Get rid of the baggage of old ideas and prepare to be stunned... Sailing has come a long way. You don't have to buy a sluggish, difficult to handle monohull to have a safe, comfortable live-aboard, offshore cruiser today. Let's explore together what makes a safe, comfortable, modern offshore cruiser.

Is she built to go where you want with style and in comfort?

"Yes sir, this is a quality boat"-- Thump Thump
Whether it's the broker in the boat yard, or the ad in a magazine, did you ever hear a promoter say, "This here's a piece of s...!" ... I thought not. So how do you know the difference?
One criteria some people use is price--and there probably is some correlation, but as with anything else in life, some manufacturers simply seem to milk out more quality points per dollar. Perhaps because:

Eric Smith   President

Helpful Links on our site

1. General discussion

Except for the last point, above, our Jeanneau,  and Fountaine Pajot Catamarans offer each of the advantages listed above. Interestingly, our manufacturers tell us that they have, at various times, investigated building in the U.S. only to learn that the extra cost of longer deliveries were more than offset by the efficiencies of volume production methods!
So, you can get a quality boat from small, custom builders and higher volume builders. Each adhering to their own standards, and perhaps some outside standards thrown in.
What boat should I consider?
Why the right boat of course! This is not as facetious as it sounds. What I'm saying is that the wrong boat, at any price is not a good value. Value is really the elusive ingredient we seek. And value starts with choosing the right boat. But the right boat for whom? Ahh, that's the issue. Your neighbor, advisor, or the boat reviewer in the sailing magazines doesn't know what your personal sailing style might be.
In fact, if you're like me, we probably don't know what our sailing style might be. And, besides that, we're probably being unrealistic anyway. Planning trips we may never take, worrying about cataclysmic conditions we will probably never encounter. After 45+ years of sailing, and over 35 years of selling boats here's one thing I can assure you--there's no shortage of advice out there! You'll be happy to know here that I refuse to give you any advise. All I will do, is point out some things I've found out by visiting many, many production facilities around the world-in the U.S., in France, in England. In Taiwan, Australia and New Zealand. Even in the Caribbean. I've talked to Marine architects, builders, surveyors, delivery captains, 1000's of charterers and 100's of owners and 1000's of wanna-be owners (mostly at boat shows, but also at my office in Annapolis).
If I've learned anything, it's that the advisors all fail to ask you what's important to you. What kind of sailing you'll be doing. No boat makes sense if it doesn't match your plans. It seems to me that, outside of aesthetic and emotional considerations, what we're all looking for is a quality level consistent with our personal goals for sailing--realistic or not. Our goal is called, VALUE!
So, in order to decide what boat is right, we need to consider 5 issues:

1. What we plan to do (and, perhaps, whether this is an interim boat or "The Boat"!)
2. What quality level do I need for my maximum stress level--for this boat!
3. What's happening in design and current thinking that can contribute to my success with a design. (Also, perhaps, are the ideas incorporated faddish, or advances in state-of-the-art.)
4. Is the manufacturer whom I'm considering compatible with my goals. (In design/aesthetics, engineering, compatible goals. Is he likely to be around later if I need support?)
5. Is the support system I'm dealing with (Individual owner, Broker, or new boat dealer) capable of offering the support I need before, during and after the acquisition?

Well, now I've turned finding a quality boat, into finding the right boat. The right boat is as much quality and/or aesthetic image as I need to satisfy my personal goals. A boat that represents a "Good Value" for my individual situation.

The right boat...

1. Interim or ultimate boat
Do you have a plan? Are you four or five years away from having more time to sail? Are you planning to move aboard next year to live at the dock and then take off in a couple of years? Do you feel you simply need to get some experience before you make a final decision? Here are some reasonable choices that others have made that worked for them:

• Simply charter a boat, or a few different kinds of boats to find out what you like. BYA offers charters in several locations, including:
  • New England
  • Chesapeake Bay
  • Florida/Keys/Bahamas
  • Caribbean--Virgin Islands, Grenadines
  • Belize
  • Get on with your dream! Call now!
    
