tjr818 wrote:TJ,
So many questions:
Where in the Midwest?
Where will you be sailing?
Will you be sailing alone, or with others? How many others?
Daysailing or cruising?
Doing your own work or paying a shop?
We had a 27 and it is a wonderful boat, no doubt the prettiest of the bunch, however three was a crowd in the cockpit. I could single hand it myself. We sail on the Mississippi River, lots of fetch but no real swells.
When we bought the 27 I looked at a 28 that was in the same yard for the same price. The 28 seemed so much bigger that we were afraid of it, later I wished we had bought the 28. A few years latter we had the chance to buy a 31 - I really wish that we had bought that one.
Thanks, tjr818. I should have anticipated at least some of those questions!
I live in Indiana--the boat will be sailed on a lake that is roughly four miles long and plenty deep for a 4' draft. There will be four of us sailing at times (my wife and two girls--9 and 11), but I'm sure it will be me often singlehanding or with a buddy of mine. Primarily daysailing on the our lake, but a big motivation to move from the 18' daysailer we have now is to learn sailing and systems of a larger boat. Ultimately, we'd like to transition to some cruising on Lake Michigan and maybe the East Coast down the road. (I sail with a friend out of Greenwich and Block Island a few times a year, but I'd like to be able to confidently sail with him as opposed to just being crew, if that makes sense). Probably a mix of work myself and through a yard. I've done some basic refits of smaller boats and the like, but I don't have any experience with a diesel, electrical more complex than a bilge pump, etc. and there is always the lack of time issue.
It's really helpful to hear even what you said about wishing you would have moved up in size. I'm mindful of not having a battleship in a bathtub on our lake, but I also can imagine enjoying the larger cockpit in particular of the 28 or 30. Interesting that you're sailing on the Mississippi. I grew up in the northwest corner of Illinois, so I've been to the river many times, but rarely have I seen anyone sailing on it.
Thanks for the response!
TJH