Your Favorite Seaworthy Vessels 40-48' with Comfortable Digs

[Lonestaralaskan]

Originally Posted by fxykty

OP, don’t pay attention to this ill-informed posting.

One can see families with young children cruising and crossing oceans on all sorts of yachts of all sizes: monohulls, catamarans, trimarans (rarely). Comfort is relative and either your family, children in particular, will get used to the motion of whatever yacht you choose, or they won’t. If not, other than a cruise ship, most likely no cruising sailboat will suit. But that’s not likely - most people are very adaptable.

Not to worry! My husband loves the cats, but I wouldn't be able to sleep at night worried about my little ones being on the other side of the boat. At least with a monohull, its a bit more cozy, and I think that's best for when they are young.

Now as teenagers...that's another matter.

[Lonestaralaskan]

Originally Posted by Scout 30

I have to agree here. With 4 people a cat is your best option. Plus you'll get a shoal draft boat which will make things a lot less stressful in Florida & the Bahamas.

Two of the four people will be 3 and 4 years old. I don't feel comfortable living on a catamaran with two little kiddos. Maybe it works for some people, but I prefer the layout of a monohull for sailing with young children. Maybe I'll change my mind one day, who knows, but for now that's how it is.

PS: I'm on the monohull board for a reason.

[fxykty]

Most catamarans have 2 cabins per side, with all berths being doubles or larger. For younger children no problem in the same bed, or split them down the middle and create 2 singles. I’ve also seen some forward cabins with two up and down bunks, but not so good with youngsters who can’t handle a ladder. So you can all be in one hull. Owners versions usually have one hull with one sleeping cabin, but the other hull usually has two cabins so you can all sleep on that side.

Once your kids are tweens you’ll be very thankful to be in a separate hull ;-)

[Lost Horizons]

Originally Posted by fxykty

Once your kids are tweens you’ll be very thankful to be in a separate hull ;-)

How long does it take 3 and 4 y.o. to become tweens?

[fxykty]

Tweens are around 9-13, though of course totally depends on each individual child and how quickly they yearn for independence. YMMV

[Lost Horizons]

Things are quite different down under...

[Suijin]

Originally Posted by Lonestaralaskan

Two of the four people will be 3 and 4 years old. I don't feel comfortable living on a catamaran with two little kiddos. Maybe it works for some people, but I prefer the layout of a monohull for sailing with young children. Maybe I'll change my mind one day, who knows, but for now that's how it is.

PS: I'm on the monohull board for a reason.

OK fair enough, makes sense. When I was that age my parents were toting me and my brother and sister around for weeks on end on a wooden Cheoy Lee 30'. To me it seemed like we were on the Queen Mary.

I'd be looking for a good Hylas/Stevens 47. Like this one:

1982 Stevens 47 Sail Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com

[svGenesis]

I would suggest an Endeavor 40 or 42, These are very well built, The draft on the 40' is 5'2" and 5'4" respective. very affordable, The berths are very large, and the aft head has a shower/tub.

I had a 40' with a boom furler, genset, and AC. Was always a dream to sail.

[Lonestaralaskan]

Originally Posted by svGenesis

I would suggest an Endeavor 40 or 42, These are very well built, The draft on the 40' is 5'2" and 5'4" respective. very affordable, The berths are very large, and the aft head has a shower/tub.

I had a 40' with a boom furler, genset, and AC. Was always a dream to sail.

The Endeavor 43 is on my short list!

[markpierce]

Originally Posted by Lonestaralaskan

The Endeavor 43 is on my short list!

Good accommodations but lacking good sailing performance. What the heck, cruisers don't go windward under sail and otherwise use engines most of the time.

The Endeavour 43 Sailboat : Bluewaterboats.org

[MLOI]

Originally Posted by Lonestaralaskan

Two of the four people will be 3 and 4 years old. I don't feel comfortable living on a catamaran with two little kiddos. Maybe it works for some people, but I prefer the layout of a monohull for sailing with young children. Maybe I'll change my mind one day, who knows, but for now that's how it is.

PS: I'm on the monohull board for a reason.

Even with 6 and 10 YO kids, it was a sense of security to have them in the v berth and need to come past us in the rear cabin before going up on deck. Both are good swimmers, but I'd still hate for them to fall overboard at night.
Actually quite frequently we would end up with one kid and one parent in each cabin, or on the settees etc. The 6 YO girl took advantage of the rest of us shamelessly
They would be OK for a couple more years sharing the v berth, but we will need something bigger after that. Cats do start to make sense at that point.

We never felt squashed with family of 4 in a small 37 foot yacht. Occasionally the eldest kid would go sit by himself on the bow. Occasionally we would consign them both to the dinghy and tow it on a long leash.

Mike

[JPA Cate]

People frequently write that cruisers don't sail to windward, but motor. I'm pretty sure that describes some people, but it is not Jim's and my way. Perhaps it is because we've been doing it for so long, or because we were fairly young when we started sailing, but every single cruiser, if they choose their boat well, will be able to sail it to windward when they choose to. If lonestaralaskan chooses a weatherly mono, there's no reason to make the assumption that they will not sail to windward.

Something to consider, lonestaralaskan, is that pilot berths can be made into private places, you want a high, full, lee cloth, and if it's long enough and deep enough, you can have a shelf at the foot and one along the hull, as well. Nice and snug in all weather. Might want a fan to keep it cool, too.

Ann

[Divevac]

We are on the other end of a thorough 2.5 year search\learning curve. In hindsight, when it comes to selecting a boat it seems every decision was a compromise.

We are in our 50s, our kids are launched (more or less) and our budget was a little more restrictive ($US125k). We travelled 15k kms by car getting a real education! As a dinghy, mono and cat racer of 40 years with plans to cross into the Med in 2019 we considered in turn and ultimately dispensed with PDQ, Corbin CC, Amel 46 (my fave!), Prout Snowgoose, Bene 44 CC, Moody 42CC, Freedom 45CC, Bavaria Ocean 40\42CC, Jeanneau 42 DS, Halberg Rassy 41and a few steel designs we liked (Dudley Dix and van de Stadt).

I was leaning toward an older Amel or HR...and eventually realized we only needed a blue water boat for 6-8 weeks of the next 6-8 years. With the correct crew, gear and prep, we also realized we would be happy to cross an ocean in a Star!

Good hearted brokers will tell you they are aware of the need to kiss a lot of frogs before they eventually meet a prince...I'm grateful to most that we met who contributed a great deal to our journey!

Much to my surprise our final compromise was a Catalina 42 MkII-2 cabin. We both instantly liked this boat (safe and comfortable layout, under 5' draft, single handedness, reputable supportive manufacturer still in business). With that decision taken last summer, we embarked on a focused search for the best possible example. The selling points:
-Fresh water only
-Yanmar 55 with <1k hours
-extremely well equipped and maintained
-exclusive Great Lakes use of ~ 4-5 months per year (mostly weekends)
-amazingly clean
We take delivery in two weeks.

I ramble on to share with you that it was a grand adventure getting an education, considering the myriad of factors and ultimately settling on our compromise boat. Our lists of must-have's, nice to have and optional features and equipment changed dozens of times. In hindsight, I openly laugh at the lists we made in the fall of 2015 (washing machine indeed!).

If it is of interest, PM me - I'm happy to share brief impressions of each of the boats we ultimately discarded.

Enjoy the evolution...I hope it turns out to be as fond a time for you and your family as it has been for us.

[triokp44]

May not necessarily be a well known boat but the Kelly Peterson 44 are great cc and also have a 6-4 draft, very seaworthy,

[Don C L]

Peterson 44 is not a well known boat? Egads how old am I?