Want To Buy: Small Bluewater Cruiser

[Cheechako]

Had friends with a Dana 24. It kept up with my Garden design 30 foter with no problem. Sweet little boat.

[rtbates]

May I suggest a Cape Dory 25D (as in diesel) (not the ob 25).

Mine's not for sale..I also suggest reading Amazon.com: Twenty Small Sailboats to Take You Anywhere (9780939837328): John Vigor: Books

[nautical62]

I owned a 26-foot Westerly Centaur for a while A great heavier pocket cruiser. Several have crossed oceans and even circumnavigated. It has some of the best standing headroom and interior space I've ever seen in a boat it's size. They can be had for a song these days.

For good or bad, they have twin keels. Three different interior versions were made. Personally, I'd get the settee arrangement over the dinette and a good Lazarette over a second quarter birth.

Cons include a shallow bilge (That standing headroom has to come from somewhere), many had leaky keel bolts and the salon windows are prone to leaking as one of the side stays is attached just above them. The V-birth is also a bit short for anyone much over 5-8.

I trailered mine, but personally I'd prefer not to tow any boat that big again.

[Notpopeye]

Holy Moly. I got a 2011 pricelist from Seacraft Yachts - Manufacturers of the Dana 24. Base price $148,900. That's BASE price ONLY. Throw in the Add-On's that are necessary, like sales, and presto you have a very, very expensive little boat.
There goes my idea of a new boat out the window.

[simonEdwards]

Originally Posted by Notpopeye

Holy Moly. I got a 2011 pricelist from Seacraft Yachts - Manufacturers of the Dana 24. Base price $148,900. That's BASE price ONLY. Throw in the Add-On's that are necessary, like sales, and presto you have a very, very expensive little boat.
There goes my idea of a new boat out the window.

Pm me l will get details of the Orion. It's a good buy and in yr budget. It's not listed yet.

[sailcruiser]

Notpopeye as with most large purchases it is more affordable to buy used and well maintained. Boats and cars both take a hit after purchase. Maybe look for a boat freshly rebuilt. They are more cost effective. It may take time to find but they're out here once in a while. SC

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Had friends with a Dana 24. It kept up with my Garden design 30 foter with no problem. Sweet little boat.

Yeah...... not THAT sweet!
Personally, I think the PS "aura" is mostly hype. Yeah, they are well built boats, a little crude and simple in the interior for sure (at least in the late 90's... havent looked in years) for a boat that expensive. Some of the designs seemed a little dated with short-ish waterlines by today's standards. (maybe those boats are out of the line now).They have quality issues like everyone else. Example: in 1999 I was browsing around thinking of buying a new boat, smaller than what I had. A brand new PS 34 had just arrived at the Seattle dealer. still had some of the plastic wrap on it. They got me a ladder and allowed me to look at it. The aft deck behind the lazzarrette had a huge crack in it. Didnt look like a damage crack.... looked like the resin gun had gotten misadjusted ......too hot a catalyst mix! .... and here the boat was in Seattle! How do you miss that? I think when you ay the price they want for a boat, it should have an interior equal to the beneteau or tawiwanese standard... JMHO

[jstroup]

There's a Morris Linda for sail on Yachtworld - located in Fort Lauderdale. I'm a Morris fan (I just purchased a 1995 Justine) and Linda's were on my short list several years ago.

judie

[Notpopeye]

Originally Posted by jstroup

There's a Morris Linda for sail on Yachtworld - located in Fort Lauderdale. I'm a Morris fan (I just purchased a 1995 Justine) and Linda's were on my short list several years ago.

judie

Thanks, is this the one for a 2001 Morris Linda 28 listed at $49,999? She sold for $45,000. I called the broker to inform him I was flying in to take a look and was advised the offer was already made.
Some guy got a super duper deal. All teak decks, excellent condition, very clean, nice cabin.

[bobconnie]

If you want to look a little bigger, theres a FINE 32 avertised on here for $19,000 or so that looks pretty good and pretty well equipted also, good sails ect fine looking and good sailer I don't have athing to do with this boat ! except if it was bigger I would buy it myself !! Bob and Connie

[familycruisers]

Westerly Centaur. lotta boat in a lil package. No core to have issues. Closed head. Standing room. Double quarterberths are very roomy. Saw one on YW in Annapolis for around 5k.

[terminalcitygrl]

I too am in love with Dana, the open v berth makes it feel so spacious but the price tag. Ouch! There was one that sold recently, listed at $49k and it appeared fully loaded. Compared to the others listed at twice that price with less stuff, I think the buyer got a decent deal. But that is still a lot of real money.

[zeta]

Here's another nice one--Nor Sea 27
1979 Nor'Sea Aft Cabin sailboat for sale in Outside United States

[Rhapsody-NS27]

This page has some reviews of various boats. Most are large but there are some smaller ones too, a couple already mentioned so far. There's a couple 27' boats I'm considering to start off with, like the Nor'sea 27 mentioned, but some are still a little high cost for me.

Full List of Sailboats

Best of luck in your search.

[Notpopeye]

Originally Posted by Dan_78

This page has some reviews of various boats. Most are large but there are some smaller ones too, a couple already mentioned so far. There's a couple 27' boats I'm considering to start off with, like the Nor'sea 27 mentioned, but some are still a little high cost for me.

Full List of Sailboats

Best of luck in your search.

Thanks, I have the Bluewaterboats.org bookmarked and check it all the time. Very thorough reviews of many good quality boats. Before I found this site, I never heard of most of these boats. Great Site.

As for the Nor'Sea 27, there is a girl who did some single handed sailing around the Bahamas and maybe Caribbean in a Nor'Sea 27 named Daphne. She now has her boat for sale (or it was and already sold). She posted several YouTube videos of her exploits. Most pretty interesting.

After reading 30-40 books, tons of articles, researching and looking at several boats, I have decided that an Island Packet 27, 29 or 31 would suit me perfectly. I like the cabin layout, I like the seaworthiness of the boat and some can be found at reasonable prices.

As many things I have read have stated, the search is almost as good as sailing the boat you find. It isn't over, but I figure the end Has to be closer than the beginning.