What boat would you buy?

[macrae]

You are definitly starting out on the right track. I can't believe how many cruising sailors buy a boat without talking to other cruising sailors first to find out what is important and what is not.
Personally I would consider these as important factors in buying a cruising boat.
1) what is the tankage for fuel and water. The less the tankage the more you have to fill up.
2) What rig is the best for your ability. Sloops with large headsails or a split rig such as Ketch or yawl. with a ketch or cutter rig, you can sail under jib and mizzen comfortably.
3) incapsulated keel. In shallow waters better than a glued on one that is on most new boats.
4) Excess to light. You don't want to live in a cave. Let lots of light in.
5) Excellent and reliable motor with lots of horsepower, and easy access to it.(not under a cockpit)
I am partial to a Whitby 42. Great cruising boat, and available in the 100K range. There is a saying with catamarans "One hand for the boat, and one for yourself" and don't believe that they don't rock.

[zeehag]

macrae--that saying one hand for self one hand for boat came along hundreds oif years before first catamaran became more than someones nightmare.

One hand for oneself and one for the ship.
Prov. When you are on a ship, always use one hand to steady yourself, and one to work; likewise, always put some effort into safeguarding yourself as well as into working. The old sailor chastised us for forgetting to hold onto something during the rough weather. "One hand for yourself and one for the ship," he bellowed. This company expects you to work hard, but not so hard that you hurt yourself. One hand for yourself and one for the ship

and even older--read and weep you catamaran owners dreaming of originating proverbs and idioms...

The Facts on File Dictionary of Proverbsbooks:
Martin H. Manser, ‎Rosalind Fergusson, ‎David Pickering - 2007 - ‎Juvenile Nonfiction
I'm determined not to follow in his footsteps—my motto is “One hand for yourself and one for the ship.” Of nautical origin, the proverb was first recorded in 1799.

[Frank 101]

Some really interesting opinions in all these posts! Realistically the op will be sailing single handed as the lady will no doubt have her hands full with the child when something needs to be done on deck (Murphy’s law). IMHO a 35’ to 37’ centre cockpit from the late 70’s or 90’s would be ideal because
As the child grows it will be easier to keep him/her contained in a safe place
Drier than aft cockpit
Seperate space for mum and dad
No making up the table to a bed
Child could stay in the v berth with toys etc - or main cabin
Cost at entry point is not $200,000
At some point the boat will be sold - less to lose
So to answer the question the op asked, that’s what i would do!

[Michael Cobbe]

Best long distance sailng yacht: https://www.yachtingworld.com/featur...designs-124276

[wingssail]

Originally Posted by Frank 101

Some really interesting opinions in all these posts! Realistically the op will be sailing single handed as the lady will no doubt have her hands full with the child when something needs to be done on deck (Murphy’s law). IMHO a 35’ to 37’ centre cockpit from the late 70’s or 90’s would be ideal because
As the child grows it will be easier to keep him/her contained in a safe place
Drier than aft cockpit
Seperate space for mum and dad
No making up the table to a bed
Child could stay in the v berth with toys etc - or main cabin
Cost at entry point is not $200,000
At some point the boat will be sold - less to lose
So to answer the question the op asked, that’s what i would do!

Frank 101, I'd just like to point out that none of your criteria pertain to sailing, they're all about living aboard.

I'm not saying that a center cockpit boat can't be a good sailing boat, Ross Applebey has a fast 45' center cockpit Oyster in the Caribbean for example, but they are rare.

So to exclude any consideration of sailing characteristics and focus only on how good is the boat for living on with a kid, really deprives a person of one of the main (but too often woefully ignored) joys of owning a sailboat, and that is the sailing of it. And to assume that the child, (who be 7 by then) will always need tending to and that the woman will always be doing it, means that neither of them will sailing either, and is a bit revealing of your attitude (sorry, it's true).

Besides, all of your criteria (except drier cockpit) can also be met by a well designed aft cockpit boat, which is my preference.

[sail sfbay]

Originally Posted by nuru05

..................Can you just go to a big marina and walk through the ones for sale? Will we need to get in touch with a broker to show us around them?

If you go to a marina you will do a lot of walking up and down the docks before you find a boat for sale. Start with Yachtworld and research the specs on the ones you like. Then have a broker show you the boats you might like to purchase. Have fun window shopping!! I purchased all my boats.....sail and power......through a broker.

[jalmberg]

I would buy a sister-ship of my own boat (surprise!). There is one available on yacht world:

https://www.yachtworld.com/boats/197...ketch-3213229/

Plenty big enough for three, steel hull will make your wife feel incredibly safe (based on my own wife's experience), ketch rig is easy to single hand, the open decks are a joy to work on, the traditional, double-ended hull has a easy(er) motion at sea than any modern boat, and this particular boat has a great history. The owners completely rebuilt her and she has sailed extensively in the far north, and down to Antarctica at least twice, once overwintering, frozen into the ice (on purpose!) She's also surprisingly fast, because she can carry a huge amount of sail, and her relatively narrow hull (12 feet) is easy to drive.

