Looking for our new (to us) boat
So, we are looking to buy our next boat. We sold our last boat, Benalisa III, at the end of the 2012 season and have been "itching" ever since. Our last boat was a Cruisers Yachts 405 express motor yacht. This was one of the worst/best purchases I ever made. The boat was beautiful with all the options including two seperate showers and a washer/dryer combo, this is the best part. Benalisa III was everything you could ever ask for, especially considering we had moved up from a 28' express cruiser. But once you let that genie out of the bottle, forget looking at a smaller boat (worst part).
After being without a boat for 3 seasons my wife and I started discussing what we need to have in our next boat with the intention of keeping it smaller and simpler that our last boat (yeah, right). The 'must have' list includes at least one seperate shower stall and at least one stateroom that has a closing door (we have a 16 year old son). When considering what style of boat we wanted, my wife and I have differing opinions. She thinks an express cruiser is the way to go with the open, social aspect of the cockpit area. I like the express style as well but have had my eye on a sedan bridge with the easy access to the salon and the light that comes in through the big windows. Because of these two "big" items on our list, the smallest boat that would give us this is around 38'.
Late winter and early spring in Canada has been fairly mild which has prompted us start viewing boats. There seems to be a trend right now to list Canadian boats in US currency. This has created some confusion for us, as some listings aren't clear on the currency being used. There are a few major borkerages close by and we have been to them all to see their latest listings. We looked at a couple Cruisers Yachts, a couple Regals and a Rinker. It's interesting comparing the different layouts and features of the same size boat from different manufacturers.
On Friday we made an offer on a boat that is a little older than we had been looking for. This boat is also a little bigger, even bigger that our last boat. We're waiting to hear back if we have found Benalisa IV.