Cruising Boat Recommendations for a Family of Four

[SV Demeter]

Looking at boats with 3 private sleeping cabins. Interested in hearing suggestions for good Water boats">blue water boats. 2 children ages 4 and 6 boy and girl want their own cabins.

Currently on short list: wauquiez 43 Amphitrite and Stevens 47/Hylas 49 although the later may be unreachabled financially.

Like the idea of an aft cabin with some privacy and a bunk you dont have to get into feet first. Also like the idea of being able to fully enclose the cockpit with a rigid dodger/bimini and side curtains. Dont want mid boon sheeting or a traveler in the cockpit. Like lots of storage for extra sails when wet like spinnakers and hank on staysails. Like an inner forstay for heavy weather. Like 150-200 gallons of water and 75+ of fuel. Have looked at a lot of boats and wont bore you will all of the dont likes. Interested in spending 100-150k.

[Ram]

Consider a Cat the kids on one side you on the other, lots of privacy

[SV Demeter]

We have considered that but so far have come up with:

1. Dont know much about sailing cruising cats. Probably have spend 5k or more on a charter to try one. Which we may end up doing.
2. Our budget of 100-150 wont buy much cat from what I have seen.
3. Hard to tell which ones are high quality. Refer back to #1 here.
4. Dockage will be tricky.
5. Have heard they are really not much faster once you load them up with cruising gear.
6. Have heard you will be motoring a lot as upwind is not really an option.

Other than that we are open the the idea and there seem to be a lot of good reasons. Number 2 has been the main sticking point.

[Ram]

Originally Posted by SV Escape Plan

We have considered that but so far have come up with:

1. Dont know much about sailing cruising cats. Probably have spend 5k or more on a charter to try one. Which we may end up doing.
2. Our budget of 100-150 wont buy much cat from what I have seen.
3. Hard to tell which ones are high quality. Refer back to #1 here.
4. Dockage will be tricky.
5. Have heard they are really not much faster once you load them up with cruising gear.
6. Have heard you will be motoring a lot as upwind is not really an option.

Other than that we are open the the idea and there seem to be a lot of good reasons. Number 2 has been the main sticking point.

on #1 no one knows how to sail them until you get out there and try- easy by the way-I had mono hulls for over 35 years ,now im hooked on cats
2 I think you could find a decent 7-10 year old used one for 150k if you keep looking, making offers,
3 hard to get #1 quility for any 3 cabin boat at this price but its possable
4 dock age is easy, but sometimes cost more
5 they are as a rule faster - by a few knots-
6 Im able to sail 35* upwind - but most mono hulls are much faster that close to the wind-
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Good your not ruling any thing out you never know -Id keep them on my radar - in the spring around June first a lot of the ex charter boats come up for sale in the Crib, most need to move out of the hurricane belt and sometimes can be had at a nice deal- ive seen a few nice ones for 175k this year so thats close to your price- GOOD LUCK

[rdcleveland]

You ever consider a Morgan OI 41 center cockpit?
spacious, two cabins and lots of room to live in. I single handed one from Tampa to Puerto Rico. They don't point well, but do sail well off the wind. Great live aboard, in my opinion. Can be had between 48-75K well appointed.

[SV Demeter]

We have looked at a few Morgans including the 462 ketch which had a decent layout. Unfortunately they all have had some pretty major issues with corrosion and leaks and wet cores and holding tank odors and we were not generally impressed with the build quality.

Ram I would like to hear more about you cat reccommendations. Can you point to makes and models?

[Pblais]

Looking at boats with 3 private sleeping cabins. Interested in hearing suggestions for good blue water boats.

The 3 cabins is going to get you on the budget. Cats would be a good idea or near 50 ft monos. You are in a tight budget unless you give up some Blue Water qualities. With boats in the 3 cabin range, lower price can bite off a whole lot of work to get off and away plus added expenses all the way after. Many estimates on repairs and expenses run "by the ft". It actuality is worse than that. Bigger gets to be a whole lot more.

You really need to really figure out what you really need to have. How you want to live needs to meet the budget or either you never leave or you end up tanked too soon. Spending money on some charters does not always seem the best idea but it's a taste of what it really might be like. You are facing compromise and it's not easy to trade off all the issues until you find out what they really cost. It would be easy for me to trade off all the things you need given I maybe don't need them. It is about you and your family not someone else.

In your price range I have to say brands don't matter as much as condition. You need a boat in great condition at a steal-away price. You can not afford a new boat. Start looking and walking on boats you can actually buy today. Learn more and be smarter is the only shot you have. It's easy to get smarter but it takes more work.

[Curmudgeon]

1986 Sunward S&S Design custom Ketch Sail Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com

1977 CAL 3-46 Center Cockpit Sail Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com

[SV Demeter]

I have looked at the Sunward listing a few times. There is one in Annapolis we should probably look at closer. I could not tell though from the listing are there 3 separate sleeping cabins or is it a traditional aft cabin/salon/v-berth layout? Sorry but the Cal looks like a nightmare to me.

[Curmudgeon]

Well, just some suggestions. The Sunward is a big, heavy boat. I don't know how many cabins it has but at 50,000 lbs it must have considerable interior space. Plus it has a brand new engine.

If you want lots of cabins, you can go to any issue of Cruising World and look at the Moorings Yacht Brokerage ads for the ex-charter boats that are for sale. My guess is that those boats are not particularly well built, don't have lots of storage or tankage and are suspect as "blue water" boats-- but cabins, they've got.

I would suggest that, if your children insist on separate sleeping quarters, that you find a two cabin boat with a pilot berth above one of the settees in the main cabin. The requirement for three full sleeping cabins is way too limiting IMHO in the range of boats you can afford. If your children were teenagers I might feel differently.

[SV Demeter]

Yes the Sunward certainly appears to be a heavy boat for sure, thats not in and of itself a bad thing, just may make for a slow boat. Really not at all intersted in ex-charter boats or that sort of boat that has not been in charter. They all seem to have lousy systems, a lack of storage space, large space wasting salons, lack of fuel and water tankage, ice boxes that are useless for long term crusing, pitiful electical systems etc...

Our children will be teenagers or thereabouts when we are planning to take off and we plan on cruising with them for several years, hence the desire for separate sleeping cabins. We have done a fair bit of coastal cruising from Maine to Florida and loads of chesapeake bay. Sharing a v-berth is a pain now and having one sleeping in the salon is less than ideal as well. We have outgrown the Ericson 38, which is listed presently, and are seeking the next yacht that will be more suitable for long term cruising.

[Curmudgeon]

If you find a boat with a large V-berth forward, you can probably reconfigure it into two separate cabins without too much expense. The problem would be what to do if there is a large overhead hatch.

In any event, good luck in your search.

[SV Demeter]

That has certainly been a thought we have had. Im basically resolved to the fact that what eve boat we end up with we are likely going to have to do some reconstruction on. The ice box at a minimum as properly insulated ones with suitable storage space for a family of 4 are rare. I may need to post over in the multi-hull section for some input there. We have not ruled these out but have no experience in cruising cats. My background has been with monohulls as thats all I have owned over the years. We are considering a charter next summer in the windward islands to see if the cat thing might be for us.