Advice Please

[FutureCruser]

My wife and I are retiring in a few years and plan to become Cruisers. We have sailed before having owned a 25-foot Buccaneer which was a blast to sail. We sold this when we left Texas and not wanting to be without a boat, I ran out and bought a 32-foot Carver Montego because we live off the Potomac river. I have since been informed by my 1st Mate, that I purchased the wrong kind of boat. I have a genetic defect that causes these kind of problems. I am Male.

That being said I am now fully engaged in resolving the problem and am in search of the perfect Sailboat. I have a laundry list of what would make it perfect but need advice on bring her (I mean our) list together into one vessel. We have been all over the eastern seaboard talking with brokers who I don’t believe are entirely forth coming. So I am reaching out to you folks for solid advice.


What we are looking for:

• USED 42 to 50 ft. mono-hull. I would prefer a center cockpit, but can live without it.
• Comfortable in headwinds. (Not possible, but I can dream)
• Centerline Master aft.
• Pullman berth forward with the head between it and the chain locker.
• Easy handling for a crew of two (unless the darn kids find us and then I will put them to work.)
• Ample battery (or room for additional storage)
• Long range capability so Water in the 180 gal to 300 gal range.
• Fuel about the same or slightly smaller.
• Everything else is toys and I am allowed to shop for those.
• We will be sailing in the Caribbean so modest draft of no more than 6 ft. or so. Will consider a variable keel as long as it doesn’t fall out every 6 to 8 years and costs thousands of dollars to fix.

We have looked at Gulfstar’s, Moody’s, Oyster’s, Marlow-Hunters, Southleys, Beneteau and (I don’t know why) Jeanneau.

We are looking for input from the community on the above sailboats on what they like and more importantly, don’t like about them. My wife and I are not interested in Racing so that isn’t a consideration, however, I have only had my wife for 37 years so SAFETY is the biggest concern.

[TurninTurtle]

simplest answer is rent a few boats. find exactly what you (she) wants.

[FutureCruser]

Excellent advice and we are scheduled for just that. We completed our ASA 101,103 and 104 this year and have scheduled charters for the next 4 years (Carb, SoCal, and Washington State) all with different boats.

[Kenomac]

Buy a used well-equipped Oyster in your price range.... which you haven't mentioned.

[Stumble]

You didn't mention price....

Obviously it's larger, than you want, but I would take a look at an Irwin 54'. Big, comfortable, and shallow draft (centerboard). No pullman berth, but it has a very nice V berth, and a side berth that works fine for 1.5 people.

[JPA Cate]

Hi, Future Cruser,

Welcome to CF. The little red outlined white triangle with the exclamation mark in it on the lower left underneath our avatars is a "magic button". If you click on it, you can report your own post, and ask the moderators to please move your post to the monohull forum for you. You cannot move it yourself now, without their help.

Ann

[barnakiel]

I like Moodies I do not know why.

Things like 425 etcetera. Nice middle of nowhere boats.

b.

[Paul J. Nolan]

I hope you won't be offended when I say it appears you are not experienced enough to know even what you (should) want. We get a lot of inquiries like this. Some of your criteria are even contradictory--like 50' monohull and easily handled by two people.

My advice? Learn to sail. Join the yacht club near you that is a hotbed of sailing activity (ask around). Get taken on as novice racing crew--on different boats. Buy your own small boat--J24 good; Star not so good--and daysail and race her. In a couple of years you'll have a clearer picture of what you want/need.

Of course, most people don't want to take the time to learn even the most basic fundamentals; they just want to be told what to buy. In that case go to the Hinckley Brokerage site and look for a Pilot 35 named Kitty Hawk.. That is the right boat for a married couple who can afford her in which to go cruising.

Let us know what you wind up doing.

Paul

[Stumble]

It's a little larger than you asked for, but the Irwin 54' comes to mind. Admittedly it always seems to come to my mind when someone asks about big cruisers...

[Paul J. Nolan]

Originally Posted by FutureCruser

Excellent advice and we are scheduled for just that. We completed our ASA 101,103 and 104 this year and have scheduled charters for the next 4 years (Carb, SoCal, and Washington State) all with different boats.

You cannot learn to sail by taking classes or chartering. You learn to sail by sailing (and reading).

Paul

[fxykty]

My partner and I are in a similar situation - planning to buy a world-cruising yacht in the next year, spend a couple years learning about our yacht and ourselves on board while waiting for our kids to finish high school, then moving on board and heading offshore. While we're more interested in a mid-sized cruising multihull, we have seriously looked at the Amel Super Maramu. 53 feet of centre-cockpit cruising bliss - check out the YouTube channel for SV Delos https://www.youtube.com/user/briantrautman. You can buy used for very reasonable prices and they're solid. A bit deeper draft at 6'-9".