Sailboat Shopping in New Bern

We just returned from an afternoon checking out boats with Mike of Neptune Yachts in New Bern. Mike is a very experienced sailor and therefore a wealth of useful information for virgin blue water sailors like us. We checked out a 37' Pacific Seacraft, a 38' Island Packet, and a 37' Tartan.

 

The Seacraft has a NEW engine, which is huge plus. It also has a Harken Battcar Batten Traveler System. This system utilizes ball bearings to allow the mast to slide up and down easily without having to head into the wind. Ramon and I had never seen this before, but we are now planning on installing it on whichever boat we buy.

The Packet has the original 1987 engine. We are not sure of the hours on it or the maintenance schedule, both of which will be a big factor in our decision. The Packet has much of the offshore equipment needed that the Seacraft does not have as well as a larger cockpit and cabin. The Packet has a rack and pinion steering, also something we had not seen before but really liked.

We learned that the 1979 Tartan is probably too old to get financing but was not one we ended up being interested in anyway. We are planning on looking at more boats next weekend in Virginia and Maryland as we head to the Annapolis Boat Show. We have also started the process for pre-approval on financing,  checking out requirements and costs of insurance, and availability and cost of slips in Oriental and New Bern.