# Newly arrived



## Remerick (6 mo ago)

Hi everyone,

We (Bob and Lori) are looking forward to participating in the forum. My wife and I are just about retired. Hard to imagine. I grew up sailing on lakes in New York and we are now close to the Chesapeake. We have started the search for a sailboat to use on the bay and would really like to think about coastal cruising and potentially traveling to the Bahamas.

It’s been a while since I have bought a boat and a lot has changed with the newer models and hull designs. I think we would like to be in the 36-38’ range. We would be the primary ones using the boat but we have children and grandchildren, so we would need more space occasionally.

I would be interested in your thoughts on what you would be looking at if you were in our position? Also thoughts on going down the new vs used paths?

Thanks everyone!


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## Skipper Jer (Aug 26, 2008)

We are in a similar boat as you, grand children and retired. When we went shopping I wanted something in the 38 to 40 foot range for space reasons. Wife wanted something in the 30 to 35 foot range. We ended up with a 36 Hunter. I am happy with this boat. I thought the grand kids would be spending more time on the boat with us BUT in year and half they have been out with us 3 times for day sailing. Our grand kids are about an hour and half north. I don't know how far yours are from you. If you can find a clean well taken care of used boat I believe they are a better value since they come equipped and have taken a depreciation hit. All boats have problems, even the new ones.


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## paulk (Jun 2, 2000)

Welcome to SailNet! There are lots of options in your size range, and there will be lots of suggestions of boats that might be good for the sailing areas you've outlined. The best thing to do might be to get out and look at as many as you can to see what you like-- and what you don't.


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## SanderO (Jul 12, 2007)

here ya go:



1985 Contest 36s sailboat for sale in Connecticut


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## Remerick (6 mo ago)

Skipper Jer said:


> We are in a similar boat as you, grand children and retired. When we went shopping I wanted something in the 38 to 40 foot range for space reasons. Wife wanted something in the 30 to 35 foot range. We ended up with a 36 Hunter. I am happy with this boat. I thought the grand kids would be spending more time on the boat with us BUT in year and half they have been out with us 3 times for day sailing. Our grand kids are about an hour and half north. I don't know how far yours are from you. If you can find a clean well taken care of used boat I believe they are a better value since they come equipped and have taken a depreciation hit. All boats have problems, even the new ones.


Hello and thanks for the response. I suspect the same will be true, we will probably have the family onboard a few times a year, and likely mostly day sailing. Some of the kids are about the same distance away. 36' seems pretty manageable. Getting into something larger than 38 starts to get a little trickier and of course more costly. Leaning towards used, but still early in the process.


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## Remerick (6 mo ago)

paulk said:


> Welcome to SailNet! There are lots of options in your size range, and there will be lots of suggestions of boats that might be good for the sailing areas you've outlined. The best thing to do might be to get out and look at as many as you can to see what you like-- and what you don't.


Many thanks paulk. We're heading to the bay this weekend and touring a few marinas and seeing what is out there and where we might want to be. Talked to some brokers about new boats and delivery is a year or longer too at this point.


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## Remerick (6 mo ago)

SanderO said:


> here ya go:
> 
> 
> 
> 1985 Contest 36s sailboat for sale in Connecticut


Thanks and looks very nice! I am looking more at some of the newer wider beam hulls, possibly with drop swim platform.


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## SanderO (Jul 12, 2007)

What sort of beam? Drop swim platform can be added to some transoms.


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## Remerick (6 mo ago)

SanderO said:


> What sort of beam? Drop swim platform can be added to some transoms.


This is where I am a little uncertain. I really like the additional space of the wider beam (12-13') boats but not sure I fully understand the tradeoffs yet such as recovery from a spill, downwind performance, etc. It's nice also to have a little more room in the cockpit on the wider beam boats. Any pros/cons from folks would be greatly appreciated!


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## arf145 (Jul 25, 2007)

You didn't mention your budget. Newer boats are more likely to be the wider ones, but newer also means more $.


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## Remerick (6 mo ago)

arf145 said:


> You didn't mention your budget. Newer boats are more likely to be the wider ones, but newer also means more $.


