Boats you would buy again.

[Action]

My first was a 1986 Bayliner 19' Capri cuddy with 125hp outboard. I would have that as a first boat again easily.

 

[PierreR]

Interesting thread and I am a bit surprised that others were also bombing around having a good time in their Snarks. Sometimes if the wind was good I'd go out twice a day with mine. Sometimes unemployed gives you extra time to do things like sail your Snark. Not sure that this thread is going to help to OP but by top mentions we have:
Snarks = 4
Hatteras Brand = 4

Looks like a Snark on the boat deck of a Hatteras is a winning combination.

Not to be snarky but I found the Sunfish to be infinitely superior. I sailed a Sunfish across Lake Michigan. i would not have done that with a Snark.

 

[KnotYet]

Not to be snarky but I found the Sunfish to be infinitely superior. I sailed a Sunfish across Lake Michigan. i would not have done that with a Snark.

Must agree. The Sunfish taught me more about sailing than any human could have!

 

[Mako]

Honestly I would not buy one of my previous boats again. They all filled different needs at different times in my life.

There was one large blue water cruiser I owned years ago that would suit my needs today. I’ve even thought about building a new version of it, but there are so many improvements to be made that the exercise died quickly.

 

[RickyD]

I would buy a 22 C-Dory again although the wife would prefer the 25. Very capable and very simple.

There is one on our Impound Dock. Needs TLC but it still floats

 

[Slo-Mocean]

Not to be snarky but I found the Sunfish to be infinitely superior. I sailed a Sunfish across Lake Michigan. i would not have done that with a Snark.

Some kids on the sailboat down the dock from us had a Kool Snark , it was tippy with the 2 of them in it as they weren’t little kids but big Dutch kids.

I had a StarCraft Skylark that my parents had bought new way back in the mid 60s. Cool boat and it was fast. My little brother broke the freestanding mast by overloading the boat with kids in heavy wind and tightening down the boom bang that it should not have had. Sold it to a buddy of mine who’s dad machined put an insert to repair the mast.

I then bought a M-16 which I sailed on all summer out in Holland then when back to school kept at my history teachers house a few miles from my house. I sailed and water skied until it would start snowing. Good times. I still have my M-16 46 years later.

 

[Gdavid]

I grew up with two snarks in the family and probably sailed them more than anyone else starting age 7. One had the plastic shell both on the hull exterior and lining the inside. The other we got years later and was barely styrofoam and had a Pepsi sail. I learned at a young age that freighter moved much faster than my little boat so if you wanted to see one up close, you had to sit in the shipping lanes. It is a miracle I am still alive.

 

[RickyD]

So let's see. My first boat was a 1974 Ericson 32. It was a great boat for us at the time. Then I went to the dark side and bought a 1989 Lien Hwa 47 with all the Nav gear, autopilot etc. and I thought I was in heaven until Hell broke out with Bear Sterns going BK and all the fall out to follow. Then when I wanted in again I tried to find that same Lien Hwa but with Cats or Cummins instead of Leymans. Guess what, my first search brought up my very same boat for sale. Lets see, years before I bought it for $174,000. Had about $210,000 into it when I had to sell into a horrible market. Started at $159,900,then $149,000 then $139,000 where it sold. I think I netted $126,000. Well here it is on the market for $98,000. When I called they had just written a contract on it. Damn. Then I found the 1999 version with Cummins. Great except it was in bad shape and the seller wouldn't take my offer. So I even tried to buy my old boat again. I loved the layout. Some little things like four bilge pumps all with counters. An enclosed bilge section where you may be working on your holding tank, make a mess and keep it seperate. Yes I made a couple messes. Fresh water engine flush from either on board or dock water. Vacuum gauges in the flybridge. Sink in the cockpit. Bar, sink, refrigerator/ice maker in the sun deck. Loved the boat. I'm even happier with my Californian 55 with the twin Cats. But, I can see a time when I'm going to want to go smaller. Then I'll ask Y'all for advice if I haven't figured it out by then.

 

[PhilPB]

Not to be snarky but I found the Sunfish to be infinitely superior. I sailed a Sunfish across Lake Michigan. i would not have done that with a Snark.

