Need advice on purchasing a cruiser

[chazepping]

We have decided to buy a second-hand cruiser, and are trying to find out what are the best for the price, or at least which ones to avoid.
We are a family of 5- my parents, my husband, our 12-yr. old daughter and myself. We live near the Costa del Sol, and are looking for something in the 100,000 Euro range, that will take us around the coast.
I've tried to find information on different makes and models online, but there is so much out there I'm not getting very far ahead.
We happened to see a Princess 414 advertised at a nearby Marina- I'm not sure, but I think it was definitely an older model...so far I haven't been able to find much information on this make, and any advice would be very much appreciated.
Cheers,
Charlie

[swagman]

Hi Charlie,
I guess if you are looking at a Princess its a power yacht you are seeking?
Why not clarify more detail on your needs. I.E. The range you imagine you'll want to cover; speeds preferred (which will influence fuel consumption); maybe desire for a flybridge, any preference for either 'sports' or 'trawler' styles; single or twin engines; how experienced are you with boats (should effect choice of legs or regular shafts / props; your preferred size (effects mooring costs).......
There are a lot of models available but with some more info the choice can be easily limited.
Cheers
JOHN

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha Charlie,
Welcome aboard!! If it is a sailing Allied Princess they are great boats but I don't remember them being that large.
Yes, more information is needed before you get on the mark answers.
Kind Regards,
JohnL

[Pblais]

I've tried to find information on different makes and models online, but there is so much out there I'm not getting very far ahead.

You'll find a lot of help here. Perhaps the biggest help is to get you to narrow down from all boats in the world. What you do, what you would like to do, your expeience, your family experiaence in boating starts to narrow the list. Then throw in the skill in operation, cost of the boat, the upkeep and expense of owning a boat and suddenly a real situation starts to come together with a lot of specific questions.

I want to welcome you here and make an offer that I think the members here can help you find the right boat for you and your family by helping you ask yourself all the right quetions. The answers are out there. You need the right questions.

To find the right questions just for you takes more work. Learning about boats and boating is the way to come up with the right questions. It's not just the right boat, but more the right boat for you that works, that you'll like, and that makes sense with your budget. If any one of those fail then you will not be happy. Boating is mostly about having fun and dealing with the work and expense invloved. We talk about that here all the time so please join in.

[chazepping]

Many thanks to all of you for your replies- I'm sorry I haven't gotten back to you sooner, just a lot going on right now (surprise!).
I'll do the best I can to elaborate.

John(swagman):The range we're looking at would probably be a few hundred miles around the Western Med.
Neither John nor I have any real boating experience, so we would have to see what would be realistic, for now, at least.
Speed really isn't a major concern, for the reasons above.
Twin engines would seem like a good idea, if only for practical reasons.
We would like something large enough to sleep 6 comfortably.

JohnL (SkiprJohn):It's actually just called a Princess; it's a power boat cruiser.
Here is a link to the page
http://www.apolloduck.es/feature.phtml?id=22174

We also saw something similar called a Viking
http://www.apolloduck.es/feature.phtml?id=23901

Paul: Would you happen to know of any good websites that explain the basic types of power boats (cruisers)? We are looking for something within the 100,000 € or so range, with a flybridge and enough deck space to sit out on, that will sleep up to 6 people,and that is fairly easy to operate. Safety is more of a priority than aesthetics.

Again, thanks to all of you for your warm welcome, and I look forward to many hours of interesting and informative reading on the forum.

Saludos,
Charlie

[speedoo]

Charlie, I would like to see you address your lack of boating experience before you purchase a boat of the size you are considering. One way you might do this is by chartering a boat (with captain and crew) of this size for a couple of weeks.

Look for a charter opportunity that will put you in the area you plan to cruise. It's important that the captain and crew are people who will educate you about boating with particular emphasis on safety, boat handling and navigation. After a few weeks doing this, your boating experience will be greatly expanded, and you will have a much clearer idea as to the kind of boating you want to do.

I always shudder when I hear of people who have little boating experience thinking about a first boat of the size you are considering. That's because any first boat larger than 25 feet or so (power or sail) is usually too much boat for inexperienced people to handle. The 41 foot "first boat" usually ends up just sitting at a dock somewhere or back on the used boat market pretty soon.

I've spent a lot of time in southern Florida over the past few years, and I've bought and sold several fairly large boats recently. I can tell you there are literally thousands of large boats for sale, and many of them have owners who were just not prepared to own such yachts.

If you do seek out opportunities to expand your boating experience (and I think it's very important that you do so) I think it's very possible that you will decide that your first boat should be something smaller than you are currently considering.