The Idea of a Sailboat

During the summer months, our family takes vacations at the beach. I was thinking to myself that the beach can hold ones interest for only so long. We needed another activity in our lives. Something that would be interesting, skill building, and provide a sense of exploration. Like a sailboat!

I sailed years ago; mostly small boats - sunfish’s, beetle cats, and the garden variety day sailor. My thoughts of a sailboat for a family were more substantial than a day sailor. Something with a cabin would be nice.

However, questions loomed. Would the family like sailing, how much would a suitable sailboat cost? It had been 20 years since I had touched a sailboat. Some information gathering and test cases were in order.

Will the family like sailing? We got a used sunfish (pictured below) and sailed the lakes and ponds, and occasionally out in the ocean. This proved to be a low cost way of trying it out, and things went O.K.

I also needed to consider how big a boat should we get ? Since I was the only sailor in the crowd, it needed to be a boat that I could handle primarily by myself, until the family learned the ropes (so to speak). I figured that a sailboat of approximately 20-24 feet would be about right, offering a good balance between space and manageability. I was also becoming familiar with the term ‘Trailer Sailor’, and understood the associated size range. A trailerable boat of reasonably good size would meet our needs.

On to the next question – how much would a sailboat cost ? (used of course) I checked the local classified listings to see what was out there. The listings for used sailboats in the 24 foot range varied from a scant $2,000 to about $7,000 for newer models. Generally, most boats were listing between $2,500 and $4,000. This seemed to be a very reasonable amount of money.

A plan was coming together, and the search was on . . .

Some detailed requirements needed to be considered.