Help Me Narrow Choices for a <30' SF Bay Cruiser

[dmx]

Some friends of mine are looking to upgrade their J/24 to a larger, more cruising oriented boat for the San Francisco bay, and I'm love some suggestions for monohull cruisers you think might be worth considering:

Here are some of the criteria:
- 30' or less (that's the slip size)
- Reasonable performance and safety
- Reasonably inexpensive to maintain
- Suitable for San Francisco bay sailing, and trips to the surrounding area now and then (Half Moon Bay, Farallon islands, etc)
- Able to sleep 2 couples in relative comfort. This is seems a tricky requirement in this size -- we'd ideally like 2 double beds
- Bathroom / basic shower with hot water
- Basic kitchen facilities
- Mostly weekend trips of 2-3 days. Not for extended cruising, but not only for single day trips either
- Available in reasonable shape in the 15-35K price range

Typical use:
- Two couples go cruising around the bay for a long weekend, making their own meals on the boat and sleeping at anchor. Occasional Friday night racing, with little intent of winning

I know you guys have some opinions about what kind of boats might be worth considering... let's hear them!

[Abaco]

Why not pick up an Olson 30. They are readily available for under $15M. Great sailing boats. They don't have a shower or hot water, but you can fix that with a solar shower on the deck.

[Starbuck]

New and Used Yachts for Sale - YachtWorld.com

[Sailndive345]

Hmmmmm.... If I were making such a decision, I'd look at a J-30 With a little TLC, you could make an earlier J-30 to be pretty much everything you described....

Have fun!

Sailndive

[David M]

Given you want those accommodations, an ultralight like an Express 27 is not going to work for you.

I would look at a Pearson 30, Beneteau 30, Catalina 30, Ranger 30, Cs 30 and Santana 30.

Have you looked in the back of Latitude 38?

[dmx]

Thanks for all your comments. At this point we're leaning toward some of the more cruising oriented boats mentioned like the Catalina 28 or 30, Santana 30, Beneteau 30 etc as you suggested David M. I hadn't considered the CS30 but it looks very nice.

Many of the other boats are awesome from a performance perspetive but didn't seem to meet the need for two double sleeping areas (as opposed to 1 double v berth and a couple of quarter berths). And there seem to be loads of Catalina 28s and 30s around at good prices.

Any other suggestions? Thanks to everyone for your help and advice.

[Vasco]

Originally Posted by dmx

T

Many of the other boats are awesome from a performance perspetive but didn't seem to meet the need for two double sleeping areas (as opposed to 1 double v berth and a couple of quarter berths). And there seem to be loads of Catalina 28s and 30s around at good prices.
.

I think you're expecting a bit much in a 30 ft boat but the CS30 has a double V berth and a double quarter berth. The performance is pretty good too.

[roverhi]

There is a PT30 for sale real cheap in the bay area. They were a competitive IOR design especially good to windward. sale-m4rjc-1278262830@craigslist.org. Also have been a couple of S&S designed 30' boats from Yankee and Tartan on the market recently. These are well built boats that you could take offshore should the mood strike.
Aloha
Peter O.

[captmick39]

Like the title, DMX, they're 9M (30') separated (bulkheaded) sleeping quarters, cross the big pond, solid boats, bay & even offshore...nice & tough. HUGE interiors. Seriously "over-rigged"(if there is such a thing).

Look real hard at the older Catalina's, well made, floorplan, easy to sail (well) & solid all around contender meeting all Your desires.

Another factor few consider (for at that later date when it gets either "too big or small") is resale...they're up there. The older(while well maintained) You go, the cheaper they get (well, duh!), point being the less "depreciation" You'll suffer while owning. Everyone says "I don't care about that, gonna own this 1 a long time/forever"; few seldom do.
Good luck on the quest,
HTH,
-Mick

[ksmith]

Look up S-2 9.2 center cockpit. Has all the amenities you want. Sails pretty well in the Tampa Bay area. I am not familar with the SF bay so don't how that would fit sailing wise.