Seaward 24 vs Watkins 25

[jamieFL]

I'd recommend looking up the Watkins group on yahoogroups. John has all the specs and history on his separate Watkins page.
Manufacturers aside, on one hand you have.....
A 24' boat with (just about) unknown everything and an owner that is unwilling to bend at all
VS
A 25' boat with solid decks, New sails, decent diesel and an owner willing to work with you?
No contest!

Granted, my bias might be showing; but despite my 27 being a project boat( aren't they all?), I sail when I want to with no worries. They were built and marketed as coastal/ICW cruisers, not racing hulls.
Depends on what you want to do with it
Regards,
Paul

Paul,

My thoughts exactly. I just joined the Yahoo Group. Is your 27 a Watkins?

 

[jamieFL]

I thought I'd post a few photos.

 

[deltaten]

Yes Jamie, mine's a 27. The 25, while a different hull design,is still quite near except for the 2 foot diff. I believe the greater diff is in the beam.
I rarely post to the W board anymore, as it's got issues w/my tablet; tho I m copied in via mail for new posts.

BTW: I*do* like the lines of the Seawards, from 17'through 32': just can't afford 'em

Best,
Paul

 

[JRT]

Hey not a bad looking old boat! My only issue is I've learned I really like wide side decks to get to the bow easier, but that means a bigger boat or narrow cabin for me.

 

[jamieFL]

I was contacted by the owner of the Seaward. He told me he got the center board unstuck. I apologised and told him that we went with our second choice when it didn't look like we were going to be able to work together.

I knew he wasn't trying to pull one over on us, but he didn't give much hope either. Instead of saying "I'll try and get it down again tomorrow", he said "as-is".

Actually though, I do think we got the better boat for us even though it was our second choice.

 

[Kings Gambit]

As long as you’re happy with it!!

 

[jamieFL]

Yes. Happy. But I suspect in the future I would have appreciated the faster more sporty Seaward. But, I do think this boat probably fills our needs better.

The plans now are to learn to sail locally in the Homosassa FL area with increasing lenght passeges to Tampa Bay, Sanibel Island, then the Florida Keys.

Eventually...5 years or so... Get a 30-34 foot boat, dock it somewhere in the Tampa Bay area, and plan passengers to Miami/Ft Lauderdale, the Bahamas, and finally the Caribian.

Somewhere in there will probably take a few ASA courses.

 

[ifmdalvey]

I guess you dont want to hear this but i also would have gone with the Seaward. Hake Marine are still in business and can provide excellent support to owners . (they also make Island Packets). For me, it would be your location, very little draft on the Seaward, you can take them right up onto the beach.

 

[JRT]

Take the boat you have and have fun leaning. Don't go crazy with changes or upgrades for the first year. Just maintain and keep her functional.

 

[jamieFL]

Draft on the Seaward is 24" and Watkins is 30". Our first offer was for the Seaword, unfortunately circumstances didn't work out. I certainly wouldn't have been disappointed if they had, but we would have been scrambling for funds for a trailer.

If you would like, I can send you the link for the Seaward. PM me. It is a REAL nice boat and, thanks to me, the owner got the center board unstuck.

PS: Love your signature.

 

[jamieFL]

Take the boat you have and have fun leaning. Don't go crazy with changes or upgrades for the first year. Just maintain and keep her functional.

That is the plan. I don't think the boat needs anything, but we probably will buy a camp stove or small alcohol stove. I've never been, but there are a couple of boat salvage places in the Saint Petersburg area I'd like to see.

 

[Stu Jackson]

but we probably will buy a camp stove or small alcohol stove.

You can get an Origo, which we had on our Catalina 25 replacing the pressurized POS. But they are pricey.
When we moved our boat up to Canada two years ago, I knew we couldn't get CNG which was on our boat when we bought it in 1998, not propane. So for the trip up, which took six weeks, we bought a $24 butane stove. It's still with me and works great.
Just another option you might not have considered. Camp stoves generally rust out, cost more than a butane one, and carrying white gas is harder than using the butane canisters.
I really like our little "temporary" stove, all 2 1/2 years so far. It sits on top of the existing CNG stove, I just stored the pot supports in a drawer. The stove doesn't move even when sailing uphill.