Looking to purchase my first sailboat

[Breenme]

My family and I are looking at purchasing a sailboat on Lake Norman NC. We have no experience in sailing (chartered a few times ie day sailing) but looking into the cruising like. We figured a 27-33 ft sailboat will allow us to learn how to sail as well as enjoy the weekends (1 over night usually). Hoping to master this then take our show to the coast (Charleston) once we have mastered the lake and continue our learning there in the harbor and so on.

Current boats per craigslist on Lake Norman
Hunter 27 1978 4.5k
Helms 27 1982 6k
Watkins 27 1981 6.7k
Seidelman S-30T 1984 5.3k - might have an engine issue? having if checked out (owner) but I can have my mechanic look at it and then rework the price from there.
Ericson 33 1982 12k - very nice boat a little higher then I wanted to spend to start out with but seems like a steal. but alas the seller has not responded to my emails, so o'well.

All the boats seem to be n good condition via photos. Going to inspect them this weekend in person.

Question: are these good boats to start with or to much to start out with? as a family? I am looking to fit 5 people on the boat plus to sleep over night 1 nite. (so don't need 5 start accommodations per say. ;-)

Question: how would you rank them (all things ie condition etc being equal) in terms of quality and value of each brand? I am looking to owning said sailboat for about 2 yrs then sell and repurchase a larger sailboat on the coast. (if all goes well a least lol).

plan: 5yrs sailing the Caribbean then maybe the world. Gotta have hope.

[neoxaero]

All of those seem fine for lake sailing to me. The Hunter would probably have the nicest interior accommodations and would likely be the nicest of the bunch for a weekend.


I would buy the one in the best condition (they won't be equal by any means) .. and/or the one you won't mind working on or paying someone else to work on

[Don C L]

Since you are just starting out I'd say choose the one with the engine in the best condition, because you'll be using it quite a bit until you get the hang of sailing.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by Don C L

Since you are just starting out I'd say choose the one with the engine in the best condition, because you'll be using it quite a bit until you get the hang of sailing.

Yes, engines are expensive as are sails.
IIRC the Seidelman are light racing types and often inexpensive.
generally I would rate the Watkins and Ericson the highest.
5 people on a 27 is real tight.

[Lakehunter]

I would start out with a smaller like the 27 footers you are looking at, cheaper to maintain and cheaper to moore , the bigger you go the more expensive it gets to moore, or store the boat.

[dennismenace111]

Can you give me a contact for the Watkins 27?? Ive been looking for one for a long time now...

[Terra Nova]

OP--when you can answer those questions, yourself, you'll be ready to buy. Get some sailing experience, first.

[dennismenace111]

Ive been looking for a 1981 to 1983 Watkins 27 for a very long time...it seems that there werent all that many made and they've become really scarce in Florida waters. If you do find one, its usually down in the Keys and someone has been living on the boat for 2 years and its totally neglected.

Id really appreciate it if anyone knows of a decent 1981 to 1983 Watkins 27 for sale to respond to this posting.

Thank you very much...