Cruising boat for a 62 and 63 year old?.

[straydog4612]

Cruising boat for a 62 and 63 year old?.
Hi All, New to this but not to boats. Hubby and I are looking to buy a cruising boat to drop off the world for awhile. Two boats that come to mind are the Martzcraft 35 and the Swanson 42. The M35 purely for its size and space. I figure it should be easy for us oldies to sail as it is ketch rig, and appears to be in good condition and not too big to handle as we are 62 and 63 respectively. The Swanson, well, I just love them for no definable reason. One is within our budget, the other is not, but doable.
We dont want to go anywhere in particular, but want a solid strong sturdy boat just in case we do. We will just cruise around south east queensland to Airlie indefinately.
We started with a glass folkboat, then an adams 10 sporster, and have recently sold our farr 11.6. We are used to speed so I am concerned about getting a boat that is too slow, I know I have to compromise,
What would be your advice as to the ideal sized yacht for an aging couple. I really need a bed that is not a V berth,which was why we sold the Farr, and a good galley, another reason the farr had to go. Really like the idea of a centre cockpit with an aft cabin.
I know I am being a bit vague, but even a chat here may help clarify my thinking on this issue. I am all ears. Thanks for your time.

[Oceanride007]

Hi, and welcome to CF, I expect you wouldn't get much of a response. Would be helpful if you added your locale and whatever else you can as lots of people on CF are international, actually a lot of Aussies wouldn't know what a Swanson is as they were long ago, one member here GiLow maybe worth while talking too, as he has a Swanson 42. And what budget.
Just saw a IP40 go sailing by, great boat but there are many out there, you see plenty of nice boats on the water, most don't have recognizable names so when they come up for sale, you have to do the mileage, come to think of it a recent neighbour had one 42' Aluminium built on great lakes no name but beautiful and lots of fruit, the link is down maybe it sold but the point is they couldn't get any lookers and priced low Aus 6 figures. Mine by the way is a custom built coreten, you couldn't find a nicer fit out, but being custom built its a one off.
Theres no short cut do the mileage, even asia.

[robert sailor]

You mentioned you liked center cockpits and nice aft cabins, depending on your budget you have a good choice. One yacht to consider is the Moody, in a variety of sizes, well built, ocean going, typical British. There are many others, maybe you can share your budget?

[straydog4612]

My locale is Queensland Australia. Budget 50K - 80K. Quite a few of us do know the Swansons, but I am asking a more pertinent question as to what would suit our age, racing and fast boats are not suitable to our advancing years. All our sailing will be the east coast of Australia, just really wanting to change my backyard from dirt to sea.
We would be interested in what other people may recommend, probably because they can identify with the change of tack. Thanks for responding.

[straydog4612]

Our budget is small, but I'm not looking for anything fancy, of our three past boats, only one has headroom, but they have been cruiser racers, and cruising boats I am finding is a whole different ballgame. I did see a Moody, however, as you now know, outside of our price range.

[robert sailor]

The last thing I'd worry about is your age. If your both in decent shape you should have many years of cruising in your future. If I read you correct you were planning on local or coastal cruising..correct? This opens up your choices of suitable boats.

[Reefmagnet]

Have a look at Nantucket Island 33's. They'd fit the bill. There's a few for sale around at the moment including a fairly decent one at Airlie.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, straydog.

[taxwizz]

Considering your age, I recommend Princess Cruises, or Holland America.
Great food, great ports, great entertainment, comfortable cabins, very safe.
And minuscule work.

[Utahsailor]

My wife is 62 and I am 72 and an ex racer. With roller furling, anchor windlass, electric winches and autopilot, age is less of a factor, budget is more. Since I like speed, we bought the longest waterline we could afford, coupled with the interior we liked, a Beneteau 49. The newer production boats are bigger inside, lighter and faster, often equipped with the above devices. Try taking a look and sail on a 35-40 foot one like a Beneteau or others.

[sailcrazy]

coming from a background in lake boats (MN) our first "cruising"boat was a Ta Chio 33 (think Tayana 37, but smaller). We were 55 and 53 then. We soon determined in was just to small for cruising; we sought out and bought a Taswell 43, and have had her for the past 18 years. Center cockpit, aft queen-sized bed, pass-through galley(EZ to brace in a seaway), good sized settee, another private suite with it's own head, stand-up shower, swimm platform, etc. We lived/worked in the PI, and sailed her/lived aboard from Singapore to the Philippines, to Thailand, thru the Medd and the Adriatic, and now the Caribb. We're now 72 and 70, sail the Caribb 6-mos ea year, and think she may be just a little small for us! Don't go to small!!! And DO go for a strong, well-built boat that will stand up to use, and will save/protect your butt when the seaway picks up more than you want. and it will happen! You do get what you pay for....some of the boats avail are just not built that strong-IMHO.

[Chalifour]

Check on the Jeanneau Deck Salon 43 (1999 to 2005), reshaped in the DS42 (2006 to 2015) and further DS44 (2015-) great for cruisers and liveabords. 2/3 cabins, 2heads, very confortable, full width, stern cabin with a bed wider than a queen, and side access. Lots of storage room. We sail our since 2011 and love it. The DS43 was considered one of the best 40 manufactured sailboats ever built by Cruising World experts.

[MIRELOS]

That's a tough question to answer; What is your experience, sailing expectations, cruising kitty?
Iam 69 and my wife 65, the dog passed away and the children grew up and moved, a 60' cat is big but we manage and enjoy it.
Good luck with your choices, make sure you love the boat.

[breezydays]

Age is just a number and a state of mind. We are 66 and 59 respectively and sail a Beneteau 423 which we love. Great headroom and very comfortable. We have slab reefing and whilst not a racer gets us from A to B in good time. Also good in any heavy weather that we have encountered. Forget the age thing . We know people who are 45 but have already consigned themselves to old age (and can't run for a bus) whilst we know 70 year olds who are as fit as most 40 year olds. Get the boat that suits your pocket , your cruising plans and fires your imagination - that's what cruising life's about surely ?

[fatherchronica]

We mostly always had ultralight racing boats because we liked to go fast, but also I was very impatient. But when we decided to move aboard and cruise full time we bought a full keel boat to have a gentler motion on those squallier days. We are 62 and 65, and the old one of us has fractured or crushed 16 bones in his spinal column over his lifetime and so we didn't want a boat that pounded to windward.