Well, I'd recommend you look at Catalina. Tons of them out there,
easy to find parts for, and a lot of boat for the money (yeah, I
have a 30' so I'm biased :-) Not particularly fast, but beamy and
comfortable.

Steve makes a *very* good point about slips. Mine is on Harbor
Island in San Diego. We've been in the same marina for 12 years
(only a couple with the Catalina) and its either feast or famine.
When we moved up to the 30', we had to change slips (couldn't fit
on the end tie where we had our 26' - sniff, sniff) and we started
looking around at other marinas. There weren't any open anywhere,
with most having a 6-12 month lead time. Dana Point can take many
years to have an opening.

One word of Marina advice, when you look for a slip (before you
get the boat - definitely) go to the marinas in person and talk to
them. Quite a few will tell you, on the phone, that they're
booked, but in person - *if* you don't look like a flake - they
may change their tune. They will want to know what your boat looks
like also, so get a picture (when you're looking at a particular
boat seriously) and shop it around the marinas. Good luck,

Keith Hughes

Steve wrote:

While your taking your power squadron course, start asking around about the
avalabilty of a slip for the size boat your considering.. Often there is a
several year waiting list for slips in So. Calf.

If your lucky enough to find a boat that is advertised as having a slip
available, before you purchase, check it the marina will allow you to assume
the slip lease.