Hello folks,
I'm basically a beginner to sailing "real" boats. I've got no formal sailing experience in terms of being "school-trained", if there is such a thing. I have a canoe with a sailing rig that I've played with for years, and I can handle that just fine. And I took a course recently to learn some of the terms and whatnot so I don't sound totally clueless talking to people with real boats; but I fully admit that I'm no expert.
Anyhow, as time has gone by, I've also gotten a pretty large family and I'm looking to get something a little bigger to take at least some of them sailing. I've got some criteria I think are reasonable, but I just don't know the market, what's good, what's not so good, and so on, so I'm not sure what to aim for. I know names like "Catalina", "Hunter", "O'Day", and others like "MacGregor" and "Chrysler" that seem to be in a similar category. Opinions seem to differ a lot about any and all of those makers; I guess that stands to reason. (Really, the name doesn't matter to me. It's more about the boat and its capabilities.)
Another thing by way of background: I'm making this decision to get more into sailing later than probably many other people do. Let's just say I've spent five decades on this rock and call it good for now. I'm in good health, I think I have my wits about me, and I see people way older than me sailing around on all sorts of things, great and small, fancy and more modest. So, I'm guessing I won't be alone in this category.
So, I'm looking for some recommendations or at least some thoughts about what kind of boat to get. Here are a few criteria that I think are important to me:
* I'd like the boat to be "trailerable". I'm about an hour away from the open water and I just don't like the idea of leaving my boat alone, in the water, when I'm not there. I'd also like to avoid marina fees *for now*. And as another practical matter, I'd like the boat to be with me, at my home, so I can tinker with it when it's not in the water.
* I'd like to get something that can sleep 4-5 people fairly comfortably. Not five-star hotel quality, just something that I and a few others could overnight in without feeling like we're stacked up like cord wood. Or if the weather gets really bad, somewhere where you could sit where it's dry.
* Maybe as an addendum to that, I'd like to get something that I could do some coastal cruising in. I'm currently in the Great Lakes region and one of the things on my bucket list is to someday sail down the St. Lawrence and along the East Coast of the US. (I don't see myself sailing the ocean blue anytime soon; maybe one day, and if that day comes, I'll probably get a bigger boat.) So, I guess something big enough to have a small galley & head would be a good idea.
* So, I guess the biggest trade-off here is size: Big enough to sleep 4-5 people, but small enough to trailer.
* Another thing for me would be simplicity and ruggedness. Don't need any fancy bells or whistles that are subject to easy breakage: I don't even like automatic window switches on my cars, to give you an idea of what I mean by simple.
* Not sure what material would be best. Something that is long-lasting, that I could repair myself sounds good at least in theory.
* Totally unnecessary, but a "fun to have" would be something that looks like an old-time boat. I know that's highly subjective and I'm not sure how to explain it. Wood decking or wood highlights? I guess you could add those after the fact, though...
Well, that's all I can think of for now. If any of you would like to take a stab at some recommendations, I'm all ears. I think this is the right place for this question, but if it isn't then the mods are welcome to move it to where it belongs.
Thanks,
WP6
I'm basically a beginner to sailing "real" boats. I've got no formal sailing experience in terms of being "school-trained", if there is such a thing. I have a canoe with a sailing rig that I've played with for years, and I can handle that just fine. And I took a course recently to learn some of the terms and whatnot so I don't sound totally clueless talking to people with real boats; but I fully admit that I'm no expert.
Anyhow, as time has gone by, I've also gotten a pretty large family and I'm looking to get something a little bigger to take at least some of them sailing. I've got some criteria I think are reasonable, but I just don't know the market, what's good, what's not so good, and so on, so I'm not sure what to aim for. I know names like "Catalina", "Hunter", "O'Day", and others like "MacGregor" and "Chrysler" that seem to be in a similar category. Opinions seem to differ a lot about any and all of those makers; I guess that stands to reason. (Really, the name doesn't matter to me. It's more about the boat and its capabilities.)
Another thing by way of background: I'm making this decision to get more into sailing later than probably many other people do. Let's just say I've spent five decades on this rock and call it good for now. I'm in good health, I think I have my wits about me, and I see people way older than me sailing around on all sorts of things, great and small, fancy and more modest. So, I'm guessing I won't be alone in this category.
So, I'm looking for some recommendations or at least some thoughts about what kind of boat to get. Here are a few criteria that I think are important to me:
* I'd like the boat to be "trailerable". I'm about an hour away from the open water and I just don't like the idea of leaving my boat alone, in the water, when I'm not there. I'd also like to avoid marina fees *for now*. And as another practical matter, I'd like the boat to be with me, at my home, so I can tinker with it when it's not in the water.
* I'd like to get something that can sleep 4-5 people fairly comfortably. Not five-star hotel quality, just something that I and a few others could overnight in without feeling like we're stacked up like cord wood. Or if the weather gets really bad, somewhere where you could sit where it's dry.
* Maybe as an addendum to that, I'd like to get something that I could do some coastal cruising in. I'm currently in the Great Lakes region and one of the things on my bucket list is to someday sail down the St. Lawrence and along the East Coast of the US. (I don't see myself sailing the ocean blue anytime soon; maybe one day, and if that day comes, I'll probably get a bigger boat.) So, I guess something big enough to have a small galley & head would be a good idea.
* So, I guess the biggest trade-off here is size: Big enough to sleep 4-5 people, but small enough to trailer.
* Another thing for me would be simplicity and ruggedness. Don't need any fancy bells or whistles that are subject to easy breakage: I don't even like automatic window switches on my cars, to give you an idea of what I mean by simple.
* Not sure what material would be best. Something that is long-lasting, that I could repair myself sounds good at least in theory.
* Totally unnecessary, but a "fun to have" would be something that looks like an old-time boat. I know that's highly subjective and I'm not sure how to explain it. Wood decking or wood highlights? I guess you could add those after the fact, though...
Well, that's all I can think of for now. If any of you would like to take a stab at some recommendations, I'm all ears. I think this is the right place for this question, but if it isn't then the mods are welcome to move it to where it belongs.
Thanks,
WP6