  • 1-800-YACHT20 (LetsGoCruising- Sailing Vacations)
• If you want to own a boat for 2-5 years and then choose your ultimate boat--get a used boat! BYA is on the Yacht World  network and can find you the right interim boat. A new boat takes at least 5 years, normally, to amortize the first years depreciation and be competitive on the resale market with a used boat. Of course, there's the right used boat... We'd love to help you find her!
• Find out more about our Yacht Profit Sharing Management Plan. As an interim plan, you can choose a new or used boat of your choice, place it in our profit sharing plan for 1-5 years, while allocating the income and tax advantages to prepay principal. At the end of your pre-chosen period, roll this interim boat over for your ultimate boat (along with the substantial equity you've built with other people's and Uncle Sam's contribution--thank-you).

So, now you have a car that gets about 12 miles to the gallon, needs a tune up every ,000 miles and is unsafe at any speed!
As ridiculous as this sounds, I (you) see this kind of advice every day on boats! Just pick up most boat reviews in the boating press. If the reviewers aren't obviously protecting the guilty to gain advertising revenue, they're harking back to the good old days of boating, or perhaps, their vast experience in what works for racing! (There are a few exceptions, and the European yachting press offers much more detailed engineering and performance information in contrast to the American press--maybe this is, at least in part, why the European designs tend to be more offshore oriented!)
Not to over extend the metaphors, but aircraft technology is another example. Here, it is especially noteworthy that lighter, stronger construction has translated directly into more load carrying ability, and better pay loads. Doesn't this sound like what you want in your boat?
Older designs that simply lather on the glass for strength, and adhere to the old traditional look simply rob you of the ability to carry more amenities (load carrying capacity), with better performance, stability, maneuverability and ultimately--safety!
I'll get more into manufacturer philosophy later. Now, let's look at some great cruising enhancements.

1. In the olden days, this grid was typically wood stringers that were fiberglassed over. They were positioned strategically to take the loads both longtitudally, and transversely. The idea, of course, is that they must be engineered to keep the (relatively) flat panel sections of the hull rigid and prevent undue flexing. (The rounded sections have more resistance to flexing--simple physics.) The entire dynamics of the various loads from keel to chain plates are tied into the strength and stiffening parameters of the grid. This method is often used by manufacturers that build in limited quantity, or custom.

2. Second possibility... Fiberglass, structural grid. How to improve on this scenario? If a manufacturer manufactures boats in sufficient volume (such as Jeanneau) and is committed to optimum strength to weight ratios--they can engineer a fiberglass grid that is molded. The tooling expense for engineering, design and building an extra and very complicated mold is enormous and the manufacturer must produce sufficient volume to amortize the increased cost over enough units. Once that is the case the advantages are enormous:

1. The engineering can precisely target the loads so the grid can be much more complicated and use different materials (from carbon fibre to unidirectional and special purpose cloths) in critical load areas.
2. Once you have the mold, each unit is identical and so uniformity is achieved.
3. By carefully cutting out the sections between the actual grid (hat sections) you can structurally, perimeter bond the grid directly to the hull. This makes the grid as strong or stronger than the traditional wood system--but should any water penetrate for any reason--there is no rot to deal with--everything is fiberglass or foam. Also, this allows total access to the inside of the hull for running wiring or plumbing, prevents water being trapped in connective areas and provides access to the hull for repairs.

See the note in the next section about the importance of access to the hull and other components...

End result? Stronger than traditional method with equally good access to the inside of the hull.

