Moving on and mad ramblings

[Leo]

Moving on and mad ramblings,

Sol our 1981 Pearson Cutter or 367 has been sold. Just wanted to thank everyone for their support over the last 10 years that I have been the care taker of Sol. It has been a strange time this last 3 or 4 months since we started to consider a new boat. I thought of her as my last boat but my wife really likes to invite everyone to come sail with us. And a second cabin started to look like a great thing in a boat. Our search started with lots of 1980's vintage boats as they were in our price range and a lot of them built really tough like the Pearson's of that era.
We fell in and out of love with several boats, the Caliber 47 was first but when we looked at one it was just too big and was a budget buster. Then we looked at the Caliber 40, nice boat but just a little to plain vanilla. No real emotional response either way, great boat but not the one. Next was a Tayana 42. On paper it looked great, big heavy and very salty looking. We found an owner that would let us look at one. Nice boat but too dark and cave like inside for my wife. We looked at a Morgan/Catalina 45 CC and it was great on the inside, huge too huge and the lines just didn't appeal to me. We found a Morgan 44 that was very nice and it was a contender but sold before I could do any serious research on the model. A Hylas 44CC caught our eye and if it had been in better condition it could have been our next boat. The problem with most is that they needed a refit after 30+ years of use. After refitting Sol I knew how much time and money that would take. I'm getting close to cutting the dock lines and cruising not working for years to get another boat ready.
My wife and I really liked the look of a Nauticat 43. Lots of space and big raised salon area with lots of light. We considered it for a bit but again another project boat and more of a motorsailer.
While at a local boat show we saw a Jeanneau 43 Deck Salon. Carol loved it. I have to say I thought it was a sexy boat but not a cruising boat. Well after a bit of research I found that the 43 had been successfully cruised by many. with several crossing oceans. Access to the water and fuel tanks is great, no pan blocking access to the hull. Easy to add a fuel tank or replace one of the 3 fifty gallon water tanks for a fuel tank. Tons of storage, engine is easy to get to and hey it's a 2003 model so all the systems are fairly new. Sails fast but not as comfortably as the Pearson but that's a trade off I'm willing to accept for now as the livability at anchor will be great. So if the survey goes well we will be the owners of Dragonfly a 2003 Jeanneau 43 DS.
I'm gong to miss Sol, we worked really hard to make her a great boat. I hope the new owners find this site and don't talk too harshly about any of my shortcomings in refitting Sol. 

Please forgive this long and rambling post, just needed to get it out.

Leo

[Dale Tanski]

Leo,
Hey man sorry to see you go. I am glade you posted what you did as it was a very interesting read.  Did you consider a Outbound?  That is the only newer boat in the past 10 years that has caught my eye.  It has a bit of a euro interior, I would suspect somewhat like the boat you are after. 

I will say, the French boats seem to be built well however they are a bit of a challenge for us when it comes to replacement parts.  Keep in mind fasteners are metric an many items as well.

Hope all goes well for you. Stay in touch.

Dale Tanski
Obersheimer Sailor Supply

[SV Alfresco]

Leo,

Sorry to see you go also. I have lots of questions about my 367 and from the shape of your boat, you look like you have tackled a lot of them. Have seen the Outbound at the Newport boat show. It's my wife's favorite. Of course it's out of my budget.

Best of Luck,
Mike

[SV THIRD DAY]

Hey Leo....
Enjoy the new boat Amigo!