- Joined
- Feb 14, 2018
- Messages
- 713
- Location
- United States
- Vessel Name
- Wanderlust
- Vessel Make
- 1999 Jefferson Rivanna 52'
We retire in two years, seven months and twenty-four days. Like many people, our intention is to spend our retirement years cruising the US east coast, Gulf coast, and various points in the Bahamas and Caribbean. Almost a year ago, we sold our 42' 1986 Chris Craft aft cabin. Great boat but we wanted more if we're going to be living on it for extended periods of time. Also, our preference is to be on the hook or a ball with only occasional stops in marinas.
With that in mind, we began our search for our next boat. We went aboard Hatteras 53 foot, 56 foot, and 58 foot, Vikings in the 50 and 55 foot range, and Chris Craft 501s. We went on Sea Rays, Cruisers, Kady-Krogens, Mainships, and a few others that have now become a blur. All of these boats have big engines, varying amounts of room, and several had complicated approaches to stabilization. Often, we would find a boat that had most of the features on our checklist but we would have to add "this" and "that" to set it up for how we want to travel and live. This greatly helped us refine our wants and needs.
Then we went on a few power catamarans. Inherently more stable than a mono-hull, bucket loads of elbow room, a ridiculous amount of storage space, smaller engines and fuel economy that had my wallet dancing a little jig! We've been on, but can't afford, the new FPs, the new Lagoons, and the new Leopards. They're nice but they're way out of our range.
Within the last week, we've been on used Endeavours in the 44 and 48 foot range and a Manta 44. Wow! Both have features that check off just about all of our checkboxes. The engine rooms are easy enough for us to get around and work. The Endeavours have a walkaround queen master, which would be desirable, but we laid down in the master of a Manta and had no feeling of claustrophobia. Our search criteria have become more sharply focused now.
We could find the right boat tomorrow or next year or even two years from now but we now know it will be a power catamaran. Exciting!
Our search continues.
With that in mind, we began our search for our next boat. We went aboard Hatteras 53 foot, 56 foot, and 58 foot, Vikings in the 50 and 55 foot range, and Chris Craft 501s. We went on Sea Rays, Cruisers, Kady-Krogens, Mainships, and a few others that have now become a blur. All of these boats have big engines, varying amounts of room, and several had complicated approaches to stabilization. Often, we would find a boat that had most of the features on our checklist but we would have to add "this" and "that" to set it up for how we want to travel and live. This greatly helped us refine our wants and needs.
Then we went on a few power catamarans. Inherently more stable than a mono-hull, bucket loads of elbow room, a ridiculous amount of storage space, smaller engines and fuel economy that had my wallet dancing a little jig! We've been on, but can't afford, the new FPs, the new Lagoons, and the new Leopards. They're nice but they're way out of our range.
Within the last week, we've been on used Endeavours in the 44 and 48 foot range and a Manta 44. Wow! Both have features that check off just about all of our checkboxes. The engine rooms are easy enough for us to get around and work. The Endeavours have a walkaround queen master, which would be desirable, but we laid down in the master of a Manta and had no feeling of claustrophobia. Our search criteria have become more sharply focused now.
We could find the right boat tomorrow or next year or even two years from now but we now know it will be a power catamaran. Exciting!
Our search continues.