In short, she is a boat that can go anywhere and will take care of you when the going gets rough.

Don't get turned off by the inevitable cries of 'steel boats are a nightmare!'. Joshuas were built in France by one of the best steel boat builders ever (META, still in business) and most are still going strong. I just had mine ultrasounded this spring to look for any thin spots in the hull. None were found.

Fantastic boat, for a VERY good price. If I didn't already own a Joshua, I would have already snapped her up.

-- John

[Carl-T705]

Originally Posted by nuru05

My wife, our 5 year old daughter, and I are about 2 years from almost full time cruising and we still go back and forth about which boat to start aggressively looking for. I know there are dozens of threads out there asking "what boat should I buy" so I'm not going to ask that. I am, however, looking for some ideas about boats we've never considered (or even seen before) and your reasons why they are great.

So if you had a budget of around $225-$250k for purchase and refit which boat would you buy and why?

Edit: couple of extra details, we are looking for a sailboat, we will likely stick to warm climates and would like to be able to do major crossings occasionally.

Huh, It sounds like that is exactly what your asking, What boat should I buy.

[Adventure35]

Buy a good boat at a reasonable price and save the $$ or the lifestyle. Here is an example. I'd grab it up if I didn't already have a great boat.

https://maine.craigslist.org/boa/d/y...080277168.html

[echomax]

Originally Posted by nuru05

My wife, our 5 year old daughter, and I are about 2 years from almost full time cruising and we still go back and forth about which boat to start aggressively looking for. I know there are dozens of threads out there asking "what boat should I buy" so I'm not going to ask that. I am, however, looking for some ideas about boats we've never considered (or even seen before) and your reasons why they are great.

So if you had a budget of around $225-$250k for purchase and refit which boat would you buy and why?

Edit: couple of extra details, we are looking for a sailboat, we will likely stick to warm climates and would like to be able to do major crossings occasionally.

There is only one the best. A Jeanneau 45 Sun Odyssey 75hp Yanmar in mast furling mainsail. Models built between 2004-2008. NOT the deck saloon (45 DS) model!

[echomax]

Originally Posted by nuru05

My wife, our 5 year old daughter, and I are about 2 years from almost full time cruising and we still go back and forth about which boat to start aggressively looking for. I know there are dozens of threads out there asking "what boat should I buy" so I'm not going to ask that. I am, however, looking for some ideas about boats we've never considered (or even seen before) and your reasons why they are great.

So if you had a budget of around $225-$250k for purchase and refit which boat would you buy and why?

Edit: couple of extra details, we are looking for a sailboat, we will likely stick to warm climates and would like to be able to do major crossings occasionally.

PS forgot, the 3 cabin version!

[nuru05]

Originally Posted by echomax

There is only one the best. A Jeanneau 45 Sun Odyssey 75hp Yanmar in mast furling mainsail. Models built between 2004-2008. NOT the deck saloon (45 DS) model!

The Jeanneau 469 is on our short list, we looked at the 45 but the forward cabin was a little too small for out liking. The 469 has the same forward cabin as the 50 so it was very comfortable (need to escape the kid sometimes). The hard part is finding a 469 in an owners version, I looked a few days ago and there are like 2 on yachtworld and they are $50-70k more than the charter versions.


Out of curiosity why do you say to avoid the DS, we were already avoiding them but I'd love to hear your take on what's wrong with them.

[wingssail]

Originally Posted by echomax

There is only one the best. A Jeanneau 45 Sun Odyssey 75hp Yanmar in mast furling mainsail. Models built between 2004-2008. NOT the deck saloon (45 DS) model!

My friends from Seattle came through here recently with a Jeanneau 45 Sun Odyssey. It is a beautiful boat and a great sailing boat, as my enthusiastic sailor friends would have it no other way.

But they searched hard and long to find one WITHOUT in mast furling. Hurts the sailing performance too much.

[nuru05]

Originally Posted by wingssail

My friends from Seattle came through here recently with a Jeanneau 45 Sun Odyssey. It is a beautiful boat and a great sailing boat, as my enthusiastic sailor friends would have it no other way.

But they searched hard and long to find one WITHOUT in mast furling. Hurts the sailing performance too much.

I REALLY do not want a furling mast, the last thing I need is something else that can break while offshore.

[slug]

Originally Posted by wingssail

Frank 101, I'd just like to point out that none of your criteria pertain to sailing, they're all about living aboard.

I'm not saying that a center cockpit boat can't be a good sailing boat, Ross Applebey has a fast 45' center cockpit Oyster in the Caribbean for example, but they are rare.

So to exclude any consideration of sailing characteristics and focus only on how good is the boat for living on with a kid, really deprives a person of one of the main (but too often woefully ignored) joys of owning a sailboat, and that is the sailing of it. And to assume that the child, (who be 7 by then) will always need tending to and that the woman will always be doing it, means that neither of them will sailing either, and is a bit revealing of your attitude (sorry, it's true).

Besides, all of your criteria (except drier cockpit) can also be met by a well designed aft cockpit boat, which is my preference.

Yah

Sailors talk about sail area to displacement ratio and righting moment