Norm--

Lots of good advice so far. While you're in the area, you might also want
to flit up to Bellingham. There are a number of decent brokers up there,
too. We bought a Westsail 32 from Bellhaven Marine some years ago, and were
very pleased with the transaction. (And the boat, btw.)

Oldtimer story: we lived in Ketchikan from 1957-60, and there wasn't a
SINGLE sailboat in Thomas Basin, the municipal marina. And except for a few
local sport fishing boats (like our homemade plywood 16-footer) not many
pleasure boats of any sort. It is nice we have more time for sailing
now...)

Everyone with a boat also has a biased opinion about it, but you might look
at the Westsail 42. Most are ketch rigged, but a few have cutter rigs.
We're happy with our 32, which seems like plenty of boat to us, but not a
few couples and even a few single handers skipper the W42's. They are dandy
boats if you like to sail the marine equivalents of Sherman tanks.

Good luck with your search. It's a good part of the fun. (We're looking
into a Victory Tug 37 at the moment, and enjoying the anticipation of a
new-to-us boat.)

Cheers,

Dick Behan
Lopez Island


"Norm" wrote in message
...
The kids are gone, the house has been sold, most of the junk has been
sold or given away, and after nearly 10 years of being without a boat,
my wife and I are ready to start shopping again!

We just made airline reservations to fly from Juneau Alaska down to
Seattle Washington on the 22nd of April. Wow are we excited

Our last boat was a 36' Fuji Ketch. This time we're looking for Sloop
between 38 and 40'. Being in Alaska has made it pretty hard to get an
idea of exactly what boat will work best for us, so we're guessing
we'll have to crawl thru a few before we start getting a clearer
picture. We want something that can be safely taken offshore, holds
adaquate fuel and water, skeg rudder and fin keel with fairly shallow
draft 4 to 5.5' at the most. Some folks have recommended a Morgan 38
a while back, so plan to check one out if possible. Not sure if that
is a very good offshore vessel though. Suggestions???

It's been a long time since we've been in Seattle. Last time I was
there, most of the boat shopping seemed to be around Lake Union. Is
that still correct? Can someone recommend any other areas close by to
check out????

We'd really like to hear some recommendations on boat brokers too. It
would be nice if we could use one that comes recommended rather than
take our chances via email. Any recommondations???

If all works well, we hope to be bringing something back up to Alaska
in June, but if we have to wait another winter, that's ok too.

This has been a great news group. I've been lurking for about 2 years
or so and have really enjoyed the reading.

kl7rs - Norm in Alaska - Almost retired!!!!