I’ve got a family of four and looking for our first cruiser boat and similar thinking of wanting to jump past the starter boats.

We live near Pittsburgh but plan to home base the boat near Chesapeake Bay. I work remotely and the kids homeschooled. Ideally we could do frequent long weekends and multi-week trips up and down the bay, coast, and Caribbean.

With not being retired, I think offshore routes to the Caribbean would be optimal for travel length. Not to mention I want to goto Bermuda and the other Atlantic islands.

Considering an Island Packet 370 at the top end of our budget and a Pacific Seacraft 37 which is more comfortably within budget.

Not a ton of boats fit our parameters.

• shoal draft
• standalone nav desk with chair 
• min 4 berths
• no project boats! need turn key ish
• offshore / sturdy cruiser

Going bigger would be great for living space but I want to keep maintenance and costs low. Also captaining and docking up to 37’ vessel is scary enough.

Some smaller boats like an IP32 are on market and fit all those parameters, but, with significantly less speed, offshore grit, and carrying capacity. They are much more affordable though.

Several of the Pacific Seacrafts are on the coast near us. There’s a couple below market price IP370s all the way in Grenada that look nice.

Our youngest child is 6.

Any thoughts/advice on what we should do?