What boat would you recommend for our cruising

[Don C L]

So just for the heck of it I have been checking craigslist there and there is a Tartan 30 that may be good, if the size is ok. $10K, it has a Atomic 4 which wouldn't be my preference, and it is not shoal draft, but they have a good rep for build quality and sailing characteristics
1976 Tartan 30 sailboat and I'd probably take a look at this one, though I am not familiar with it:
33 ft Sailboat
the nice thing about these is you'll have $30k left over!

This one might be a good one and you'll have 10k left:
37 gulfstar1979 --29000--obo

This one also caught my eye and I'd check it for sure, Morgans of the era had a good rep, and it's shoal draft with what seems to be a good diesel, 12K
DEAL on Sailboat ::PRICE REDUCED::

But me, if I had $40k, I probably would offer it all on this one and hoped they said yes!! But it is not shoal draft, not very roomy, over budget... completely impractical! But it is one of the few that happen to really catch my eye...
Cheoy Lee Rhodes Reliant Offshore 40

Don't know if that helps.

[hsi88]

Thanks for reminding us that nice boats can be had for less than $100K !

[chuckr]

Having stated out where you are I would never recommend any particular boat. It is like ford, chevy or dodge truck. Everyone has an opinion.

But make a list of what you and THE ADMIRAL want on the boat. Sleeping berths, heads, galley stuff like stove, reefer ect. - easy of sailing, inmast or conventional sail, draft (we draft 5' and not issues in the Bahamas), easy of anchoring, mast height (you will probably at some point want to run north on the icw), engine size, and on and on.

When I started I had a 1 1/2 page list of things. Some proved not on any value and some were critical. But really need to include the Admiral in this if you want a happy boat. After all is the galley is not exactly what she wants but she helped pick it out it is not "look what you stuck me with" ==

So list your priorities then both you and the Admiral climb on as many boats and possible and make notes on each and then compare.

[Drift Woods]

I was in your position two years ago. #1. I started with my charts checking depths at low tide for all my favorite anchoring spots. I like bayside and found that a draft of 4'-6" was the maximum for any boat to be on my list. #2. Was an open transom sugar scoop. "I'm 56 and 20 lbs. over my ideal wait" After that it made my hunt for a boat easy because eliminated 80% of what was on the market.


Best of luck, Woody

[a64pilot]

I'd find a boat that the wife likes, with a shoal draft and a good engine.
Good engine because fixing a bad one can get real expensive, fast.
As others have said, I wouldn't get wrapped up with the "Blue Water" stuff, cause it doesn't sound like you plan on going around Cape Horn or anything, but I do believe in buying the boat she likes will make life easier and more pleasant

[Island Time O25]

Check out Mariner 36 (NH) on yachtworld. There are two on East Coast asking $25K (in MD)and $34K (in NC), early 80s models. When new they sold for twice the price of new Catalinas and that's about their comparative quality, etc. Draft 5', keel stepped mast clears 51', tankage - 110g water, 40g fuel and 25-30g waste, all easily expandable, if need be. Well constructed and if maintained by POs will sail another 30+ years. Very comparable to or arguably even better than either Pearson or Sabre for a fraction of the cost.

[Tetra]

Late-80's Cal 33-2. Easily doable in that budget.

[chuckr]

If you pm me will try and find the list I used and share it. you must remember that I never owned a boat before but did a ton of research. And now some seems a bit silly but it is a starting point.

And why do I still have it? Well the Admiral says I never throw any boat thing away.

[Scout 30]

There's an Island Packet 31 for sale in the new Florida Mariner listed at under $40,000. Might be worth checking out.

The Florida Mariner eBook

[jwing]

Originally Posted by tuffr2

Dude - you live in the keys already. Just look at what other people sail. Go to any marina and start looking around.

Replace the phrase 'looking around' with 'talking to sailors' and you now have the best possible advice. Orders of magnitude better than your current strategy of floating out a generic question on an internet forum.

[Paul J. Nolan]

I think the suggestion of a Tartan 27 was a good one. The advice to go down to the harbor front and look around was very good too. Talk to people at the yacht club and marina. They sail in those waters. See what they have and listen to what they say. It makes more sense than looking to an internet chatroom full of strangers half of whom are babbling idiots, half are experienced, knowledgeable sailors. But if you are so green you need other's advice on what to buy, how will you distinguish one half from the other?

Paul

[Quickbeam]

Talking to people is great, getting out on as many boats as you can will also help a lot.
In addition to the many good boats listed already:
Bristol 29 (Herreshoff) centerboard
Bristol 32 (Hood/Empacher) centerboard
Cape Dory 28 (Alberg) 4' draft
Columbia 34 MKI (Monroe) centerboard
Dickerson 35 (Tucker) centerboard
Morgan 34 (Morgan) centerboard
O'Day 32 (Hunt) centerboard version
Pearson Wanderer (Shaw) centerboard
All of those boats have good CSF and MCR numbers, are around in good shape and reasonable cost. There are many others out there that could be on a shallow water, semi-coastal list. The Bermuda 40 comes to mind, but that's a bit higher priced.
In warmer areas give real thought to ventilation underway and at anchor. We all have our own ideas of what layout, equipment and space we can be comfortable with.
Taking a good hard look at what you like to do (and by that I mean EVERYONE aboard). Not just sailing or on the hook, but for fixing up and maintaining the boat.
There are many couples sailing 26' boats thousands of miles and feel quite comfortable. Others I have sailed with feel a 43' 30,000 lb boat is too small for all the comforts they want.
Like people have said - go talk to sailers, sail as many boats as you can, check out charts and cruising guides.

It's all about having fun.

Fair winds and following seas.

[reed1v]

Originally Posted by Paul J. Nolan

I think the suggestion of a Tartan 27 was a good one. The advice to go down to the harbor front and look around was very good too. Talk to people at the yacht club and marina. They sail in those waters. See what they have and listen to what they say. It makes more sense than looking to an internet chatroom full of strangers half of whom are babbling idiots, half are experienced, knowledgeable sailors. But if you are so green you need other's advice on what to buy, how will you distinguish one half from the other?

Paul

For the non sailors or those who have little sailing experience on this board, and there seems to be many, yacht clubs are generally private clubs that do not entertain strangers coming onto their property asking questions. If your invited, then by all means go and ask around. But, general rule is non club members are not welcomed unless you arrange beforehand to have a member vouch for you or the commodore agrees to let you in. The exception is if you from a recognized yacht club with reciprocal privileges or your delivering packages.

[BeachbumKW]

Situation has arose where we have trimmed the budget down to around 25k We have been walking the docks, striking up conversations. I agree the admiral has to be happy. We have already struck some from our list for various reasons. Your thought on this one we plan on making a trip next week to see
Sailboat 1977 Morgan Out Island 33

[a64pilot]

I think in my opinion, with your budget, you could do a lot worse than a Morgan OI for your stated purpose, nearly ideal boat I think in that price range and mission.
But with any boat this age, condition is extremely important, make sure before you buy that you have a good survey, it's not a good survey if it doesn't have quite a long list of what is wrong, even a new boat won't have a clean survey.

If they are asking 18, you can have it for less I'm sure, and you will need that money for the work it either needs or stuff you would like to have