My Snark fit well on the roof of my orange Volkswagen Dasher

 

[Catimann]

No boat is perfect, but I'd buy my Cherubini again.

Probably tough to make a case for what you should buy without knowing your mission parameters.

Ted

This was just to give me names and models that people consider good. Must be ok if you would not mind having it again.

As for what I want to do.
Travel in around the Salish sea, Desolation sound and after a year or two of that go up the inside passage. Maybe as far a Skagway. I would be retired and have the time. Do not want a sail boat and need prob 30' plus from other experience.

Thanks

 

[NOT]

50+ years of buying and selling at least 15 boats, and I can not
remember one that I wouldn't buy again. After 11 years my Willard
Vega is the best so far.

 

[Pete Meisinger]

Your question is very rhetorical, in fact it is too rhetorical to answer.

I'll try though.

Every boat I have ever owned, given the circumstances that aligned at the time of purchase to align again. I would buy again! PERIOD!!

Would I buy them again today? No! Lets review why I bought a few of them and why I sold them: 36 foot Albin trawler, perfect for cruising and the loop. It got to be too much work and expense. A nice 16 foot Thompson, trailerable, beautiful wood cheap, easy to tow. Did I mention wood construction, too much upkeep, the 75 horse 1970 Evinrude sucked gas. How about my sailing dinghy. Nice boat, wife loved it, cramped and heavy..sold. Older Supra ski boat. Fast trailerable, could pull a hundred skiers, big 460 Ford. SOld it, too fast, uncomfortable ride in waves, loved it while I had it.

The list goes on and on.

pete

 

[RedRascal]

Not to be snarky but I found the Sunfish to be infinitely superior. I sailed a Sunfish across Lake Michigan. i would not have done that with a Snark.

My Snark fit well on the roof of my orange Volkswagen Dasher

One thing I liked about my Snark was I could easily tote it around on top of my car and carry it from the parking lot to the lake. The lateen rig definitely left some performance on the table but heck it got me on the water. What cracks me up with this thread is the bottom feeder of sailboats is the most mentioned on a trawler site. I mean some of these were just foam with no outer protective shell, a coffee cup with a sail. However memories and skills were made in these and that's the important part. When you are working with 4 inches of freeboard you learn quick on what not to do.

 

[JohnP]

The one boat I keep coming back to in my mind. Is an EDEY&DUFF Stonehorse 23. We owned one many years ago. Totally simple, well balanced cutter sailboat. Cozy cabin, One cylinder Westerbeke- tan barks sails and a tiny tot wood stove, what more could you want. We still talk about the fun times we had with that boat!

 

[PierreR]

What cracks me up with this thread is the bottom feeder of sailboats is the most mentioned on a trawler site. I mean some of these were just foam with no outer protective shell, a coffee cup with a sail.

Thanks for the laugh. Mine was the coffee cup model. The thing I remember most about it was that it was touchier than a pregnant wort hog. One little puff of wind would put you upside down. If you tried to hike quick the wind would quit and you would be upside down to windward. It seemed you were always setting it the damn thing in a puddle of dirty water and sand and any time you would move it would squeak.
The Sunfish was the USS Constitution in comparison.

 

[sd1209]

42' MMC trawler (Defever design).....Mid 80's Taiwan boat ....twin 4 cyl Cummins....minimum speed: 8 kts.....cruising speed: 8 kts....Max speed: 8 kts........so economical that I never even thought about filling the tanks....

That boat was what I would call honest....Everything straight forward, easy to access, never an issue that kept me from my destination....Solid.....Good sea boat (along the coast).....

I would trade my previous 47 Sabreline and my current boat for that one in a heartbeat.....Probably the only larger boat that that I've owned I would buy again.....

 

[Northern Spy]

The one boat I keep coming back to in my mind. Is an EDEY&DUFF Stonehorse 23. We owned one many years ago. Totally simple, well balanced cutter sailboat. Cozy cabin, One cylinder Westerbeke- tan barks sails and a tiny tot wood stove, what more could you want. We still talk about the fun times we had with that boat!

I lusted after those as a teenager.

