THE MAGICAL BOAT ?

[Lady Captin]

Ok , we are looking for that Magical boat ? My wife has insisted I ask the following question .

We have a female Rottweiler, she is coming with us ! So we have been told to get a newer boat with a sugar scoop , or opening in the transom for the dog, makes good sense ! We are open to the idea , as long as the boat meets our other needs and ticks our boxes .


Would love to hear about sugar scoop and opening transom in a rough sea , or perhaps dangerous sea ? Seems scary having an opening in the back of your boat if things get ugly ?


So on to the Magical boat search ! Where is this boat ? We have a realistic budget of all in ...80,000 ...CANADIAN ....dollars! Not US , sorry guys your exchange kills on larger numbers !

So we can buy a boat for 40,000 and put 40, 000 into it , buy for 60,000 put 20 into it , you get the idea. The number can not exceed 80,000 to have the boat sea worthy and not being a money pit ?

We can’t afford to loose money on boats by having to later get a different boat , thus losing money on the first boat upgrades .

We are looking 32-36 feet .... NO ...BIGGER !! as the maintenance costs go up with every foot ! The boat needs to be safe and able to cross oceans and protect us somewhat if TSHTF !

Would love some positive help , could you suggest , or do you own a boat that would meet our needs , thanks to all who take the time to reply .

[Muaddib1116]

I think in that budget range, you get a sugar scoop Transom you'll need to be looking at production boats.

[boatman61]

Boats like the Beneteau 323 have a helm seat that lifts up at the stern to allow exit/access.. it has a GRP plate attached that seals the hole when down so the dog can't sneak under.. at sea I would suggest a harness to clip him on for going to the poop deck or just in the cockpit.

With this Bene 35 you could fit a step midway opposite the portlight halfway up for the dog to ascend/descend to/from the swim platform.
https://www.yachtworld.com/yacht/199...u-350-7511092/

[Lady Captin]

Boatman , that sounds great but her lies my issue . While not gospel by any stretch! We are using the sailboat data comfort ratio as guide for indicating if the boat if capable of crossing oceans ? Ie 30-40 is desirable ! Are we totally off in our thinking? I mean the contessa 32 is one of the safest boats ever built , yet its comfort ratio is only 27 apx.

This is confusing the Hell ,out of us , because we are reluctant to get a boat much below 30 ! We are just trying to learn what really Matters and how to make better sense of number that while sometimes helpful can be confusing!

Obviously if we had your knowledge and incredible boat experience we would not need number to buy a boat , but that is not our reality ! Our biggest worry is getting the wrong boat and having to resell and loosing money we can’t afford to lose.

That’s the bottom line . We will keep learning , and truly appreciate the patients and help from all who offer positive helpful feedback such as yourself . Will recheck your boat suggestion and get back to you PM

[Not a spy]

Find a broker in the area you want to start cruising. We found someone in the PNW and flew out to look at a bunch of boats. It helps if your budget is high enough for a decent commission, and if you keep an open mind about what you need. I thought I needed a canoe stern for following seas. Turned out I don't need that at all, because I'd rather have a sugar scoop for easy on/off. My big non-negotiable was a skeg-hung rudder. His non-negotiable was no full keel boats.
I'm not sure if you're going to find the magical boat if you make a list of requirements and when the time is right, start looking for that particular make/size/equipped boat.

[Muaddib1116]

I would guess that more beneteau's have circumnavigated than any other brand.

[Muaddib1116]

That being said, you could go with a heavier, more traditionally built boat with a relatively vertical transom and build a nice fild down or fixed swim platform onto it.

[boatman61]

Stability is the most important.. all the other like comfort are subjective.. European hulls like Jeaneau and Beneteau tend to slamming when hard on the wind so lower on that scale.. otherwise they're comfortable.
Look at the Hunter Legends.. may be some good one's in your price range.Friends of mine bought one in St Martin FWI, sailed her to the Med then sailed her to Brazil after a couple of years cruising.. as far as I know they still have her.
Two adults and a rottweiler size juvenile..

[Tetepare]

OPs magical boat de jour may be a Leaky Rafiki. I think I may know where to get one cheap.

The Hunter Legends may be Rottweiler navigable up the companionway, but are not down from the cockpit to below decks. The steps are steep. Though the 37.5 and 40.5 have a halfway landing, I’d not want to lift a dog that size, turn around, and drop a few more steps to the sole. If one is strong enough a Rottweiler could be lifted into the cockpit on a Catalina 30, and said dog would have no physical problem leaping from the cockpit to the cushion over the motor.

Probably all immaterial anyway.

[gonesail]

you may be looking for a small trawler with a step thru transom at floating dock level .. like the mainship 34. super easy in and out for dogs and people.

[guyrj33]

Well, you could split the backstay and cut the transom out of a pearson 10M

[Tupaia]

Widen your horizons.
https://htcca.co.uk/amon-re/
Ocean Winds or Heavenly Twins maybe.

[dickfred]

Ninety posts in, have you actually tried to sail on any of the boats suggested to your many queries to date? Left Manitoba for a boatshow or to shop marinas?

Just curious.

[double u]

...LadyCaptin, the most successful troll on CF, eliciting by far the highest number of serious responses???

[Lady Captin]

Man there are some really negative people out there ! Good think I can ignore them totally ! First off it’s - 30 C , so not much opportunity to go on any boats ! No boat shows near and and not looking at new boats regardless ! When the summer comes here , we plan to sail with others as I have stated and reach out to the community and try to get on some of the boats we would like , if that is possible.

A TROLL ???? REALLY ! WOW , that was inviting , sure would like to share a sun downer with you some day ! I have posted questions and got some very thoughtful and helpful responses from some vey nice people . I have remained pleasant for the most part with everyone who posts , regardless of what they may say .

However I can’t help but feel that with some ( very few ) mean spirited responses , when they don’t know us and have never taken the time to get to know us , this is the very reason , that some a re reluctant to post for fear of criticism, or negative posts .

Don’t like me , fine ! Don’t like my questions fine , but the fact that you must take the time to say something mean , sorry but that says more about you ,than it does about me.

Once again I do truly appreciate those who respond with constructive , polite responses, as always ? Learning all the time , and I can’t type every idea we come up with as as a result of many excellent suggestions provided , but we do learn a lot and makes changes in our plan as a result !

Happy sails to all !