Used cruiser advice needed please

[OlyCoug23]

Hello,

I'm in the market for a used cruiser and would really appreciate some advice from this forum. This will be our second boat, our first being a 2005 Bayliner 205 bow rider. We recently sold that boat and are looking for recommendations for a good upgrade boat. Our family boating needs have shifted from water skiing/wake boarding, etc. to now wanting a multi-day cruiser with overnight sleeping capacity.

A few details:

- We live on the Puget Sound in Washington state. We'd like an overnight cruiser for maybe 3-5 nights for trips to the San Juan Islands, etc.
- We have a small family of 3, but would like a little space for other family/friends
- We're trying to keep the price tag under $40k
- We've been looking on Boat Trader and Craigslist for boats in the 28-30' range (2000-2002). Possibly interested in the Bayliner 3055 or the Sea Ray Sundancer 280+
- Due to salt water, would like a closed cooling system
- Will definitely hire a surveyor to look things over before pulling the trigger on anything

I know there are several other manufacturers out there like Maxum, Regal, Cobalt, etc. but they seem to come in at a higher price tag.

ANY advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Seastoke]

Hello,

I'm in the market for a used cruiser and would really appreciate some advice from this forum. This will be our second boat, our first being a 2005 Bayliner 205 bow rider. We recently sold that boat and are looking for recommendations for a good upgrade boat. Our family boating needs have shifted from water skiing/wake boarding, etc. to now wanting a multi-day cruiser with overnight sleeping capacity.

A few details:

- We live on the Puget Sound in Washington state. We'd like an overnight cruiser for maybe 3-5 nights for trips to the San Juan Islands, etc.
- We have a small family of 3, but would like a little space for other family/friends
- We're trying to keep the price tag under $40k
- We've been looking on Boat Trader and Craigslist for boats in the 28-30' range (2000-2002). Possibly interested in the Bayliner 3055 or the Sea Ray Sundancer 280+
- Due to salt water, would like a closed cooling system
- Will definitely hire a surveyor to look things over before pulling the trigger on anything

I know there are several other manufacturers out there like Maxum, Regal, Cobalt, etc. but they seem to come in at a higher price tag.

ANY advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Sea ray

 

[AndrewB]

This forum is mainly of UK and European (or ex-pat) sailors: also it is primarily liveaboard, not mainstream sailing. You need more local information for your area. If you have not already done so, repost on the US Cruiser Forum at: Cruisers & Sailing Forums - Powered by vBulletin, which has a Powered Boats subsection.

The Puget Sound, and the nearby San Juans and Gulf Islands are a lovely cruising ground, very easy sailing in summer, and when my boat was there (based at Anacortes), I must have seen literally hundreds of different classes of power boats sailing there. If it were me with your spec, I'd be going for a trawler yacht, probably full displacement, which combines good accommodation with fuel efficiency, and which are popular in your area particularly on the Canadian side. They are less common in Europe, though we do have the Beneteau Swift series.

 

[OlyCoug23]

This forum is mainly of UK and European (or ex-pat) sailors: also it is primarily liveaboard, not mainstream sailing. You need more local information for your area. If you have not already done so, repost on the US Cruiser Forum at: Cruisers & Sailing Forums - Powered by vBulletin, which has a Powered Boats subsection.

The Puget Sound, and the nearby San Juans and Gulf Islands are a lovely cruising ground, very easy sailing in summer, and when my boat was there (based at Anacortes), I must have seen literally hundreds of different classes of power boats sailing there. If it were me with your spec, I'd be going for a trawler yacht, probably full displacement, which combines good accommodation with fuel efficiency, and which are popular in your area particularly on the Canadian side. They are less common in Europe, though we do have the Beneteau Swift series.

Thanks for the clarification. Much appreciated.

 

[Offshore57]

Definitely lots of options in the Sea Ray range...we had a 290 Sundancer for 5 years and there was loads of room (LOA 31 feet)
Best of luck.....try the US boat forums for more local advice though.