3. Final type. A pan liner. You need to be careful here. The pan liner looks much like a fiberglass grid, but that's where the similarity ends. Unlike the structural grid, it is built using mostly chopped glass construction which gives it limited strength compared to it's carefully hand laid, structural cousin. The molded piece often creates some of the furniture in the boat, and the sections between the stringers are left in tact. Because there is no, or limited access to the sides of the stringers, the entire piece is simply glued down giving hit or miss connectivity to the hull, while hiding many areas. The necessary cut outs for plumbing, wiring, keel bolts, etc. allow water to travel up under these enclosed sections where it becomes trapped and ultimately gets rancid. Finally, wiring or plumbing that is under this grid is not accessible for service should service be required.

As an aside, one of our brokers, Chris Bent, used to run a charter fleet in the Caribbean and he said, "We continually had boats (Beneteaus, Catalinas, Hunters and others) that had mysterious water penetration and we just couldn't determine where it was coming from. We finally started to correlate some obvious keel damage with the leaking. We opened up the pan liner behind the keel and found that the boats had been grounded hard enough to force the back of the keel up, cracking the hull but hiding the damage under the pan liner." Chris goes on, "It was a major job to get to and repair this damage. In addition, we had numerous times where wires or plumbing was trapped between the liner and hull and damaged. We had to tear the whole boat apart to find the damage."

Jeanneau gives total access to this area and has all wiring and plumbing in conduits so all is accessible for inspection, and repair if necessary.

This choice is the least expensive and offers the least amount of structural support. It is typically used by mass producers where price, rather than quality or offshore ability is the driving force.

A recent review article boasted that, "... too bad the furling main (on the boat being reviewed --a Moody 38) took away from potential performance." It was noted, however, that the boat, "...was available with a standard, full batten main." If today's modern cruiser is designed for a furling main this reviewers assumptions are mitigated. You see, if you move the keel back a little, and increase the size of the foretriangle you get virtually the same sail area back, but with two easy to handle, rollable, reefable sails! (Power steering and power, anti-lock brakes!)
Go take a look at the hottest wing mast racing cats. (We happened to have a display next to one at Sail Expo last year.) They have a main foil with a smaller, trim tab foil behind--separately controlled. The main is inherently a less efficient sail located as it is behind the turbulence created by the mast.
It makes perfect sense to create a larger, easy to handle genoa and use the main more as a balancing and trim sail. In this role, the main is easily adjusted and or rolled to the perfect size to balance the helm in any and all conditions encountered. You even get a bonus! I've found, personally--and I've been a racer most of my sailing career--that I spend more time sailing and less time motoring because of the furling main!
Let me explain. On our typical light air (summer) Chesapeake Bay, just when you get going, you sail into a hole (no wind place). You drop the main, furl the jib and get under power. A few minutes later, you emerge back into good wind. Up with the main, unfurl the Genoa.
After a few repeats of this, a couple of spilled drinks, you say the h... with it and motor the rest of the way in!
Not so with a furling main. In a few seconds you simply unfurl it and you're back in business! More time sailing, less motoring--a net plus.

We often get asked about the advantages/disadvantages of the deck stepped vs keel stepped mast. While either rig can be made equally strong, there are some definite advantages to a deck stepped rig for the serious cruiser. Having said this, of course, it is imperative that the engineering is right. The rigging and mast section must be stepped up in size. Virtually all standards organizations, Lloyds, ABS, etc., have approval standards for deck stepped masts.
Advantages:

1. No water intrusion into the boat through the mast or at the deck juncture.
2. You have convenient, easy access to the wiring, etc. at the logical deck location with waterproof deck connectors which allow easy trouble shooting in the event of a mast wiring problem--you don't need to pull the mast.
3. The structural mast support below decks can be less obtrusive opening up the interior space.
4. This set up is most compatible with in-mast furling--standard on most of our larger, cruising models. Through deck stepped masts impart bending moments on the mast which can not be tolerated by in mast furling setups.
5. Also, however, this set up makes tuning much easier, and makes it much less likely that your mast will go out of column in rough, ocean sailing conditions.
6. Handling by boat yards is less expensive, easier and quicker. This can be especially important if you are cruising to out of the way places with less experienced personal.
7. Some also say that in the event of a dismasting, (because of a rigging failure for example) the mast falls clear of the boat doing minimum damage. On a Keel stepped mast, the mast may rip out a part of the deck as it goes leaving a gapping hole in, perhaps, storm conditions. I say, check your rigging carefully. In either case losing your mast makes for a bad day!

