"Bayview, all great points. Yes, many of those are personal preferences. I'm curious, what boat did you end up purchasing?"
After decades of sailboats we bought a Carver 440. ACMY. Never regretted it. Great solid glass hull. Handled well. Very easy to maneuver with twins.
Cockpits take up a lot of space that otherwise could be interior volume. The exception is covered cockpits where they can be enclosed. They are nice for floating docks but not for fixed docks. An aft cabin boat often has a deck over the cabin offering the same outside lounging space as a cockpit. Ours had a boat deck above for dingy storage and full enclosures for all weather lounging.
length is a marketing feature but interior volume is where you live most of the time. Makers learned years ago to add pointy bows and other stuff to advertise the boat as longer without actually making it bigger.
Chartering is a good idea so that everyone gets to evaluate what features they want.
Spend a lot of time on many boats to avoid the common "next boat" experience.
After decades of sailboats we bought a Carver 440. ACMY. Never regretted it. Great solid glass hull. Handled well. Very easy to maneuver with twins.
Cockpits take up a lot of space that otherwise could be interior volume. The exception is covered cockpits where they can be enclosed. They are nice for floating docks but not for fixed docks. An aft cabin boat often has a deck over the cabin offering the same outside lounging space as a cockpit. Ours had a boat deck above for dingy storage and full enclosures for all weather lounging.
length is a marketing feature but interior volume is where you live most of the time. Makers learned years ago to add pointy bows and other stuff to advertise the boat as longer without actually making it bigger.
Chartering is a good idea so that everyone gets to evaluate what features they want.
Spend a lot of time on many boats to avoid the common "next boat" experience.
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