Hi Ron,
I think the 31 of that vintage is a great next boat - we moved up from a 24 seafarer.
We got our 1984 31 late in 2011. We sailed it the first year we and had great success. During that time I started to get the list together for upgrades, repairs and improvements. I like the yanmar diesel 2GMF but I feel she is a little underpowered.
We have been out in a few squalls and I always felt save and in control, but in taking 15 on the nose I would like to have some more solid power.
Be sure to have a in and out of water inspection - look at the cutlass for any shimmy.
It is best to replace it if the shaft seems loose. I changed out two though hulls this
year to get rid of the gate valves on the raw water inlet and sink. I added a Garmin tri sensor for my chart plotter, where the paddle wheel speedo sensor was.
I also sealed any of the other previous sensors through hulls. The plastic ports on our boat were pretty bad, but I used a mequire plastic compound on them and they came up pretty good.
We sail the Chesapeake so it is great for that body of water. We will most likely keep her for a few more years than move up to something that is a more robust blue/coastal cruiser.