Disadvantages:

1. Slightly higher cost. Well worth it judging by the acceptance rate and not so much if planned into the original design. (This extra cost is probably recouped at resale.)
2. Slightly higher center of gravity because of oversize mast/rigging. Generally only a problem on racing boats. This can be easily offset on a cruising boat with a more efficient, external iron keel...

External ballast has traditionally been the mark of a higher performance, racing or cruising boat. The argument for an external, iron keel and the appropriate design criteria are as follows:

• Build a structural support into the boat. There should be considerable engineering devoted to this important area. A combination of a structural grid and specially engineered fiberglass clothes dedicated to the stresses involved here will offer the needed strength.
• Provide a structural grid to accommodate the keel bolts and be linked all the way up to the chain plates through modern FRP technology. This spreads the enormous loads imparted by the keel when sailing and especially if the boat is grounded.
• Iron is the preferred material because of it's strength, density and impact resistance..

A short history...
Years ago, lead came into popularity because it was cheap. Lead was cheap because it was used extensively in plumbing applications and it required a relatively low firing temperature--you could literally melt it in a bath tub with a wood fire--which some manufacturers actually did!
Iron, on the other hand, requires a temperature of over 2000 degrees. to be properly poured into a mold.
If one were going to compromise, and use internal ballast--lead would probably be the proper choice. It would offset the resulting higher center of gravity caused by a FRP molded keel, and it would not be subjected to structural loads.
However, once the better choice (for a serious, offshore cruising boat) is made to go to an external, properly executed keel is made, the choice becomes obvious. Use structurally stronger iron. It does not distort, like lead, if it bangs a rock or reef. It has better abrasion resistance and is simply from every stand point--the best choice.
Prior to the advent of modern epoxy technology, the iron required barrier coats and the like so as not to react with the bottom paint. But, using modern technology, epoxy offers virtually lifetime protection.
As if all of this wasn't enough, iron is much more environmentally friendly--both in the production process and while in the water. You simply cannot avoid having lead leach into the water and get into the subterranean aquifer where it will continue to cause environmental damage for years!
We can get into many more issues such as shoal draft, electronics and much, much more--but I'll leave those (very interesting discussions) for when next we meet.
4. Does the Manufacturer you're considering offer what you want?
Armed with this information you should have some idea. One rule of thumb is that if the boat being considered incorporates a complete pan liner (i.e. a fiberglass inner liner that forms everything from chain plates to furniture) this is probably not an offshore boat (in the sense we've defined it.).
A liner for the head to contain the moisture is not included in this. Virtually none of the recognized builders of offshore boats, custom or production, have used pan liners. These are simply a way of reducing man-hours and costs for a mass, less demanding market--no matter what the promoters say to the contrary!   

Having noted the above, this is not to say that a structural liner cannot be made of fiberglass. Well crafted structural liners have been built up from wood, metal and fiberglass--when properly engineered.
5. The support system.
The dealer or broker you choose tells a lot about himself by the kind of products he offers. We don't think you can talk out of two sides of your mouth and sell both offshore and entry level boats. We've made a commitment to only offer offshore, new boats, but to support that decision with programs, such as our BAB (Boat-As-A-Business Plan) to make these choices easier, less expensive and more feasible. (We can also sell you an entry level, used boat--if that's what you really want.)
The way to get the best value, is to get the best information. Our sales associates are all offshore sailors. We even have a proprietary computer program which compares 10 important aspects of any boat you're considering. Everything from: The performance, to the comfort factor. Load carrying capacity to the light air performance. In the end, we show the time of passage for an inshore 40 mile trip (light ship) and an offshore, 1,500 mile trip (fully loaded). This program and all of our full services are available to you when you choose us to be your partner in finding the right boat. Please call us today for an appointment to discuss your requirements in detail!

