And it's really coming down to ...

Space. It's coming down to spaciousness (if such a thing is possible) on a boat that actually can sail pretty well. This does mean that we are often looking at boats with full or partially full keels but, while they don't point to windward (sail close to the wind) as a modern fin keel, the better ones do tend to sail well enough.

Last weekend, we looked at three boats. The first one was a big "NO" due to general quality of the overall boat, the issues in the interior and such. It was basically a project boat (which we don't have to buy) and a mess inside.

After that we looked at a Morgan 41 (aft cabin pictured here) and a Catalina 36.

The Morgan was quite roomy, with space approaching that of the Hardin 45. The aft cabin was roomy and boat modern. Overall the boat was a good choice even though I'd have to address a couple issues. The first one is, when did someone back this boat into a dock, how extensive is the damage, how expensive would it be to repair? Also, when was the rear cabin flooded with water (about 6" deep) and why?

The Catalina 36 is what some friends are living on. It's a nice boat but, as we looked at it, I kept getting the impression that it just doesn't have enough room, or the kind of room we want.

The thing to remember is, as a boat grows in length, it also grows in volume.

This means I'm finding myself thinking of volume, of space, the ability to move about and live on a boat. I'm looking for decks that aren't sloped, that have some space, that aren't tripping hazards. Too many of the modern boats like Beneteau and Juneau really seem to have this thing for sideways sloping decks that paint pictures in my head of people slipping sideways into the rails and breaking both their legs as they go over the side.

So, I'm looking for space and I'm willing to be the last one at anchor that night as long as, when I get there, I'm comfortable.