mnypitboat
Lieutenant Junior Grade
- Joined
- May 31, 2010
- Messages
- 1,091
About a year ago my admiral and I bought an almost new Monterey 214FS. We love the boat, and the Admiral said absolutely no cruisers. So I put my crazy ideas of having a condo on the water to rest. Then about 6 months ago she says to me, "when our daughter gets in high school I want to start looking for a large cruiser". Our daughter just finished 7th grade. So we start looking around. We drove around to differant marinas on Saturday, National Marina Day, and looked at dozens of 35ft and bigger boats. Nothing really jumped out at us as far as layout and usable space. Then we saw a Catalina 381 online and loved the way they appear to be layed out. Loved the small "kitchenette" looking space on the bridge, and the bar area instead of a dinnette area. We would probably never use the dinnette anyway, so this works perfect for us. I even saw in some of the ones I looked at that they have a side door? Its hard to see in the pics, but what a great idea to get out on a dock.
So I guess what I am looking for is any info anybody might have on these. Any issues, anything anybody might have on these boats. Possibly some specs and brochures etc from new. Did they ever come with deisels? Most I have seen are either 350 or 454 crusaders. How good are these? Anything I need to worry about with the engines or transmissions? Anything I should be looking for overall?
Another thing I am finding is the price ranges seem to be nuts. I have seen what appears to be nice ones in the $20k range, then others upwards of $90k and more. What is up with that? All of them look well maintained and seem pretty nice.
This is going to be a long process of purchasing. We intend to obviously get whatever we buy surveyed first. I dont know enough about big boats to inspect it myself. Maybe I could find one that needs some work for even cheaper. We dont intend to float it for a couple years. Unless its perfect already, but our tastes will likely require some modernising of the interior at least.
Any info out there is GREATLY appreciated. It looks like the majority of them were built between like 79 and 89..
So I guess what I am looking for is any info anybody might have on these. Any issues, anything anybody might have on these boats. Possibly some specs and brochures etc from new. Did they ever come with deisels? Most I have seen are either 350 or 454 crusaders. How good are these? Anything I need to worry about with the engines or transmissions? Anything I should be looking for overall?
Another thing I am finding is the price ranges seem to be nuts. I have seen what appears to be nice ones in the $20k range, then others upwards of $90k and more. What is up with that? All of them look well maintained and seem pretty nice.
This is going to be a long process of purchasing. We intend to obviously get whatever we buy surveyed first. I dont know enough about big boats to inspect it myself. Maybe I could find one that needs some work for even cheaper. We dont intend to float it for a couple years. Unless its perfect already, but our tastes will likely require some modernising of the interior at least.
Any info out there is GREATLY appreciated. It looks like the majority of them were built between like 79 and 89..