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Old 04-02-2014, 11:59   #1
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First Boat for Young Family of 4 New to Sailing

Hi all, first post here. I've been lurking for a while and found a ton of information on this site, thanks much.

I've grown up on the water (fishing, boating), but I'm new to sailing, sailed about twice a week last season on catalina 22's and became ASA certified. I'm planning to take some more courses this summer.

I have a young family - wife and 2 boys ages 3 and 5. I've taken everyone sailing last summer on the catalina 22 a few times and we had a great time.

I'd like to take the plunge and buy our first boat early this Spring and so I've been keeping a close eye on boats around Washington DC / Richmond area.

I'm looking for something that my family and I can take out on weekends. At first just for the day, and as we get more comfortable maybe multiple day sails.

I'd like to keep the cost of the boat around 10K. After looking at what's available over the past few weeks, it seems like that should get us something in the 27-30 ft range.

At this point, we're more interested in family relaxation, and less interested in racing.

I'm sure I'm at the point where I can't know what I don't know! But I figure the best way to learn is to dive in! I think I'm going to start looking at some boats this weekend. I might go and look at a 1979 Ericson 29 (advertised for $11k) and 1994 Macgregor 26s (advertised for $10K)

Any suggestions and general advice for boats that might be a good fit are welcome!

Thanks,
Dave
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Old 04-02-2014, 13:01   #2
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Re: First Boat for Young Family of 4 New to Sailing

How about this Catalina 27? Looks to be about 350 nm away.

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...6k-120097.html
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Old 04-02-2014, 13:14   #3
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Re: First Boat for Young Family of 4 New to Sailing

Welcome!

Since you are looking to relax and have fun with the boat, my advice is to get a simple boat with minimal maintenance requirements. Something in the 26' range with an outboard and minimal wood on the exterior to care for.

One question - are looking to trailer sail, keep it in a marina, or a little of both?
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Old 04-02-2014, 13:25   #4
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Re: First Boat for Young Family of 4 New to Sailing

Thanks for the replies, thinking about keeping it at a marina.
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Old 04-02-2014, 18:51   #5
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Re: First Boat for Young Family of 4 New to Sailing

I also have two boys, 4 and 6, and this will be our 3rd season with our 23' Aquarius. The boys love fishing off the boat. Not as excited about the sailing around in circles on a lake yet, but showing more enthusiasm and interest. Make sure to bring toys. Blowing bubbles is one of their favorites as we glide along. Also, make sure to go ashore to explore playgrounds and beaches often. If you haven't yet, I'd make sure your wife is comfortable on the boat first. Nothing gets kids scared more than a nervous/uncomfortable parent.

Ours is on a buoy during the summer, but is trailerable. We try to take at least a couple of trips a season somewhere, which has been a ton of fun. You have more coast line to explore, but it is nice going 60 mph towards a neat destination. Also great to haul out for free at the boat ramp, and park it for the winter at the inlaws..

Edit:Just reread your post, and wanted to clarify, since it looks like you at least have taken them out a couple of times. .. I would suggest that both you and your wife go out for a sail alone in fairly rough weather with lots of healing over before taking the kids. We got into some strong gusty winds that made my wife nervous with the excessive healing. Kids got really scared, but once we got better at predicting the gusts, spilling the main and altered course a bit, things were better. Just wish we had learnt that bit without crying children. Think they are mostly over that trauma now... Kids are remarkably resilient :-)
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Old 05-02-2014, 05:12   #6
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Re: First Boat for Young Family of 4 New to Sailing

My boys will be 6 and 4 too by the time I get a boat. I'm a little nervous about keeping them occupied, but, then again, one of the reasons I want to get them out on the water is to get them away from normal routine and unplugged for a while. Sounds like fun and thanks for the advice - will definitely stock up on bubbles. And both boys love to fish so definitely looking forward to that.

Also will keep it to short trips to parks and beaches at first (I think that'll be good for both boys and wife)!

I was originally thinking it didn't matter if the boat was trailerable, but now that you mention it, having the option to tow it around to different places once and a while does sound nice.

Thanks again.
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Old 05-02-2014, 05:45   #7
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Re: First Boat for Young Family of 4 New to Sailing

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Dave.
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Old 06-02-2014, 06:05   #8
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Re: First Boat for Young Family of 4 New to Sailing

Thanks for the welcome, GordMay!

