In this market spend $100k on a dialed 33-40ft cruiser and use the other 80 for cruising kitty.
Panda is going to be the slowest out of the bunch but the easiest to sail. Hans Christian 38 Telstar is another great boat if you like traditional lines with lots of teak. But with your extra 60k you can have many years of bright work service done for you.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[Kevin84]

The Bristol 41.1 or 43.3 would also work well for you while giving you a decent turn of speed.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[colemj]

For perspective, Largo to Long Island is not really "blue water" and does not require a "get you through hell" boat. You will rarely be out of sight of land. This is probably the best stretch of water in the world for the number of easy access ports, in all weather and all times of day, and precise weather forecasts. Not to mention the charting is accurate down to the foot - you can come into ports blind if needed. You can do this in a Macgregor 26 if you want. You also have the option of traveling in completely protected waters if the weather goes bad outside - and if you simply skip these protected waters for the "blue water" cruising, you will miss out on almost all the area has to offer. I can't think of more protected and easy cruising than the US East coast from FL to CT.

And given that the vast majority of the sailing season on the US East coast has light winds, I suggest you go the opposite direction in the type of boat you consider. $150,000 will for sure get you a palace for this type of cruising. You can spend half that and do just as well with money left over. Look for a good light-wind boat with a good engine. Modest draft will help in exploring some areas, but not a requirement.

The Panda would be a mistake for this use.

Mark

[Stu Jackson]

Mark's right. There are a vast array of coastal cruisers that would meet your requirements as stated. Vast...I won't even start, but you could actually buy a new Catalina 355 that would be perfect for the two of you for that amount. You really need to do some more homework.

Good luck, sounds like a fun plan.

[DeepFrz]

Or you could look at a Morris Justine...
Pre-Owned - Morris Yachts

[Stu Jackson]

Those Morris' make me drool, lovely boats. But the OP could get 500 responses to his open-ended "What boat should I buy?" question and received 678 different suggestions. Not too helpful. He need to do a lot more research, because the VERY first thing just about every book ever written that is anything like "How to buy a sailboat" starts off with: determine how you intend to use the boat. First and foremost. Mark already addressed that.

After that it's up to the OP's wallet and desires.