Good point Tom. Our budget is sort of fluid at this point. I think generally we would like to stay under $275K if we are going new. On the used side, we would like to stay in the 2016-2022 year range for a boat just to minimize needing to replace/repair items for the short-term at least. The budget on a used boat is maybe $160-200K or higher if closer to new.


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## SchockT (May 21, 2012)

Remerick said:


> This is where I am a little uncertain. I really like the additional space of the wider beam (12-13') boats but not sure I fully understand the tradeoffs yet such as recovery from a spill, downwind performance, etc. It's nice also to have a little more room in the cockpit on the wider beam boats. Any pros/cons from folks would be greatly appreciated!


It sounds like you have a similar thought process my wife and I went through a few years ago before we bough Azura. For us new was not an option as we did not have that kind of money to spend, but we wanted a newer boat, ideally less than 10 years old, and we wanted the big cockpit and wide, walk through transom. We initially were looking at boats in the 35ft range, but we decided to push our budget up into the 40ft range because we wanted the twin wheels that boats in that size range came with.

We ended up buying a 2011 Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 39i and 3 years later we still love everything about her.

The walk through transom makes it really easy to get in and out of the dinghy or go swimming. The twin wheels and the beam opens up the cockpit and makes room for a nice big cockpit table.

In terms of sailing characteristics she sails beautifully. She is incredibly easy to sail double handed and the beam lends a form stability that you just don't get on '80s and 90's designs. The beam also gives us a huge amount of storage and fairly generous tankage, particularly for coastal cruising. (Blue water cruisers would likely want a bigger fuel tank but 135 litres is plenty for us.) 400 litres of water lasts us several weeks without rationing.

Performance is pretty good. She is not a race boat but she is by no means slow. We are often the fastest boat on the water. I would have liked the Performance version with a deeper keel and more sail area but there was none available in our region.

A common complaint about modern beam boats is transom slap. When the boat is at the dock and there are waves coming from astern they slap the underside of the overhanging stern which can be a bit noisy, but we have yet to find this a serious issue, particularly since we sleep in the bow. To me it is a small price to pay for all the space you get.
















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## Remerick (6 mo ago)

SchockT said:


> It sounds like you have a similar thought process my wife and I went through a few years ago before we bough Azura. For us new was not an option as we did not have that kind of money to spend, but we wanted a newer boat, ideally less than 10 years old, and we wanted the big cockpit and wide, walk through transom. We initially were looking at boats in the 35ft range, but we decided to push our budget up into the 40ft range because we wanted the twin wheels that boats in that size range came with.
> 
> We ended up buying a 2011 Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 39i and 3 years later we still love everything about her.
> 
> ...


Thanks SchockT, this is helpful information. The lower we can come in, the better. The dinghy access and twin-wheel setup would be nice too. Interesting about the noise from the waves and hull. I will keep that in mind and see if others have any thoughts when we get out and start talking to people more. Your boat looks really nice!


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## SanderO (Jul 12, 2007)

two helms a waste ... my cruisers use AP 90% of the time


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## SchockT (May 21, 2012)

SanderO said:


> two helms a waste ... my cruisers use AP 90% of the time


2 helms keeps the cockpit open, so the aft area is not cut off by a giant wheel, which is what would be needed with such a beamy boat if you still want to steer with a good view forward. Sure, some people use the autopilot 90%, we certainly don't. For one thing I happen to like steering the boat. Not only that, in the coastal waters we cruise in there can be a lot of flotsam and crab pots to watch for. Running on autopilot all the time could encourage the helmsman to get distracted and not keep as close a watch as may be warranted.

We can still use the AP as much or as little as we choose but we also get all the benefits of the twin wheels.



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## Remerick (6 mo ago)

SchockT said:


> 2 helms keeps the cockpit open, so the aft area is not cut off by a giant wheel, which is what would be needed with such a beamy boat if you still want to steer with a good view forward. Sure, some people use the autopilot 90%, we certainly don't. For one thing I happen to like steering the boat. Not only that, in the coastal waters we cruise in there can be a lot of flotsam and crab pots to watch for. Running on autopilot all the time could encourage the helmsman to get distracted and not keep as close a watch as may be warranted.
> 
> We can still use the AP as much or as little as we choose but we also get all the benefits of the twin wheels.
> 
> ...


