I need a bigger boat!

Don S/V ILLusion · Oct 15, 2011

Rather than give you a few names/locations which would obviously be limited, do a search on Yachtworld for brokerage yards. Once you find a few, go to their respective web sites where you will see a listing of all the boats they have for sale or just search Yachtworld directly limiting your search by location.
The usual warning - don't focus on brand or model. With any used boat, it's all about condition and maintenance history (and price).

Sumner · Oct 15, 2011

If I was looking for something around the 30 foot range I'd look at the Catalina 30's. I really like the way they laid out the interior. About as much usable room as a lot of 32-34 foot boats. I like where the inboard sits where you can have pretty good access to it. I like the fact that there are tons of them out there, so the chance of finding a good one go up. I like the fact that they are economical price wise. I like the fact that they are well know and well supported.

We almost liked them enough that we came close to buying one, but felt for us something different might be better for our needs. I do think that we probably would of been real happy with one though.

As Don said though you might find another boat that is in great shape and just what you need. If so go for it.

There are enough Catalinas out there that if that was what I wanted I'd find one. That isn't the case with a lot of other good boats as they weren't made in the numbers that you find them everywhere. In that case I'd make a list of a number of different boats that I'd be happy with if I found a nice one.

Good luck, and once you buy one don't look back and start second guessing yourself, enjoy it,

Sum

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dlewis812 · Oct 15, 2011

here or boats.com

found my catalina 30 on this site. another site used a lot when shopping was boats.com.

have enjoyed the cat 30; extremely roomy for a 30' boat. i looked at a lot of different make/models first, decided on the cat 30 and then shopped additionally from there (and there should be many to choose no matter where you are).

great time to buy is now when we have write the check for winter storage (like me, thinking of selling my cat 25!!)

mark_swart · Oct 17, 2011

You are looking in a very good range. At 26-27 feet you get headroom, an enclosed head, and still have a boat that is light and easy to dock/sail. Standing headroom and an enclosed head are a huge quality of life improvement.
I think your budget will be the driving factor. I once read a book about sailing that said you should never spend so much on a boat that you will feel bad if you don't get a chance to use it. That stuck with me, and when I had an expensive (to me) boat, it did drive me nuts to know it was sitting there on weekends we didn't sail. I sold it and bought my current boat for about 1/3 what I had into the other one, and I couldn't be happier. Food for thought.
I'm a big fan of craigslist when it comes to finding good deals on boats, and there are some search engines that will allow you to search craigslist nationwide.
There is no one-size fits all recommended boat, your perfect boat will be defined by budget, intended use (cruising, racing or both), and hopefully aesthetics that make you smile every time you see her as you walk down the dock.
All that being said, I think both S2 and O'Days are very good boats for the money.

Tom Monroe · Oct 17, 2011

I loved both the headroom and the head when I moved up from an O'Day 22 to a Catalina 27. Over the years, it's something else that's really caught my heart ... the way the larger boat punches through the chop, holds her course, and doesn't get stalled out. You're gonna love the way the bigger boat sails. Some don't accelerate out of a tack though. Find something that's got some performance, not just an accommodation.

Tom

Tom J · Oct 17, 2011

I'd suggest you attend a few boat shows to get a good idea what the different models offer. Within a short walk of each other, boats of various sizes with differing accomodatioins can be examined. We were looking for a sailboat in the 30' range and checked out both the Newport and the St. Petersburg boat shows. We kept coming back to the Catalina 310. It had the wide-open interiior layout we preferred, with more living space than some 34 footers we had seen. Fortunatelyll, we found a like-new used Cat 310 through the St. Petersburg broker.
If you like to travel, you could go to a couple of shows in Florida this winter. I'm pretty sure the Newport and the Annapolis boat shows have come and gone, and the Boston (New England) boat show doesn't seem to have much in the way of sailboats.

