Seeking advice. Buying first sailboat

[Sea Dreaming]

I hope we get an up date. Sure hope the op gets his boat!

I took a look at that Rawson 30. New rigging and chain plates, rebuilt engine. Not a pretty boat but serviceable. The work done might make it a good choice if he can get it for his budget.

[NorthCoastJoe]

Someone had a 37' Zeeland Yawl steel boat for sale in Napa for $4000. It needed a lot of cosmetic/interior work but looked sound. No fancy electronics just running lights. For interior lights they used oil lamps. I have no idea if it sold but if is still for sale you could sail it to Mexico to do the work. The owners had taken it to Mexico several times. I will try to look it up and see if it is still available.

[Pizzazz]

I would strongly advise to consider only boats that have headroom above your height. In addition most small boats have beam (width) approximately 1/3 of length. Once you get in the 30-32 feet range, you typically have beam of 11 feet. There is a big difference between 11 foot beam and 9 foot beam in terms of liveability. You will outgrow the 27 very quickly. Keep looking but do not go below 30 feet.