Visit our Popular Forums

Kimarah · 06-10-2009, 17:51

Hi folks,

Oops, I guess I broke protocol by posting on a thread without introducing myself on Meets & Greets. I'm here to make amends.

My husband and I took sailing lessons five years ago with the intention of chartering daysails until we decided what kind of sailboat would suit us. Well, a few weeks later a beautiful Catalina 27 followed us home and we decided to keep her. Although we loved the Catalina (really a perfect beginner cruising boat), we knew almost immediately that we were going to eventually want a bigger boat to cruise on when we retired. To that end we periodically went looking at bigger boats that were on the market, even though we didn't plan on buying for a while yet.

We learned lots about what we wanted and didn't want, and the Brewer 12.8 was current top of the pops as the best compromise of all the things we wanted. After cruising with friends with catamarans, we thought we ought to at least look at one before we made up our mind. We went to see a Prout Manta 38 that seemed to be a good deal for a catamaran. She was not too big and not too small; not too plain and not too fancy; not too old and not too new; she desperately needed some love and attention... you get the picture.

So now we're learning how to sail a bigger boat and slowly tackling the multitude of projects present on a boat that's been cruised for quite a number of years without a major refit. We sail out of Solomons, MD.

I found this forum looking for info on potential boats, including the Prout, and consider it and the sailors here a real asset.

Carrie