Return to Index  Request more information

 Testimonials

A comparison

Qualities	Old generation	New Generation
Structural strength...	Got it by making a thick skin (heavy layup) plus, perimeter bonded stringers furniture and bulkheads	Modern materials (Kevlar, unidirectional, bi-directional, etc.) clothes and better resin formulations combined with carefully controlled layups resulting in high glass/resin ratios and accompanied by structural grids perimeter bonded stringers, furniture and bulkheads
Safety, Abuse strength	Thick glass takes abuse.	Like with modern cars unibody construction, modern offshore cruisers offer even greater structural rigidity than did the former techniques. The modern laminates can offer up to twice the strength for the same thickness of laminate, or the same strength and half the weight when you build for efficient cruising.
Groundings...	Easily able to sit on their (longer) keel, but if stuck, almost impossible to twist out of the muck!	With modern structural grids and stringer systems, equally able to sit on their own keel but also able to twist out of the muck when required!
Load carrying	A heavy boat, requires more sail area and thus larger hardware. Also a bigger engine to drive it, demanding more fuel, etc. In the end, you need a comparably much larger heavy boat to carry the same pay load because so much load is created by the heavier structure and support equipment.	The savings in dead weight can be directly translated into more pay load (you and your gear) and/or faster passages.
Motion comfort	A heavy boat goes through the waves, rather than over. Water cascades back over the deck. In addition, with more weight in the ends, the motion is exaggerated and the boat hobby horses.	A modern boat works with the waves going over them. Then, with less weight in the ends, avoids the hobby horsing after effects. (Imagine 2 kids on a seesaw. Put them in the center (weight out of the ends) and it's hard to make the seesaw go. Once you do, you could walk by and stop it with 2 fingers on the end. Now put them out on the ends. Once they get going, they tend to keep going. Try to stop them and you'll break your hand. That's hobby horsing!)
Directional stability--The ability for the boat to settle down on track.	The long keel aficionados want you to think that directional stability is only achievable with a long keel. Not only is this not the whole story, but the reality today is that most serious cruising couples have a modern, electric auto-pilot. A heavy boat with a long keel and narrower water line is very hard to keep balanced (center of lateral resistance relative to center of {sail} effort) and this causes the auto pilot (or helmsperson) to have to be constantly working. In the case of the auto-pilot, this means big battery drain. (Now we can add larger batteries to our cart that's already on the merry-go-round of inefficiency!)	Our modern, shorter keel boat with more stability is much easier to keep in balance. This basic fact coupled with an easy, smaller, furling rig which encourages proper sail size adjustment means that the boat is almost always in balance with the auto-pilot or helmsperson working less!
Double wheels, and comfortable cockpits.	Single wheels, on many models, make it difficult to get aft--you have to climb up over the seat. It's also difficult to get outboard far enough to see the sails, or approaching seas.	A modern twin wheel design makes it easy to get aft--to the steering station, or to the swim platform! With twin wheels you can easily sit outboard where visibility around the sail, and of on-coming seas is better-- while comfortably holding the wheel without over-extending your arm. As a bonus, I find that when there's just two of us aboard, I can generally handle one of the aft lines as I'm outboard far enough to drop it on a piling or hand it off to a dock attendant while still maintaining control of the boat with the more outboard wheel! (I guess the final testimonial is that people who try it (charterers and owners report to us), don't want to go back to a single wheel!)
Passage speed	Given enough sail area, even a heavy slug can be made to sail up to it's waterline potential. The trade off is operating bigger everything tires you out.	Easy to get up to speed, and generally does better in lighter air with less motion in heavier air. Less tiring. A well balanced, modern, well-designed hull is easier on the helmsman and the auto-pilot in a wide variety of conditions.
Safety	The tiring effect of operating heavy equipment wears on you and eventually you may start making bad judgment calls. The Coast Guard states that fatigue is one of the biggest factors in mishaps on offshore trips. Impact resistance against floating debris is generally pretty good, especially if enhanced with watertight sub floors and bulkheads.	Less tiring. Impact resistance against floating debris is generally excellent with bullet proof (Kevlar) reinforcement, especially if enhanced with watertight sub floors and bulkheads. Stability comes from hull form as well as ballast and the use of modern bulbs on the end of the keel. Also, especially on the deck saloon models, the tanks and heavy equipment are located under the floor in the center of the boat--this adds to the stability and reduces pitching. Jeanneau designers have carefully engineered the hull sections so that the boat stays balanced at virtually all angles of heel making them much less tiring to sail, and much more efficient when operating with the autopilot. (The autopilot doesn't work so hard if you reduce the weather helm and abrupt transitions.)
