32 feet is a sweet spot in smaller cruising sailboats. It's about the
minimum size in which you can get full headroom without excessive freeboard
and cabin height, odd proportions, or no bilge. The waterline length is
getting long enough for reasonable speed and a rigid dinghy will often fit
on deck somewhere although usually on the foredeck.

However, I think it is probably the absolute minimum size for most couples
to live aboard full time if it is of normal, post WWII, proportions.

You might want to take a look at the website for my 32 foot Endeavour:

http://home.maine.rr.com/rlma/Boat.htm

These are great and underappreciated boats. Very comfortable, reasonable
turn of speed, driest boat I ever sailed, great handling characteristics if
you like a nimble and quick turning boat. Many boats this maneuvarable have
control problems when over pressed and driven hard but, as long as you keep
the speed up, the E32 will nearly always do what you need her to do. The
construction is an odd mix, lots of wood and nice visual detail but clearly
built for low cost in a yard were the crew was kept happy with unlimited
ganja. Construction is crude and heavy but solid with no core in critical
places to require expensive and difficult replacement 3 decades later. The
interior and cockpit are very intelligently laid out.

I bought mine when I was looking for a cheap boat and thought it would be
used primarily for daysailing and weekends. I then discovered a greatly
renewed interest in sailing and cruising and discovered that I had gotten a
great boat.

You could do worse than picking up one of these put plan on putting about
1.5 times the purchase price into it. If you are downgrading from the
trawler you describe, you can probably buy a higher quality and more
expensive boat but money in the bank is freedom. I like the E32's
characteristics so much that there are few 32 - 34 foot boats I would trade
her for just to get higher quality and better reputation.

--
Roger Long

On Tue, 24 Jun 2008 12:56:04 -0400, "Roger Long"
wrote:

The
construction is an odd mix, lots of wood and nice visual detail but clearly
built for low cost in a yard were the crew was kept happy with unlimited
ganja.

Still finding them butts, eh?

--Vic

"Vic Smith" wrote

Still finding them butts, eh?

No, they must have vacuumed pretty well

It's the almost total lack of any true 90 degree angles in the otherwise
nicely fitted cabin joinerwork and stuff like that. I took off some of the
deck liners which are a Naugahide like fabric stabled over plywood. The
staples on the pack side were about 1/8" apart. You could just see how some
poor soul got a job away from the resin fumes and was going to make it last
a long as possible. The staples go alonglike that for a couple of panels at
this improbable spacing and you can see where the supervisor came in and
screamed at him because they suddenly start running at about 1 1/2 inch
intervals.

I've gotten used to the lack of symmetry and funny angles. It gives the
boat a homey "built by Hobbits" character. It's still the nicest interior
I've seen in a glass boat in that price range.

--
Roger Long

On 2008-06-24 15:48:14 -0400, "Roger Long" said:

"Vic Smith" wrote

Still finding them butts, eh?

No, they must have vacuumed pretty well

It's the almost total lack of any true 90 degree angles in the
otherwise nicely fitted cabin joinerwork and stuff like that.

Oh gawd, there ain't more than a dozen 90-degree angles on Xan. Should
have seen me measure and remeasure both sides of the bulkheads I was
replacing. I couldn't believe the hull could flare that much in 3/4".

I believe most of the non-90 is because they needed to have the flair
to get the molded parts out of the molds. I don't believe any of the
vertical panels other than the main bulkhead are actually square to the
sole, though the difference is subtle.

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

On 2008-06-24 12:56:04 -0400, "Roger Long" said:

If you are downgrading from the trawler you describe, you can probably
buy a higher quality and more expensive boat but money in the bank is
freedom.

Yup! A small boat and a bag of cash will beat one tied to the bank every time.

I like the E32's characteristics so much that there are few 32 - 34
foot boats I would trade her for just to get higher quality and better
reputation.

Similar for us, except that exactly one 34' boat that we've boarded had
improved livability, but it's quality sucked. Other than that, the
boats that were a significant upgrade were at least 37', and
significant money.

We have preferred to accumulate the cash instead of being tied to the bankers.

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