dhays
Guru
- Joined
- May 26, 2015
- Messages
- 9,045
- Location
- United States
- Vessel Name
- Kinship
- Vessel Make
- North Pacific 43
Not sure if this is the appropriate place for what I am sure is yet another annoying "find my boat" thread. If not, move or delete. Some of this was covered in my Welcome mat post but might be better here.
My wife and I are starting to seriously think about moving to a powerboat.
Boat History:
Current boat is a 2005 Catalina 400 we bought used. Wonderful boat; two cabins, two heads, one with separate shower. Sleeps 7 without throwing anyone in the cockpit. Plenty of headroom almost everywhere. I have sailed for over 50 years. The C-400 is the largest boat that I have owned or handled. Chronic back pain makes a sailboat painful after a couple of days, hence the thought to move to a powerboat.
Sailing area:
The Salish Sea from Olympia to Desolation Sound. Year round use, usually with wet and cool weather. My foul weather gear gets lots of use.
Typical use:
Kids are out of the house but we are both still working. The adult kids still like to go sailing with us so we often have another couple on board, sometimes with their kids. Lots of weekends, long weekends, and then a week away. I keep hoping to get 2 weeks, but it will be a while before that can happen at this point due to my work responsibilities at least for the next 5 years. After that, the plan is that my wife may retire and I can get more flexible time off so we can get away longer.
Non-negotiable requirements:
2 cabins
Separate shower
Reasonable to single-hand
Affordable (ie under $200k. I know that is going to be the hardest)
What we think wewant/need:
FD hull but SD would be OK.
Around 40'
economical cruise of 7-8 knots
pilothouse design with doors on both sides.
Diesel
Diesel furnace
What we don't think we need/want:
Much exposed wood that needs sanding/varnishing (with limited time I like to be out away from the dock instead of at the dock working on the boat)
Twins
flybridge
AC
I have looked a lot myself and I can find lots of boats in the 37-42 range that meet all the requirements and desires except for the affordable part. That rules out the KK, Nordhavn, and Selene line. It might be possible to find a KK 42 for our price point, but not sure about going with that old of a boat. There are others out there as well, but most of those seem to be pretty rare and/or pretty expensive. A Great Harbor 37 would be possible, although my wife may decide it is just too ugly (I kind of like it however).
Of course my wife likes the NT 37 and 39, and particularly the AT 395. However I have to keep explaining that the AT 395 is still a boat for folks in an entirely different economic class than we are.
What boats/models am I missing due to my lack of knowledge and/or unnecessary restrictions? I know that usually our own boat is either the best or the worst depending on the day and what has just recently broken, but what boats are you experienced captains happy with and why? Am I asking entirely the wrong questions or looking in entirely the wrong direction?
One of the plans, based on suggestions so far, is to hopefully weekend charter some boats of the type we are interested in during the off season.
Thanks.
Dave
My wife and I are starting to seriously think about moving to a powerboat.
Boat History:
Current boat is a 2005 Catalina 400 we bought used. Wonderful boat; two cabins, two heads, one with separate shower. Sleeps 7 without throwing anyone in the cockpit. Plenty of headroom almost everywhere. I have sailed for over 50 years. The C-400 is the largest boat that I have owned or handled. Chronic back pain makes a sailboat painful after a couple of days, hence the thought to move to a powerboat.
Sailing area:
The Salish Sea from Olympia to Desolation Sound. Year round use, usually with wet and cool weather. My foul weather gear gets lots of use.
Typical use:
Kids are out of the house but we are both still working. The adult kids still like to go sailing with us so we often have another couple on board, sometimes with their kids. Lots of weekends, long weekends, and then a week away. I keep hoping to get 2 weeks, but it will be a while before that can happen at this point due to my work responsibilities at least for the next 5 years. After that, the plan is that my wife may retire and I can get more flexible time off so we can get away longer.
Non-negotiable requirements:
2 cabins
Separate shower
Reasonable to single-hand
Affordable (ie under $200k. I know that is going to be the hardest)
What we think wewant/need:
FD hull but SD would be OK.
Around 40'
economical cruise of 7-8 knots
pilothouse design with doors on both sides.
Diesel
Diesel furnace
What we don't think we need/want:
Much exposed wood that needs sanding/varnishing (with limited time I like to be out away from the dock instead of at the dock working on the boat)
Twins
flybridge
AC
I have looked a lot myself and I can find lots of boats in the 37-42 range that meet all the requirements and desires except for the affordable part. That rules out the KK, Nordhavn, and Selene line. It might be possible to find a KK 42 for our price point, but not sure about going with that old of a boat. There are others out there as well, but most of those seem to be pretty rare and/or pretty expensive. A Great Harbor 37 would be possible, although my wife may decide it is just too ugly (I kind of like it however).
Of course my wife likes the NT 37 and 39, and particularly the AT 395. However I have to keep explaining that the AT 395 is still a boat for folks in an entirely different economic class than we are.
What boats/models am I missing due to my lack of knowledge and/or unnecessary restrictions? I know that usually our own boat is either the best or the worst depending on the day and what has just recently broken, but what boats are you experienced captains happy with and why? Am I asking entirely the wrong questions or looking in entirely the wrong direction?
One of the plans, based on suggestions so far, is to hopefully weekend charter some boats of the type we are interested in during the off season.
Thanks.
Dave