What should I buy?

[Biggyniner]

So I am reaching out to this community for some advice...

I have a small family: My wife and 2 daughters (one is 4 years, the other 4 months.) . We live in the Pacific NW and would love to cruise around the Columbia River, overnight and fish... Maybe one day motor up the coast to the sound or down to Cali. (That is a ways off however)... So here is my predicament...

My big concerns are: Minimizing cost of maintainence yet being comfy enough to overnight on the boat for a weekend at least...

Do I..

a.) get a cabin cabin cruiser, 25 - 35 foot range? If so can anyone advise on a model or line to look for?

b.) get a sailboat? Wife and I are open to sailing, just with the young kids, we don't see ourselves operating the sails much... Is there such a sailboat with large enough fuel tanks to effectively motor most of the time and still have reasonable range? Sailboats seem to initially be a low investment but I imagine keeping up on all the running gear has it's own cost issues... Also open to reccomendations on models here too.

I am new to boating, maybe I'm missing other options to find a cost effective comfortable overnighter..

Thanks!!

[Biggyniner]

Maybe a Trawler is in the books, forgot to mention that...

[NewMoon]

Lots of variables:

Where you will use the boat (realistically) is a huge consideration. Open ocean is very different from Columbia River, and also from Puget Sound, the San Juans, and the rest of the Inside Passage on northward.

A small power cruiser might be fine for ocean day trips, but not well suited to travel up and down the coast. It could be fine for multi-day trips on the Inside Passage, where you have a sheltered cove or dock available for every overnight.

If you start relatively small, like 25 or a bit more, would you want a towable cruiser? What tow vehicle could you have?

What's your budget?

And more.....

If a small power cruiser equipped for multiple overnights interests you, you might take a peek at my book "Cruising in a Big Way". Previews on Lulu.com and Amazon

[Biggyniner]

Originally Posted by NewMoon

Lots of variables:

Where you will use the boat (realistically) is a huge consideration. Open ocean is very different from Columbia River, and also from Puget Sound, the San Juans, and the rest of the Inside Passage on northward.

A small power cruiser might be fine for ocean day trips, but not well suited to travel up and down the coast. It could be fine for multi-day trips on the Inside Passage, where you have a sheltered cove or dock available for every overnight.

If you start relatively small, like 25 or a bit more, would you want a towable cruiser? What tow vehicle could you have?

What's your budget?

And more.....

If a small power cruiser equipped for multiple overnights interests you, you might take a peek at my book "Cruising in a Big Way". Previews on Lulu.com and Amazon

Thanks for replying.

You pose some good questions... Realistically, probably no open ocean for 10 or so years. I guess, as I think about this more, a large trailer-able boat
may be the way to go. I could tow it up to the sound if I wanted to spend a week or so putting around... I would like to leave it in the water year-round as I would like to use it year-round. I suppose it would be mostly used on the Columbia between Portland to Astoria..

I have a older 3/4 ton pickup that has decent towing ability.

Budget is 20k - 30k, of course lower is better lol. I know that tends to limit me toward older boats or smaller boats.

[Adelie]

I would get a small sailboat as a starter rather than a powerboat. Low cost to entry, much lower cost to fuel. Similar cost to maintain. Safer than similar sized power vessels in rough weather or rough seas.

My recommendations areCal 20,25 or 28.

For the Cal 20s there is a local fleet in PDX with available boats to buy and advice right at hand.
I would use the Cal20 for 2-4yr until you have learned to sail and have obtained enough boating experience to know what you want to move up to.

The 3 boats above are all raised deck models which are comparatively very roomy below and have a large flat foredeck to work on and to store a dinghy.
The Cals in general are well behaved boats and fairly fast and very good bang for the buck.

The 3 Cals listed are also all sturdy enough to take up the coast to Puget Sound or down to SF. Comfort levels for such trip would depend on your preferences.

[rsn48]

A small 20 foot sailboat for a family of four, one a baby, isn't the best way to go. And a boat healed over in a moderate wind isn't great for a new mom with young child without a lot of sailing experience, you can understand her concerns for her two young children. Some will react to my comment but most will have had more experience or a larger boat or both.

A small cabin cruiser around 25 feet will give you protection in crappy weather like rain, move you quickly along home if something nasty blows in, provides sleeping accommodations for all, that you can cook in and have a head.

Here is what I suggest for you, or something like it, and I think your wife will feel more relaxed in it, and if bad weather comes in, your aren't sitting outside exposed:

Inboard cabin cruiser / hard-top / with enclosed cockpit / 6-person max. - 24 HT - Aquador

[Adelie]

Me and my family of 4 have done just fine on a Cal20. We did a week’s vacation on it this last summer.

[rsn48]

Here's another suggestion, and search for like type boats and used:
https://www.sundanceyachts.com/boats/north-pacific-np28

[sv Stella Maris]

Also, where you want to dock the boat might affect the size. Maybe slips aren't available in the 20-25' range but are in the 25-30' or 30-35' range; or any variation thereof. Your budget of those ranges will likely help sway you. Ditto the sail vs power bit. Do yourself a favor and get out on a sailing dinghy a few times at a local sailing school to cure your fears of small boat handling without a motor. After that, a 28'er with auxiliary diesel or outboard will make you feel like McGuyver (sp? I'm a Millennial, hehe) with your redundant propulsion methods of sail and power.

Some of my favorite time with young kids in the beginning was drifting along at 1kt watching the kids explore the boat without worry of navigating or engines running.

I have enjoyed Cal's listed above, Ericson's, Catalina's, and Newport's, and Hunter's (all sail boats). My favorite are the Newport 28, Hunter 29, and Catalina 30.

But when my family was in your shoes we found a sailing club better for us. We could rent the right size boat for the planned excursion and number of crew. Also got to try a variety of sizes and layouts. And you can walk away from the broken issues and leave them to the club to fix. The pricing looks intimidating initially, but after a few charters you will see the light.

My wife however was never comfortable practicing her docking skills in someone else's boat. Oh well. Find the club with the oldest boats you can...they always look the same when you return them no matter what you do to them ;-)

[44'cruisingcat]

How about one of those Macgregor 26es? Trailerable, sails, (kind of) can motor fast enough to waterski if you put 40hp on it, has shallow draught, and the mast can come down if there's low bridges to go under.