Stability	Dependent on ballast and form stability. With the heavier boat, you need more ballast (more dead weight). Also, many older designs were much narrower at the waterline creating less form stability and less volume in the boat. These designs with shorter, narrower waterlines require that you consider a larger boat than would fit your needs with a more modern design.	Excellent form stability, and modern bulb keels keep weight down and the stability and load carrying are improved! On a well designed boat, like Jeanneau, the lines are such that the heeled waterline stays symmetrical through 20-25 degrees of heel. So what? So, the boat stays balanced (when heeled) without excessive, and tiring weather helm. (Or, the autopilot battery lasts longer!--however you want to think about it.)
Handling. By a couple, or one!	Heavy equipment. Tiring. Perhaps even out of the question for one person to handle.	Lighter, smaller equipment and modern assistant technology (electric windlass, electric control winches, in mast and jib furling, etc.) make it easy for a couple to handle. In addition, the boat is much more maneuverable under sail or power...
Under Power	Boats with longer keels are much less maneuverable. If the keel comes back to near the prop, or contains it, you lose just about all control in reverse making backing and docking maneuvers difficult at best. the heavier boat requires a larger, noisier engine that burns more fuel resulting in less range or larger fuel tanks--more weight etc. (We've visited this merry-go-round before!)	Shorter keels give exceptional handling under power and are particularly better in reverse. A smaller, quieter, more fuel efficient engine offering the same or better performance makes sense for anyone doing serious cruising. With modern props and adequate sized engines, your powering speed can easily be 20-40% greater--with 2 or 20 aboard--you'll get there faster, in style--enlarge the picture and see what I mean!
Costs	Costs more because while the materials and engineering costs may be less with less high tech building, you have to upgrade sails, handling equipment and engines to handle the additional displacement And then, don't forget as we said, you will simply need a larger (older style) boat to get the volume you require. This increases initial costs as well as maintenance and operating costs--even slip and mooring costs. Costs more up front and more to operate!	Costs less. Materials and engineering costs are more, but the equipment is smaller. Also, because this style boat suits the weekend cruiser as well as the offshore cruiser, there is a larger volume of production. (though the weekender is purchasing much less equipment keeping his costs even lower) Spreading the costs over more units always results in lower per unit costs. In addition, this style boat has a larger potential market on the resale market resulting in a faster sale at a better price than a single purpose, "boutique boat"! Jeanneau is the second largest builder in the world. They buy resin by the tank car. Winches by the car load. Even advertising costs are less when you buy as much as they do. These mass buying power savings are reflected in the lower cost of your new boat. Production efficiency is another great contributor. As an example, Jeanneau found recently that by simply moving the boats down the line sideways, instead of end to end took a huge amount of man-hours out of the costs. Often, one crew wasn't quite done as the boat moved on--now they have their tools and parts much closer if the boat moves before they're done!
Aesthetics... Aesthetics	While we may admire some of the aesthetic attributes of these boats today, we have to remember that much of the influence that went into the design came from racing boats of the day. These boats were trying to take advantage of a rule, not necessarily be inherently faster or better. In addition, the clumsy technology of the day, forced certain design considerations on the builder. (Just one example: The longer keel was initially a result of wood boat construction techniques and later, after the introduction of fiberglass, the insecurity of the builders belief in his ability to structurally attach a shorter keel reliably. Sailing is full of traditions that are hard for its participants to break. But to make progress, we have to periodically look at what's possible now!	Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder! In the beginning, the J boats, then the 12 meters and others after them looked weird. They were designed by fad or racing rule and looked out of whack compared to the other designs of the day. With the passage of time, we get used to them and eventually, even hold them up as classic designs. While this idea may hold up better for boats than cars, you still don't want that old 59 Chevy when you're serious about driving--do you? Modern boats, like modern cars have seen their design follow the old adage of form follows function. Racing rules and fads no longer play much of a role in our modern era. Wedged shaped decks. Sleek rigs. Hulls with enhanced waterline planes and modern, efficient keels. These are efficient forms. Tomorrow, we'll be looking back on these as the classics. And well we might because they will, in fact, be much closer to their future brethren than the previous generation which ignored these basic truths is to this generation of modern, safe and efficient offshore cruisers.
Right for you!