Monstads comment got me thinking that it would be really nice to be able to trailer the boat to different places once and a while. Especially since my parents live on Kent Island right by a Marina, it might work out really well to take the boat there a few weekends and have the Grandparents watch the kids while my wife and I practice more sailing.

So, here's the updated requirements:

- Big enough for 2 adults and 2 small children to sleep aboard for 1 or 2 nights
- Small enough to trailer somewhere on Fri Night and return Sun evening.

So, seems like I should eliminate boats with fixed keels. Also seems like I should be looking more in the 25 ft range. That seems to be the limit to what can be put on a trailer.

The Ericson 29 I was going to look at won't work because of big fixed keel. The Macgregor doesn't seem to have a big enough cabin to sleep the 4 of us.

I like the idea of a "trailerable cruiser" from this series of posts: The Ericson 25, a Trailerable Cruiser: Why I Bought the Ericson 25, Part I

That posts suggests Oday 25 and Ericson 25. Any other suggestions for similar boats to keep an eye out for?
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Old 06-02-2014, 12:29   #9
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Re: First Boat for Young Family of 4 New to Sailing

Quote:
Originally Posted by upgradingdave View Post
Thanks for the welcome, GordMay!

Monstads comment got me thinking that it would be really nice to be able to trailer the boat to different places once and a while. Especially since my parents live on Kent Island right by a Marina, it might work out really well to take the boat there a few weekends and have the Grandparents watch the kids while my wife and I practice more sailing.

So, here's the updated requirements:

- Big enough for 2 adults and 2 small children to sleep aboard for 1 or 2 nights
- Small enough to trailer somewhere on Fri Night and return Sun evening.

So, seems like I should eliminate boats with fixed keels. Also seems like I should be looking more in the 25 ft range. That seems to be the limit to what can be put on a trailer.

The Ericson 29 I was going to look at won't work because of big fixed keel. The Macgregor doesn't seem to have a big enough cabin to sleep the 4 of us.

I like the idea of a "trailerable cruiser" from this series of posts: The Ericson 25, a Trailerable Cruiser: Why I Bought the Ericson 25, Part I

That posts suggests Oday 25 and Ericson 25. Any other suggestions for similar boats to keep an eye out for?
Glad to help (or at least to give you something to think about). Here's a couple more thoughts for you. .

Ours is 23', 2400lbs (boat only) with a centerboard. Easy to haul with a 2003 Toyota Tacoma. Anything much bigger/heavier I would think about a bigger towing vehicle.

We sleep the 4 of us quite nicely, although it all depends on layout. The Aquarius is nice in that regard.

I would suggest really looking into and researching the effort needed to raise/lower mast and get underway. We have it pretty much down, but it I know we'd get sick of doing it *every* weekend. Having a mooring is really nice for those "hey who wants to go sail and fish" type Wednesday nights.

Hope you find something, and have fun!!
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Old 26-02-2014, 03:48   #10
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Re: First Boat for Young Family of 4 New to Sailing

We are in the same boat (pardon the pun). We have 2 children 2 and 4 yrs and are interested in getting a smaller, less expensive boat to learn and relax with, before making the decision to move up to a bigger boat and possibly live aboard. I'm not in a rush to buy at the moment as I am waiting to hear from my job about whether I will be moving. We will probably end up in either Hawaii or California very soon and I figure that either will be a good place to really start looking.
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Old 26-02-2014, 05:50   #11
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Re: First Boat for Young Family of 4 New to Sailing

Cool, please keep me posted on your search.

I've been researching online and also bought "Sailing Big on a Small Sailboat" by Jerry Cardwell which as been pretty helpful to give ideas about which boats to look at.

I'm planning to start looking at boats when it warms up a bit. For now here are some of the boats on my short list:

Catalina 250 WB - At this point, this is the boat I'm focussing in on. I like that it has a fully enclosed head and is still trailerable. And there are a few for sale around the area.

Other candidates: Hunter 25, Oday 25, Aquarius 23 (haven't seen any of these for sale), Ericson 25 (haven't seen any of these for sale either), Com-Pac 23/IV.

I just bought a truck (2013 Tacoma V6) this past weekend and so excited about that! Now I just need the boat ;-)

Looking forward to getting out and looking at some boats soon. Good luck with your search!
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