Ken,
Last year my wife and I had a similar discussion. I found a C30 in Pensacola that was in the budget. It seemed like there aren't as many older boats in this area for sale as there was prior to Katrina. The c30 was the first boat we looked at including two H31's, an H33, an S2, and another C30. The one we picked needed no major work, had recently rebuilt engine, new air conditioner, clean interior, decent sails, good rigging, stern rail seats, chart plotter, radar, autopilot, fixed VHF, two handheld vhf's, handheld GPS, 6 fenders, bimini and dodger, hot water, electric toilet, beaucoup ( a little south La. lingo)spare parts etc. Everything, I mean EVERYTHING else we looked at was questionable or needed obvious major work. One of the Hunters had what looked like 3 strand nylon rope for halyards, another smelled like diesel, another was too expensive but otherwise clean. One looked promising but the owner showed me the survey from 2010 that indicated moisture at several deck fittings and he did nothing to address it. Some had price tags to matchthe condition and would have been good deals anyway. We had a good time traveling between here and Florida looking at boats and taking short vacations. Then we took our time returning home with the boat. My wife wants to go buy another boat and do it all over again.
I know C30's are common, but if you want to go out on one, it's in Mandeville and has cold beer on board - it also included DC refrigerator.
