These three couples at our club all retired in the last 3-4 years, all were previous sail boaters, one had a Catalina 270, one a Person 28 and one a Hunter 28.5. All three bought mid-2000's vintage Hunter 33's which they thought would be the perfect platform for our area. I have to admit that I like the boat, the layout is basically the same as our h27 but on a larger scale down below. Cockpit is about the same size but with an arch. We actually discussed getting the same boat with two listed by our broker when we were looking. We aren't retired yet and really couldn't justify the $$$ for a daysailer.

The discussion this past weekend was of future plans and I was surprised to hear that all three anticipate selling their 33's within a year or two. All three never did the traveling or lake cruising they had planned and pretty much day sail like we do. One couple said they just didn't want to deal with the maintenance. Prepping the boat, wax, bottom paint, etc. was getting to be more then they expected it to be. We have no hired help at our club so you either do it yourself or it doesn't get done. They are talking about a powerboat in the 24-26' range for the summer, heading down to their Florida home for the winter. The second couple is looking at replacing their 33 with a small houseboat. They want to sell their house here and live aboard during the summer, heading south to their Florida house when boating season is over. The third couple has a case of the jitters now. The wife fell getting on the boat last season breaking her wrist. They didn't take their boat out at all after that, this year they have been out one time for a few hours and she is very nervous the whole time. They are on the fence and may sell both the boat and their house here and move permanently to their winter home in Charleston SC.

I asked the Admiral what her vision of our boating future is, she was surprised at the question. She likes this little Hunter a lot and plans on continuing to use it. While I think we need something bigger (just because), perhaps we went down the right path for a different reason.