Return to index

See what we're talking about

Why it's time to consider a new boat... Safer +++

In today's world, boats have been tremendously improved. They are stronger, the finishes longer lasting, the live-in volume, for size, bigger, and the performance is better.They're comfortable and luxurious.

They're designed to be easily handled by a cruising couple with all controls at your fingertips. Twin wheels let you see better, and don't obstruct the cockpit. Bow thrusters make it a breeze to dock in tight situations.

Modern electronics help make your boat safer than ever--they do everything from keeping you advised of your exact position in real time to making your cell phone work better on board so you can keep in touch with family, friends or even work. Now your Chart Plotter is much more than just a position finding device. You can overlay radar, and for ultimate safety, we can mount a forward looking camera with a chart plotter display (split screen or view on the entire screen) so that you have visibility forward beyond today's overlapping headsail. It also can give you complete weather right on your chart plotter--it displays everything, right down to showing lightning strikes. Automatic, engine room fire extinguishing system... We're finding these options on more and more of our new boats.  Keep your family safe--don't just own a boat, own a Bay Yacht Agency/Let's Go Cruising 5 StarFleet boat.

We are huge advocates of safety. We offer  courses to help you practice docking, and we also offer courses to take you to any level of proficiency that you desire. We offer everything from basic sailing to coastwise and offshore navigation courses. Find out more about Chartering, courses and team building here.
 

New England Cruise Rally Started July 24th in Annapolis.  See the planning that went into it and how a group of less than experienced owners learned to cruise in company--safely, while thoroughly enjoying a unique and challenging experience. Maybe its time to join us for next year?

Here's how to choose a sailing catamaran.

Considerations for choosing a catamaran trawler.

Return to index... OR Contact us

Contact us here!  

 Bay Yacht Agency, "On the harbor, Annapolis"  Since 1972

Use our handy form to register and receive confidential information: Insider news, technical brochures, in depth articles, business plans, pre-announcement of new models and charter specials and more.

Sign up here...

Call, Sales/Management  1-800-YACHT20 (922-4820) or 410-263-2311

Charter (Let's Go Cruising--offering America's 5starfleet.com): 1-888- 995-BOAT or 410-263-1818

Bay Yacht Agency Group Power/Sail/New/Used/Charters On the Harbor in Annapolis 326 First Street, Suite 29 Annapolis, MD 21403 (map) Sail/Cat Trawlers: (410) 263-2311 Power 410-410-263-2312 or Cat Trawlers . (410) 263-2964 (fax) info@bayacht.com Charter from our 5 Star Fleet Let's Go Cruising 410-263-1818 info@letsgocruising.com

How to get here. Click here (Printer friendly)

 Email us directly