The Search

The Start

People we talked to said to get on as many boats as you can to get an idea of what you want. So we spent many days walking the docks at various marinas in the area and looking at as many style of boats as we could.

The List

We made a list of what requirements were important to us. Our list changed a few times as we saw more boats. We realized that you cannot find everything on your list:

Engines: We wanted economy so smaller diesels were a must. We went back and forth on one or two engines. Some people will argue this all day but we chose two engines. We liked the redundancy and the maneuverability. Even though maintenance is doubled we are happy with our decision. This decision was proved right on the delivery. We also wanted easy to get around engines.

Staterooms: We almost went with a one stateroom model but decided that having more room would be of use since we plan to travel extensively. We chose two staterooms and two heads.

Size: We had actually been looking at 42 ft boats and even made an offer on a 42 ft and a 44 ft that the owners turned down. We then decided to look a little smaller and see what they were like. I guess that the old saying a boat that entertains six feeds four and sleeps two was what we wanted.

Style: We settled on the sundeck style trawler because we like the covered aft deck. Since we loved the outdoors we decided a large sundeck was what we wanted even though we would have to give up some interior salon space.

Manufacturer: We decided we wanted to stay with a US manufactured boat for numerous reasons. We knew we wouldn't get all the teak carvings like on a Taiwanese boat, but we wanted a consistent construction that the boats in our age range didn't offer.

Cruising Areas: We wanted a boat that could do the Great Loop, so draft and air height was a factor. we also wanted to cruise the Bahamas, Keys, Turks & Caicos, and who knows where else. Range was important for both water and fuel.

The Search

The search took us throughout the southeast both online and in person. There were quite a few boats we looked at that we would be afraid to cast off the lines. A few were only good for an artificial reef. We learned not to believe the brokers estimate of the condition of the vessel.

Stuart Florida and the west coast of Florida were the primary areas that we visited to look at various boats. We searched online every night looking for new models or new websites that might have something we missed.

We were about getting ready to take a break from the search and wait 6 months to see what else would come on the market then.

The Result

They say the boat picks you not the other way around.When we first saw "Knot at Work" (her previous name) she was in New Iberia, LA. Not the place we would have figured to find am island cruiser. She was for sale by owner which was such a relief after dealing with brokers.

After about a month of exchanging emails and pictures and talking to the previous owner we scheduled the sea trial and survey for March 4, 2010. We were off to Louisiana hopefully we wouldn't be disappointed. we were both trying not to get too excited.