"Rob" wrote in message
...
Hi all,

I am interested in purchasing a boat for sailing on the Chesapeake. It
will
primarily be used for weekend sailing / gunkholing. I would like
something
at least 30' with wheel steering, and comfortable for a family of four. I
have been looking at various brokerages and web sites as well as reading
boat reviews. There are a couple that I think would be good, but would
like
to get others opinions.

I am considering the following:

Catalina 30 - well known, good resale, etc
Beneteau First 305 - This seems to have what I'm looking for, but Beneteau
does not seem to be so well known in the US. Any thoughts?

Any opinions would be welcome. I'm looking to spend about $30K.

http://www.yachtworld.com/index.html.en

Give you some good ideas about what's available out there. You could use a
higher dollar value when you're doing any searches, there is usually a big
difference between the asking/selling price, it's generally a buyers market.
BTW, Beneteaus are very well known over here, in fact they're manufactured
over here, for the most part.
John Cairns

You could use a
higher dollar value when you're doing any searches, there is usually a big
difference between the asking/selling price

John is correct on this. When searching for a 50K boat, you can actually look
at 60-65K and be reasonably secure that you'll still be in the ballpark. It
varries by range and builder, of course.

RB