Charleston calls...

Just made arrangements to head to Charleston to check out a Beneteau 445 this weekend.  That's 44' of sailboat - for 2 people who've never sailed!  But after this past weekend's exploration of 34-40'ers, I'd say it's a safe bet that we could easily live on a 44' boat.  Now to see if we can sail one home...  (that's what engines and sailor friends are for, right!?)

Who know's if we'll buy it, but it does seem to have one of the major criteria we need on a monohull - an actual swim deck.  As divers, one of the serious obstacles in the majority of monohull designs has been the lack of a swim deck.  Cat's have 2 gorgeous, entirely practical sugar scoops on the back end.  They would allow us to swim up, remove our dive gear and exit the water in relative safety.  But what about those monohulls?  Most we've seen have had tiny little ladders and a daunting vertical climb just to re-board - and that's without pounds and pounds of gear on your back.  But not this Beneteau.  She looks to be a perfect compromise of single hull and dive-ability.   And if  you've been reading, you know the price is a lot less painful on the wallet than a catamaran.

One day we'll find our boat.  She's close.  I'll let you know if this is her!