The search began with looking at a Cruisers Yacht (CY) 328 Bowrider, which was local, then branched out to about a 200 mile radius, ranging from lake Champlain (NY/VT) to Long Island NY.

Among the list were a couple of outboard powered boats . . . an Intrepid 348 and a Donzi ZSF 38.  I was hoping that I would really like the Donzi, but in real-life I did not.  On both the Intrepid and the Donzi, the helm position was significantly far to the stern vs. what I am used to with my prior boats, making the forward visibility difficult.  The Donzi, being the longest at 38 feet, seemed to be the worst.  I figured that docking these boats in tight quarters would be difficult. 

The outboard boats were also a bit spartan, typical of ‘fishing’ boats.  So, the Intrepid and Donzi were off the list and the focus was on the mid-cabin bowriders (Formula 330 CBR, Cruisers 328/338, Cobalt 336, and Chaparral 327) . . . all sterndrive powered, as their outboard versions, being introduced only a couple of years ago, were too new for my budget range.

Although I had wanted to get an outboard powered boat, it looked like the boats that were a better fit for our needs and budget range were all sterndrive models.  The search continued . . .