What Sailboat Do You Have ?

[Jack Tar]

My wife and I bought a center cocpit Formosa 51. We sold our house and moved aboard in the midle of winter five years ago. She was the best boat for our purpose. We wanted to live aboard and have enough space and storage for ourself and grand kids when along. Angelique is our home as well as our vessel for our adventures. She is a lot of work but then I love working on her.

[barnakiel]

We have a boat that:

- (as we believed back then) was up to the job we had in mind,
- was within our financial reach,
- pleased our aesthetic ideals,

There is no particular order to these as we would NOT have bought e.g. an 'ugly' boat ever, no matter how great the design and execution could be. Well, perhaps unless the price were so great that we could quickly sell the ugly duckling and get a pretty one.

b.

[zeehag]

bought an ericson because was 35 ft. bought a formosa because has cabinets. and was gorgeous--i LOVE the lines of a formosa 41

[capnorv]

Our Hans Christian 34T was my idea of the perfect boat, and still is. Hopefully I'll fall in love with the new one, just as much. One never knows what life will bring.

[captain58sailin]

Skookum 53' a bunch of reasons. Sailed a 47' version through the south Pacific in my youth. It has a pilot house, freezer fish hold, gen set, has 1.75" thick hull below the water line and a really cool figure head. I love a big heavy boat for sea kindly ability and heavy weather ability, and here in the great north west, things are always sunny and calm. I have to offer full disclosure, I am an unrepentant fishing addict and if a boat doesn't have a fish hold, I don't know what to do with it. Fishing is not a living it is a way of life.

[pjop]

I bought my Endeavor 37 after I had sunk (for a lack of a better term) a lot of money and time in a Catalina 27 just to find out she was not big enough to coastal cruise for an extended period with a crew of two, at least not within my parameters of comfortable. I had not decided exactly what I wanted when I purchased the Endeavor other something between 35 and 40 ft LOA. I also wanted a sloop, a draft less than five feet and a full keel. She had them all at a price I could afford without financing. Of course, she's a work in progress, but while living on her over the last two years, I have sailed her well over a thousand miles (that includes numerous day sails and a few two week trips) and I am deeply in love with her. I suppose that once you figure out your price range, sail plan and hull design, you will know what boat is for you once you take her out. I know that I was smitten after the first sea trial. I'm just glad it turned out to be love and not lust. Make sure she has a solid hull and decks, everything else can be fixed. Of course, the fixing can be quite pricey, so get that survey before you leap.

[captain58sailin]

I don't know if I would let the number of zeros stop me from getting the vessel I wanted. I believe that if you have the will, nothing is impossible. One has to balance which has the greater importance, having the vessel you want or getting out to sea in a more timely fashion.