Dean 441 Questions

[Outsideworld]

My family has been looking for a cat for almost a year now. We are a family of five (kids ages 5,6, and 8). We plan to set out next year to sail down the east Coast of the U.S. and then spend a couple years in the Caribbean. We may go further if we decide to at that point.

We think we have found the perfect boat. Or at least what seems close to it. I know everything has it's bad points. We are looking at a 2008 Dean 441. I have looked at most of the threads and they all start off great on this boat but then turn bad when the bulkhead issues come up.

Seems that the boat sails a little slow (that is O.K. with us) but has great electrical systems and the interior is much better that the big three.

I know about the bulkhead problems.
The particular boat we are looking at already had a survey done in 2012. It was deemed that there was no structural damage or anything out of whack but the #2 bulkhead was not properly laminated from the factory. They took apart most of the front port hull and re-did it. Form what I can read on the post-survey it was done correctly and is possibly stronger that it was before. The survey was 12 pages just for this one repair and seems very complete.

Before we decide to close the deal on this boat we will have a surveyor fly in that is a professional in marine engineering to make sure it still looks good after five years of sailing.

Other than that where can I get any information on the Dean 441? I cannot seem to find a user's group and I really want to know what any other owners think of the boat after buying it. Did they have any other problems? Does it sail as they expect? What wore out? What did you upgrade?

Any answers would be great.

Thanks.

[danielamartindm]

As you've noted, there aren't that many Dean Cats plying the waters, which makes it hard to learn about flaws or common problems. I hope someone with a Dean sees this thread. Your plan sounds sane to me, have a good surveyor with cat experience look it over carefully, and if it checks out, go for it. Best of luck with your adventure of a lifetime!