Thanks again everyone for the great advice. We seem to be leaning more towards a used boat now given the large investment for a new boat. Even if that means more upgrades, it seems like it would be worth going with something a little older. Given that, any thoughts on a good 38-41 foot cruising boat in the 2015-2020 period? Something with a walkthrough transom would be ideal.


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## SanderO (Jul 12, 2007)

SchockT said:


> 2 helms keeps the cockpit open, so the aft area is not cut off by a giant wheel, which is what would be needed with such a beamy boat if you still want to steer with a good view forward. Sure, some people use the autopilot 90%, we certainly don't. For one thing I happen to like steering the boat. Not only that, in the coastal waters we cruise in there can be a lot of flotsam and crab pots to watch for. Running on autopilot all the time could encourage the helmsman to get distracted and not keep as close a watch as may be warranted.
> 
> We can still use the AP as much or as little as we choose but we also get all the benefits of the twin wheels.
> 
> ...


A boat with a very wide rear may benefit from dual helms. Mine is not that wide and so it would be foolish to have 2 helms. I can sit on either coaming and steer if I want... But I let the AP do most of it except motoring in close quarters and entering/leaving docks / slips / mooring situations. A 2 hr watch of manual steering is exhausting. My AP can be steered very easily.... like a helm.


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## SchockT (May 21, 2012)

SanderO said:


> A boat with a very wide rear may benefit from dual helms. My is not that wide and so it would be foolish to have 2 helms. I can sit on either coaming and steer if I want... But I let the AP do most of it except motoring in close quarters and entering/leaving docks / slips / mooring situations. A 2 hr watch of manual steering is exhausting. My AP can be steered very easily.... like a helm.


Obviously dual helms is pointless on old boats, but we are not talking about old boats!

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## SanderO (Jul 12, 2007)

SchockT said:


> Obviously dual helms is pointless on old boats, but we are not talking about old boats!
> 
> Sent from my SM-G981W using Tapatalk


not all new boats have wide butts....and dual helms.


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## overbored (Oct 8, 2010)

We have a wide 2011 Beneteau and love the boat at 30’ we do not have two wheels, not even one wheel but if I was to get a new boat it would have two tiller or wheels , they are just fun to sail. We have auto pilot but never use it. We have it disconnected because it puts a drag on the tiller and reduces the feel on the tiller. I bought the boat to sail it not to operate an auto pilot


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## SanderO (Jul 12, 2007)

overbored said:


> We have a wide 2011 Beneteau and love the boat at 30’ we do not have two wheels, not even one wheel but if I was to get a new boat it would have two tiller or wheels , they are just fun to sail. We have auto pilot but never use it. We have it disconnected because it puts a drag on the tiller and reduces the feel on the tiller. I bought the boat to sail it not to operate an auto pilot


My AP (Alpha3000) when disengaged puts no drag on the rudder or steering. If we are sailing 120 miles to Newport I am thrilled to have the AP steer. All cruisers out there sailing the 7 seas are using APs 98% of the time.


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## SchockT (May 21, 2012)

Remerick said:


> Thanks again everyone for the great advice. We seem to be leaning more towards a used boat now given the large investment for a new boat. Even if that means more upgrades, it seems like it would be worth going with something a little older. Given that, any thoughts on a good 38-41 foot cruising boat in the 2015-2020 period? Something with a walkthrough transom would be ideal.


There are so many options that appeal to a variety of tastes and budgets. You can go with a nearly new production boat or a higher end boat that is a bit older. For example for the same money we paid for our 2011 Jeanneau we could have got a late 1990s J120. Like you, we wanted newer, less worn out. Even though our boat is over 10 years old it still does not need any significant repairs. I have been spending quite a bit of money on the boat since we got it, but it has almost all been on upgrades and regular maintenance rather than repairs.

I think your first step should be to search Yachtworld using your budget, age and size criteria and see what comes up. Go and look at anything local to narrow down your search. Then come back here and enquire about the makes and models that caught your attention. I assure you people will be more than happy to critique your choices!

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