On Wed, 3 Mar 2004 22:50:44 -0500, "pmiller"
wrote:

I have a question for this group, The past couple years I have been looking
to buy a small cruiser The boat I have in mind is a Wellcraft St Tropez 32'
Here is my question ... I have never owned a boat before... Some of my
friends
are saying I am crazy to buy a boat that size for my first boat. But really
anything
smaller just doesnt seem to have the room to be comfortable I am 6'3
and want to be able to be comfortable both moving around and sleeping.
I want to be able to spend a couple days at a time (weekend) comfortably.

Id love to hear your comments and suggestions.

That is a big boat for a first timer.

I'm assuming that you have taken the USCG or USPS boating course and
have an idea of how a boat should be handled. So we won't go into
that whole deal.

I'm not so concerned about the length as I am about the width and high
sides. 11'6" is a lot of beam to throw around and all that windage
will cause you the most problems. It's also a twin I/O and the
technigue of using the props to help manuever the boat, while not hard
to learn, isn't intuitive. On the open water, your not going to have
much of a problem. The problems are in docking and undocking under
wind and current conditions.

I will give you my opinion and it is this - this is not a boat to
learn on. Plus, it's a pretty big investment.

However, if you decide that this is the boat for you, then the best
thing to do is find somebody who has experience, or hire the current
owner for a week or so, and get some intensive knowledge about how the
boat handles, etc.

Do you have a friend who has a smaller boat that you might ride along
and get some instruction in boat handling? Maybe even some practical,
hands on time? That would help. You might also want to ask around
the marina where you are docking the boat - usually most boat owners
are pretty friendly and those who have larger boats would be more than
willing to help you learn what you need to know - if only to keep you
from whacking their boats. :) At my marina, I can quarentee that I
will be docking boats for new owners at least four or five times per
spring and taking their boats out for instruction time.

Just remember that with no experience, your learning curve is going to
be really steep with a boat like this. Expect that you will put a
dent or two into the boat.

Good luck.

Later,

Tom
S. Woodstock, CT
-----------
"Do fishermen eat avocados? This is a question
that no one ever thinks to ask."

Russel Chatham, "Dark Waters" (1988)