Well, you all have hit just about every item on my pro and con list
which covers a full page for each pro and con.

I am still mourning the move from sailing. I grew up on power boats
and when I was old enough to buy my own boat it was a sailboat. If it
were up to me and time was unlimited, it would still be a sailboat.
But ...

Ironically, the wife and the daughter are having an awful time with
heeling. My son, well he wants to go fast. My son needs to learn the
finer things in life too but I struggle with watching the pain on my
daughter's face at the mere prospect of putting up the genoa.

As for the fuel, we spend about 50% of the time at the dock. We travel
to an anchorage about 10nm away to spend weekends. The winds never
work out so we motor or motor sail on most trips -. I wish I could
convince my crew of the fun of "just going sailing" but in 5 years it
hasn't worked. Nevertheless, I burn about 1-2 gallons of fuel each way
with the Sailboat and spend about 90 minutes enroute at 5-6 kts. While
the boats we are looking at can go as fast as 30 kts, I imagine most
transits to the anchorage will be at around 10-12 knots and we will
burn about 18 gallons of fuel each way. But we will pick up time at
anchorage and if I had to push it back, I could be home in 15 minutes
leaving me more time and peace at anchorage.

We do one long cruise a year (usually 300-400 nm roundtrip). While
fuel is not a consideration with the sailboat, the diesel is running
most of the time in transit. Interestingly enough, the wife has
indicated the fact that she would let the kids in the ocean on a power
boat but doesn't feel safe in a sailboat (too long to get to shore in
an emergency). Couple of heart attacks in the marina around us likely
spooked her a bit. Nevertheless, we have considered spending many more
nights on vacation at anchor or mooring rather than at dock and even if
not, we are planning the fuel for the trip into the budget.

My marina neighbor also has a Catalina 36, so the thought is to
continue to travel together (I need steerage therefore on cruises at
5-6kts) and enjoy the best of both worlds at each destination. We may
even find ourselves able to leave our families at anchor on the
powerboat and do a couple of hours of sailing together whilst keeping
the moms and kids happy.

I am struggling with the environmental aspects of the decision. While
not a tree-hugging environmentalist, it does feel good to know that
when you put up the sails you aren't burning fossil fuels. But then I
get in my car and drive home ...

To end this post with a bit of humor, you can picture the conversation
when I said to my wife "But what about the Jimmy Buffet lifestyle, it
just doesn't jive with a powerboat". Her response: "You don't have it
now, you never had it and you never will. Build a bridge and get over
it." I'm supposed to be the practical one -.

Thank you all for your commentary.