Trailer sailing to the Bahamas

[IndigoWendigo]

Hello all. This is my first post on the cruising forum. I thought I'd get some input regarding a potential boat for our family. I have some sailing experience, and we recently sold a Nacra 5.0 that we had for a few years. We loved the Nacra, but we would like to do some longer cruising, and we're going to use the money from that sale towards a trailerable boat that has these abilities:

1. Be reasonably manageable to trailer a thousand miles.

2. Be stable enough to handle the crossing from Miami to the Bahamas in good weather.

3. Have a shallow draft, but no swing keel. Fixed, glassed-in lead.

4. Under $4000.

The top of my list is an O'day 22, because they are plentiful and we'll probably have several to choose from. My dream boat is a Pearson Electra, because I love all of Alberg's designs, but they are pretty rare. The ideal boat is a Compac 23, but these are outside of our budget range.

Anyway, these all seem like solid, shoal draft boats between 3-5000 lbs on the trailer. Speed is not an issue for us as we enjoy being on beach time, and are in no hurry particularly. We plan to get a lot of cruising experience in the Keys at first. The crossing of the Gulf Stream is not in our immediate plan at all, but I want the boat that we buy to have that capability in the future. I'd appreciate any suggestions you have, as well as recommendations for boats I may have overlooked.

[Lowcountry]

I'm not sure that your expectations are reasonable at that price point.

[IndigoWendigo]

I've found a good many shoal keel boats under 25 feet for less than 4k. I'm looking at a great O'day 23 right now. I also found a Compac 23 for $4500.