Time for an upgrade

[GordMay]

Check out ➥ Sailboats in Canada - 27' to 30' models

[leefromcanada]

thanks! it's much easier for me to purchase a boat in Canada rather than trying to import something from the States. Headaches galore

[Paul Kelly]

Hi, It's worth looking at the Beneteaus and other French makes. I've had a Beneteau First 285 (28' 9") for the last 10 years in the UK. The American designs may be marginally different, but they are good and practical boats and would probably meet your needs well.

Pluses
They have packed a lot into just under 29'
Two reasonable sized doubles
Good sized chart table and galley
Good sized heads
Quite a lot of storage space
Good sailing performance - quite sporty
Sugar scoop stern with easy access
American ones look keenly priced - compared to Europe

Minuses
Saloon berths too narrow/short to sleep
But you could easily make an infill on the port side and create a berth there
Possibly not available in Canada
Some are quite shallow draft (may be an advantage)

[Cheechako]

Look for boats with a good amount of beam. That usually means not trailerable. But great inside room. 5 is a lot of people even for a 30 ft boat. But doable.
Little maintenance difference in 29-32 feet really. A lot of it depends on the slips available where you want to be. For instance, some marinas have 30 ft slips and 36 ft slips. If you have a 28 or 29 you are paying for 30 ft. If you have 32 ft boat you are paying for 35 feet. etc.
Bottom paint is often a yearly thing, depends on the growth conditions in your area though. You don't need to strip, little value in that actually. SPend your money on having the bottom cleaned before your vacation trip!

[LeeV]

Even though I'm a "yankee" 😉 , and he's not right in your backyard, I dealt with a broker in B.C. (all the way across the country from me in Maryland!) who outshone every broker with whom I've spoken. I'd give him a shout and see if he has anything in his listings that he can recommend. For the price of a phone call, it would be worth your time. He's a great guy, and went to extreme lengths to help me when we bought our boat. If you do, let him know that Lee with the Corsair 36 trimaran sent you (no, I don't get any fees!). Good luck!

Mike Carkeek
Yacht Sales West
(250) 588-6047
(250) 656-6644

[Cheechako]

C&C's are generally good sailing, well respected boats. Watch for cored hulls though. Make sure the one you buy has no issues with that.
There ought to be many designs at about 30 ft available in Canada..
CS30?
S2
Catalina
Pearson
Tartan
Bayfield

[akprb]

Catalina 30, there ya go. Easy :-)

[KP44]

I wonder how important it is to go from outboard to inboard. With inboard, part of your boat is dedicated to an engine room.
We went from a 23' trailerable to a 45' blue water cutter. The extra space is luxury, and I'd encourage you to go as large as your pocketbook allows. The difference between 30 and 32 (or 34) is worthwhile.

As for marina costs, it depends upon the marina. When our marina had max size of 40' slips, it charged us for 45' and we hung out a couple feet. Later they added some 50' slips and guess what? We were charged by slip size rather than boat length.

[Spindrift NH]

I owned a 1988 Catalina 30 for three years that had been cruised extensively on the great lakes, I brought it to Lake Champlain where my wife and I used it for weekends and trips up to 9 days. I'm 6', she's 5'10" there was plenty of room for us both in headroom and in the v berth. We purchased for $24,000 and sold 3 years later for $24,000. During that time I put about $2000 into maintenance parts(I did the labor). For what you get these are excellent boats with great support online and from Catalina, you can't say that about many boats.
To keep yearly costs down you could consider a mooring instead of a slip.

[leefromcanada]

sadly, there's no such thing as legal "mooring" in the western end of Lake Ontario.

[leefromcanada]

Originally Posted by Paul Kelly

Hi, It's worth looking at the Beneteaus and other French makes. I've had a Beneteau First 285 (28' 9") for the last 10 years in the UK. The American designs may be marginally different, but they are good and practical boats and would probably meet your needs well.

Pluses
They have packed a lot into just under 29'
Two reasonable sized doubles
Good sized chart table and galley
Good sized heads
Quite a lot of storage space
Good sailing performance - quite sporty
Sugar scoop stern with easy access
American ones look keenly priced - compared to Europe

Minuses
Saloon berths too narrow/short to sleep
But you could easily make an infill on the port side and create a berth there
Possibly not available in Canada
Some are quite shallow draft (may be an advantage)

thanks Paul. a friend of mine has your exact boat. great sailing and amenities for sure.

[leefromcanada]

Originally Posted by LeeV

Even though I'm a "yankee" 😉 , and he's not right in your backyard, I dealt with a broker in B.C. (all the way across the country from me in Maryland!) who outshone every broker with whom I've spoken. I'd give him a shout and see if he has anything in his listings that he can recommend. For the price of a phone call, it would be worth your time. He's a great guy, and went to extreme lengths to help me when we bought our boat. If you do, let him know that Lee with the Corsair 36 trimaran sent you (no, I don't get any fees!). Good luck!

Mike Carkeek
Yacht Sales West
(250) 588-6047
(250) 656-6644

thanks!

[alexanick]

Hi Lee, I'm across the lake from you in Fairport Harbor. My Cal 29 has all that your looking for. I paid $3500.00 for it 2 years ago. And yes, it was in very good condition and sailable. Good luck in your search and if you come across for a vacation, look me up. 216- 392-2220.

Ken

[zedpassway]

If your budget is only $15,000, then you need a boat that costs n more than $11-12,000, since you will always need 30-35% more for upgrades to the boat. It never fails. Even the most equipped ready to go boat is not really, and needs new rigging or engine or interior or sails, etc.....

I bought a 19 foot Micro-Cruiser in super shape for only $7K. And then theOB died, and then rigging turned out to need replacing, and various equipment was needed, and suddenly we needed a dinghy with another OB, and then we discovered what we didn't have when we got becalmed and had to be picked up by the USCG. In the end we spent an additional $7K making sure we had everything we really needed.

[Joel E Felt]

Lee from C: check "sailboat listings - MI" there are several c-30"s for sale. I plan on checking one out in E. Tawas this summer.
good luck!
joel