I celebrated my 40th birthday on Monday (and I use the word “celebrate” loosely).
I think my friends and family are more surprised that I’m 40 than I am. This weekend we got together with some friends and went to Amador for some wine tasting; had a lot of fun.
We looked at all three boats on Saturday. The Morgan is off the list. The boat was nice, needed some work, but the draft is just too shallow for what we want to do. We could easily live on it in the Delta, but we’d have to sell it and buy something we could take offshore. I see so many boats on the market for years, I would hate to have a good chunk of our money tied up in something and then not be able to sell it.
The Nantucket was my favorite of the day. It’s a really cool boat. I think traveling on it would be great, but living aboard would be a nightmare. The cabin has a maximum of 6 foot head room. I had my sunglasses on top of my head and they touched the ceiling. The V-berth is ok for one person, but a joke for two. The aft cabin was cozy. We could be really comfortable in it. The heads were a bit of a joke as well. The forward one was a decent head/shower combo. The aft head was really a ½ head. It looked like a closet. You open the doors and there’s a small sink and small toilet. Its right across from the engine and the area would probably be better utilized as a work bench. The cockpit was comfortable and the deck was easy to access.
The O’Day was also interesting. We were on the boat when the owner showed up and nearly ripped our heads off for being on his boat. Apparently the broker we were with thought his partner had called the owner to tell him we would be looking at the boat, but the partner didn’t do that and the owner didn’t know the broker with us. It all worked out after the broker explained it to him, but it was ugly for a couple minutes. After he calmed down, he was super cool and told us all about the boat.
It had a lot of nice sailing gear. The interior was really roomy (12’8” beam), but I think V-berths were made to discriminate against tall people. This one was no different. We have always considered making the V-berth into a storage area anyway, but it would be nice to have one that we could actually fit into. The head was larger than the Nantucket, but there was only one. The galley was comfortable, refrigeration looked a little small. The aft cabin bed was huge. The only problem was its right under the cockpit and you had to slide into the bed since the head room over the bed was 4 feet or so because the cockpit lockers were huge as well. The cockpit was very large (maybe too large) and it had a swim step. I really like the idea of a swim step, but I’m not sure if it will affect performance in a following sea.
I think our search continues.
I’m a little burned out with boat shopping. I think we might take a break for a few months and maybe see what’s on the market around Christmas. I’m hoping the price of the Endeavour 40 we saw in Marina del Rey will be reduced by then. Also, the Bayfield 40 we liked so much in San Diego is off the market. I’m kind of bummed out about it, but maybe it will be back for sale in a few months. The Gulfstar is still for sale, but we’re just not ready to commit to it. I think it’s more of a backup option.
There are quite a few C&C Landfall 38s for sale on the east coast. We looked at one in San Diego and it was horrible. It was a 1980 and in 1982 or 1983 they changed the interior to more wood instead of plastic melamine and a U-shaped galley instead of L-shaped. It’s not ideal, but the prices are pretty low. It’s been really hard to find a boat we will be comfortable living on while working and taking offshore. I think there have been several boats we would be completely comfortable traveling on, but trying to get ready for work on? Forget it.