 

[Marco Flamingo]

For a sailboat, my PicNic Cat was perfect for our needs. Easy to sail, easy to beach, easy to trailer with the tabernacle mast. I had four adults and two kids in a 14' sailboat without a problem. Surprisingly fast downwind with the centerboard and rudder up a little. It would surf in following seas. One could scrunch down in the cockpit to get out of wind and spray.

Although I wouldn't buy the exact same power boat again, I did look for some of the same practical aspects as our old Monk sedan cruiser. Designed in the 40's, ours was professionally built in 1965 of strip planked mahogany. One of the features we liked was that the dinette was raised up and had a full-sized chart storage underneath. But it wasn't the chart storage that's great, it is that passengers sitting at the table are up high enough to see out. Windows are below shoulder-level instead of at eye-level (or above). Much nicer whether cruising or at anchor. When we saw that on our Tung Hwa, it was a big selling point.

Not mentioned in the Monk advertisement above, the diesel engine is under a big hatch in the cockpit. When we developed an inaccessible leak in the bottom of our oil pan, the engine was lifted out, fixed, and reinstalled in one day. $800. This setup means that you step down two steps when entering the cabin. One's feet are at or below the waterline, making for a very stable footing in a seaway. And no flying bridge (YEAH!!). I understand that Monk had to design for the market, but it's too bad that he didn't continue perfecting the more seaworthy sedan cruiser for those of us in northern climes for which a FB is teats on a boar.

 

[MichaelD]

to throw my hat, or boat, in the ring....

This is a budget-driven answer: There are better boats on quality of build and aesthetics but, bang for the buck, I'd go with my current boat, a Bayliner 4588 or the 4788 (essentially the same boat). The engineering in them is well done, the interior design is as accommodating as anything I've seen in that size range, and they don't cost a fortune (which I don't have).

 

[Xlantic]

I have liked all my boats. In fact I like most boats!

I have had two Boston Whaler 13', two Apreamare and two Grand Banks.

I only had one Sunfish but it was special as it was my first boat.

 

[Danz]

My favorite boat. Loved it.

 

[Bigsfish]

Ted said he would buy his Cherubini again and knowing Ted’s boat I would too but in a short time I would turn it into an average boat and not the gold plate boat that it is.

 

[Thud]

Snarks

I really had fun with a cartop Snark sailboat, wish I still had it.

I had 3 Snarks that gave me lots of fond Memories. It was fun- I was young and pushed it to its very low limits. I had the narrow yellow (banana shaped) "Super Snark" model and then their "high end" sloop "? snark." it had a stayed mast still with the hull foam filled black ABS and had a semi- trimaran shaped bow. It was pushed past it limits and the stays forced the mast thru the bottom of the boat! Then I bought the Snark more normal shaped hull (red ABS over foam) (from Sears) with an unstayed mast that I had for several years until I finally bought a Ranger 26. The last snark lasted many years and was still car-top-able. I loved the simplicity of car toppers.

 

[nwboater]

That’s easy…my Willard 40 wide body )

 

[adornato]

bring me a rock?

j

This is a bit of a "bring me a rock" question, with all due respect.

i have never heard this expression before. what does it mean?
just curious

FYI.. i am 77years old, speak English and was born in New Jersey.. graduated from high school, etc.

 

[NVR II Nauti]

favorite boat

Power Boat: Tolly 44/45

 

[Mako]

FYI.. i am 77years old, speak English and was born in New Jersey.. graduated from high school, etc.

They speak English in Joisy???

I’m from Noo Yoik, and I still don’t know what the heck we speak!

 

[LovetoBoat]

i have never heard this expression before. what does it mean?
just curious

I took it to mean - the question was not of value. Everyone who owns their boat loves their boat warts and all... Some may complain but then that would uncover a poor choice on a wide forum...

 

[Mako]

Funny, but my favorite nautical fiction writer, Clive Cussler, said that he only bought a boat once (an old steel lifeboat if I recall) and said "Never again."

This coming from a guy who was a very experienced diver, adventurer and operated a real-life NUMA.

Now there's a guy with common sense, unlike the rest of us

 

[Jetstream]

I would buy a Meridian 459 again. They are so comfortable, very economical for cruising but able to plane and get somewhere fast if required and a very practical boat as well as looking great.