"pmiller" wrote in message ...
After several years of looking and saving I am finally ready to buy my
first boat. Ive looked at boats from 26 to 34 ft and based on advice from
many people here I am
eliminating everything over 30' as too big for a first boat.
Today I looked at a 30' Sea Ray Sundancer 1989.
The boat will be used on the Chesapeake Bay in the Annapolis MD area.

Is there anyone here familiar with the Sundancers of that
age?

Id love to know if there were any problems with those boats or anything in
particular to look for.

I will of course have a survey done prior to purchase
Ive taken the powerboating course and have a little experience with a 19'
runabout and a 24' Cruise Along
which is now in the Calvert Marine Museum.

Thanks

Paul

Paul,

A 30 foot boat is still too big for a first boat. Get a boat around 21
feet long and learn what your doing with it, then move up after two
years. It's a boat, not a car, and it takes time to learn to operate a
boat properly.

Boating is supposed to be enjoyable, it's not going to be enjoyable
when it comes time for you to dock that boat. You can learn the easy
way with a smaller, easier to handle boat, or you can learn the hard
way with the bigger boat. Your going to look like a fool trying to
dock. It will be very obvious to everyone that you don't know what
your doing. I've seen too many new boaters that bought boats that were
too big for them to handle do a lot of damage with them.

Go with the smaller boat, it's the best advice you'll ever get when it
comes to first time boats.