I'm not sure this is the right place for this, but since it is a
monohull sailboat, I'll drop it here. If it fits someplace better, mods please feel free to move it...
I've been working on selling the idea of long range cruising to my better half for a while now. We have a
Catalina 30 that we take out to the islands for trips (so far) up to three days. So far, so good.
I've been thinking along the lines of a
Tayana 37,
Pacific Seacraft 37,
Cabo Rico 34 (and for something completely different there's a
Cheoy Lee Pedrick with a lot of potential close to me). Standard "traditional" American style cruisers. There are a couple of Beneteaus near us, and she has expressed on multiple occasions how much she likes the look. I also picked up a gig
crewing with a rather serious bunch on a First 40.7, which has elicited more positive comments from her than the rest of them combined.
So, on a lark I went and looked at a 45f5. It seemed like something she would like, so I took her down to have a look (at the start of a five hour car trip). During the ensuing discussion, she stated that, "of all the boats you've shown me, this was the first one I could really see myself living on." It's certainly progress.
So, I guess I'm not sure whether I'm looking for validation on the
boat itself, or the
concept of going with a more modern style vessel. I've done as much
research as I can, and talked to a couple of cruisers (and the
race guys) that I trust. They all had good things to say about that model in particular (the rest of the guys had chartered one for a
race a few years back and won first place overall in it, so they couldn't say enough good things about it).
I don't really see us going around, but spend a summer cruising
Hawaii, and then perhaps a year or 14 months in the
south Pacific to start. It's a bit spendy for my financial planning, but certainly not out of reach.
So what I'm wondering is... if you were in my shoes, would you run with the wife's penchant for things French and adjust, or keep trying to wear her down with a more traditional plan? I realize that a lot of this depends on the personalities involved, but I'm kind of at a crossroads here. I recently finished reading Cantrell's "Changing Course" and am trying to make this an equal
partnership rather than just my dream that I drag her along for. I think the Bene gives me a much better chance to not only get her on board, but to really increase her enjoyment.
Thoughts? Alternate boats that might catch her fancy that we haven't considered?
Thanks,
JRM