Steve Dion · Oct 17, 2011

If you are going to move up I would suggest that you look at a 30ft boat. Once you get to this level you will probably have all of the extras that will last you for many years. Things like a diesel inboard, real head (enclosed), cooking facilities, pressurized hot/cold water, wheel steering, standing headroom........

Don't overlook the older Hunter 30 (great sailing boat). The Hunter 31 (83-37). The newer Catalina 30 or if you want a boat that you can live with for a long time maybe a Catalina 34. There are a lot of good choices. Find out what you want to afford and then the world is your "oyster"!

MrUnix · Oct 17, 2011

The wife and I thought we wanted to move up to a larger boat as well. At the time, we had a 22 foot Mac that we loved, but felt more room was needed. We ran across a Hunter 27 (Cherubini design) that we liked so we made the switch. Interior space and 6'1" headroom was great.. as was having the enclosed head, shower, pressurized water, inboard diesel, etc.. Problem was, we became locked into keeping it in the water since it was not designed for or practical to trailer it. Maintenance also became problematic since we were prohibited from doing any real work on the boat while it was in the water (due to marina rules where we had it docked). There were a whole lot of things that we didn't even think about with the 22, but became issues with the 27. A lot of them we had not even thought about before moving up to the larger boat. A job change and relocation across town was the last straw..

Although we loved the H27, we wound up sailing it a lot less than we would have liked to. A lot had to do with sheer logistics.. it is a lot easier to load a boat up in your driveway than it is to load up your truck, drive to the boat, and then cart everything down to the dock and onto the boat. Reverse that sequence when you get back from your sail. We also missed being able to take the boat with us to different locations. We also realized that very little time is actually spent inside the cabin.. even on overnighters and long weekends.

In the end, we decided to downsize. Sold the H27 for what we paid for her and wound up getting our current Hunter 23. The moral of the story? Two-footitus sometimes goes both ways

Cheers,
Brad

Ross · Oct 18, 2011

In addition to all that has been said look for accessibility to all of the systems in the boat. Stu Jackson suggests checking the oil-is it easy or do you have to take the boat apart.

mark_swart · Oct 19, 2011

Brad has a very good point -- and I would also add that a smaller boat that is close and you can sail often is better than a bigger boat that you can't use as often! My current boat is also a result of 'reverse' two-foot-itis.... we had a 34 for a couple of years and it took a lot of upkeep, not to mention it was just more effort to sail. We are back down to 27 and very happy with what we have. And our payments are 1/3 of what they were with the 34!

adirondackbob · Oct 21, 2011

Ned, here's another vote for the C30, for all the reasons Sumner cited. Two years ago my wife and I moved up to a C30 from an O'Day 23. We loved the O'Day, but we found it had the very same limitations you described. We did lots of daysailing, but we found that spending weekends on her was more like camping. So we looked at some 28-footers as well as 30s and even a little bigger before settling on the Catalina 30. The C30 sails great, is very roomy, and is a comfortable boat for weekends and longer cruises. Brad makes very good points about the advantages of a smaller trailerable boat, but we found we actually sail more with our C30 because we now spend most weekends on her, whereas with our O'Day 23 we tended to sail one day on a weekend and then head home.

Bob

fox islander · Oct 21, 2011

OK yet another plug for a Catalina 30. I went from a Hunter 23 to the C-30. The C-30 has been arounf for a long, long time and has been upgraded. The Mk2's (88' and up) have most of the problems fixed by the mfr., including a more powerful standard motor. There are many upgrade "kits" for the older boats. I narrowed my search to a C-30 or an Islander30...couldnt find a I-30 in good shape...there are so many C-30's. that isnt a porblem. My 1990 is sail number 5757. Good luck!

gpd955 · Oct 21, 2011

I found my 30 and my 310 here on this site. It is a great place to start (and apprently stop) looking! If you like the 30 you will also like the 310 and 309. They haven't made quite as many so they may be harfer to find but it is worth the effort.

The mid-size Hunters are laid out nicely as well.

There are so many options out there and I'm sure you'll be able to find a decent deal. Shopping is the best part!!