Need Help Comparing a Cape Dory 30 with a Cheoy Lee 33

[Adventurer]

I'm buying my first sailboat. I'll be keeping it on the hook in the inter Coastal waterway near my home in Satellite Beach, FL. I want something to learn to sail on and to enjoy on the weekends with friends and to spend evenings on with my wife. I'm a traveler and will eventually want to sail the Caribbean waters and would like to do a crossing sometime. I'm now looking at a 19881 Cape Dory 30 cutter (13hp Volvo D), and a 1971 Cheoy Lee Clipper 33 Ketch (38hp westerbeke D). The price is similar. I am 6'1'' so the Cheoy Lee does offer more headroom, has a wider beam, the teak decks have been pulled up, but still has pretty teak work around the cabin sides, although it needs attention. Anyway, I would appreciate your help is comparing these two and any suggests you can offer me. thnk you. Jp

[Pblais]

The Cape Dory 30 on paper should be a nice boat. I always like a nice Cape Dory. A 35 would be sweet. The best advice in this case is date other boats. You can only buy the ones for sale. You don't need to compare every boat ever built.

What else could you buy now? Buy the best boat you can afford is never a bad idea. You buy at a point in time and all the other boats really for sale are alternatives. I think the idea of computing the perfect boat then going to look for it is just about the hardest way possible. It could be a trashed Cape Dory 30 and I would runaway fast in that case. You ned to figure out what you like. Like by looking in person and love after the survey. Pictures of boats are interesting but I wouldn't write a deposit based on one.

You can easily know what other boats in your locality are for sale and compare them so you know you are chasing the right boat. If you don't have a lot of experience it's easy to shop by brand name and think you can't go wrong. It's the hard way. Walk some docks and crawl on some boats. Talk to folks you meet along the way. Keep notes and decide what you like and don't like on every boat you look at. Through this process the light bulb goes on and you just know then send pictures. We like to see pictures.

[Jonathan Reiter]

Cape Dorys are better built than Choy Lees, unless it was a Choy Lee built at the yard in Hong Kong such as a Lion (designed by A. Robb) built 100% in teak. The offshore Choy Lees are prone to fall apart with any hard use. Cape Dorys were expensive because you pay for materials and CDs were made with good materials and earned their reputations by holding up to hard use.

[cheoah]

Jp, I just sold my Cape Dory 30. That was my first real cruising boat and we had a lot of good times. I sailed her several thousand miles coastal cruising the SE. Never been on the Cheoy Lee but there should be quite a few CD 30's to look at on the eastern seaboard. One benefit of the Cape Dory is the users group, which is quite active and helpful.

Chase

[Skip20]

I happened upon a 1971 Hurley 27 in NJ and fell in Like. Haven't seen a-one around Cape Cod. Are they forbidden to leave Delaware Bay without permission?