Hello;

I am in the mid-stages of shortlisting a new(or nearly new) Great Lakes cruising
boat.

While I intend to see as many specific boats as possible in person, one thing
that struck me about two boats in particular, the Catalina 320 and Hunter 33,
was the size (or lack thereof) of their main salon table.

Two other boats that are still in the running, Hanse 315 and Bavaria 31 have a
more traditional (to me) folding table, so that people on both settees can use
the table, making four (in our case, two adults and two growing children) quite
comfortable.

The Catalina 320 and Hunter 33 have a table (from pictures - not in person) that
neither folds up, nor reaches across the cabin, but rely upon the curve of the
settee to seat people on the ends of the table.

So - anybody with direct experience in either of these boats and their seating
dimensions?

Thanks in advance
sdg
---
For those who care to read on - here are some thoughts, must-have and
like-to-have so far:
* standard production boat, new or nearly so, 'known' builder for possible
resale
* 31-33 ft, LOA 35, fin keel (light air common on Lake Ontario)
* Catalina 309, 320
* Hunter 33
* Beneteau 323 (probably out of the running, both V-berth and aft had trouble
with my 6'2" frame
* Hanse 315 - nice boat, better salon storage than the Catalina and Hunter, but
with the end-boom-main sheet led to the cockpit floor, no bimini possible
* Bavaria 31 - really like this, proper nav station, good storage, etc., but
seems to have the lowest cockpit coamings, so limited backrest when sailing.

On Aug 29, 5:06 pm, wrote:
Hello;

I am in the mid-stages of shortlisting a new(or nearly new) Great Lakes cruising
boat.

While I intend to see as many specific boats as possible in person, one thing
that struck me about two boats in particular, the Catalina 320 and Hunter 33,
was the size (or lack thereof) of their main salon table.


Hello:

Consider this............

I have a 39.3' x 11.3' sailboat. Besides tearing out that table thing
in the cockpit bolted the the pedistal I also removed the table in the
salon. Big wast of space. I chose to eat on the floor as does most the
world. Also much easier to eat when in heavy seas. No, Im not talking
about a Skip Gundlack 4 sea state. I mean real weather. The kind ya
gota wedge urself in to keep from getting thrown around.

If you want to entertain a group get a 40' cat or a scow schooner, or
better yet do what one guy did............. 2"x 6"...... 1/2" CDX ply
a few 55 gal drums and an old 24' travel trailer on top. Lots of room
dude....
Bob

On 2007-08-29 20:06:42 -0400, said:

While I intend to see as many specific boats as possible in person, one thing
that struck me about two boats in particular, the Catalina 320 and Hunter 33,
was the size (or lack thereof) of their main salon table.

Get on each boat and try everything on for size. Only you can know what
will suit you.

I prefer bulkhead-mounted folding tables like Xan's (see pics below) as
we usually eat in the cockpit so a table would be in the way 99% of the
time, but when we eat at a table, I hate perching on the setee to reach
an undersized table. When we have 4 onboard, our bodies are nearly 8'
apart.

Our primary concern was that the full-time berths were sufficient. 75%
of the boats we looked at failed that test, some of them quite a bit
larger than our Xan.

--
Jere Lull
Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD
Xan's new pages: http://web.mac.com/jerelull/iWeb/Xan/
Our BVI pages: http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/