We agreed early in our sailboat shopping that we wouldn’t fall in love with a particular boat. We’ve had this experience with other major purchases in life and knew that what we required most was a good deal – not one where we felt we were taking advantage of anyone, but also not one that permitted anyone to take advantage of us (at least not solely because of our feelings). Still, as we shopped, a short list of our preferences emerged.

First on our list was the keel. Like every component of a boat, there are many options when it comes to the keel. For our cruising needs, we tended toward the larger, heavier, full-keel designs. Balancing this desire was the preference for a draft on the shallow side (we didn’t want to be excluded from destinations or anchorages because we draw too much water). Over time we decided to be flexible here – but agreed that we didn’t really want a small (perhaps more modern) production fin keeled boat. Conclusion: heavy, fuller, and shallow. Which brings us to the rudder.

This we weren’t flexible on; the rudder had to be on a skeg. As new cruisers (and sailors) we really value durability. I don’t plan to hit anything, but I also know it’s bound to happen – and when it does, I didn’t want to watch my torn-off rudder floating away.

Next, we considered creature comforts. While this may seem out of place – considering floorplans before sail plans – here was the reasoning:

1) The variety of sailing configurations was simply less than the variety of deck/cabin configurations. I don’t want to downplay the sailing characteristics – they’re critically important. But we weren’t buying a boat to sail around on the weekend. We planned to live aboard. And living in a small space (together) presents some challenges. Best to meet these head on.

2) There would be costs associated with changing anything (and everything!). The stronger the foundation for making changes, the less cost would be incurred. We hoped to come close to what we needed in terms of living comfort to minimize remodeling expenses. Sorting out the number of heads for example was one of our considerations (one head is necessary. Two heads provides a spare in case of malfunction but would also occupy critical space and present more maintenance). We had many ideas (and found a number of challenges along the way) but managed to narrow our must-haves down to only a few things:

 Examples include:

The galley: It had to be “u-shaped.” We’d seen enough YouTube videos to know that a straight-line galley would be inconvenient while underway. Long passages would require ample food storage and a good-sized refrigerated compartment. And we wanted enough counter space to keep and use the few kitchen implements we found most necessary.

Settee/Dinette: This didn’t start out as one of our requirements but as we looked at more and more boats, this quickly developed into one. There’s more details under berths below, but we preferred a dinette and a settee; or a double settee with a table. No single seats or side tables or cabinet storage or other configuration.

Berths: This is the topic that brought it all home for us. I love the looks of a “pullman berth” but it would require one of us to crawl over the other to exit. An athwart, full sized bed is similar but an aft cabin walk around? … that was given up quickly due to the size requirements of an aft cabin (not to give anything away but we don’t even have an aft cabin in Garuda). V-berth arrangements were not our favorite but if it had to be a V, we wanted it to be large enough to sleep two adults (one of which is…ahem… rather “full sized” and didn’t want to be elbowing his spouse all night). Single berth arrangements were right out. In the end, we decided we’d simply lie down and see if we fit.

The remainder was more practicality.

Engine: Admittedly, this was less of a consideration for us for two reasons: 1) we don’t know enough about one engine model versus another to have this be a deal breaker; and 2) engines are (relatively) less expensive than you might imagine. We prefer to have a well-cared for, running diesel engine but we would balance this cost against our primary means of propulsion – the sails.

Sails: This one was important. Sails are really expensive… and they wear out. Comparing sailboat costs for us included the cost of new sails right now versus the condition of the current sails (and the ability to budget for a future replacement). Simply put, the sails had to be in good condition. The rigging… well that was more of a balancing act.

Rigging: The more I shopped, the more I preferred a cutter rigged sloop – more flexibility in sail plans and… I don’t know, it just looked like how I imagined a sailboat should look. When I came across the ketch rig, my interest peaked. Too many people love them for me to ignore… so I let go of this one.

Other considerations came and went – navionics, solar systems, battery banks, windlass, cabin height, storage, quarterberths, even parquet floors – but they were little more than discussion points and nothing that would make or break selecting a boat.

Above all, it had to be a budget-friendly cruiser.