My wife and I are in the final count the down (22 months) until full retirement. While we live in Nebraska, we already have our retirement home all set and waiting in Viera FL (about 15 miles south of Cape Canaveral, on the ICW). We 'practice' being retired down there for 7-10 days every other month or so.

Part of our plan is to have a 35-45 ft cruiser for ICW and eventually (after building up the skills) Caribbean island hopping. We've developed this 'thought' list after reading a lot of material on what to think about prior to buying a boat. Hopefully not too much - I don't want to get kicked off the first day for over posting. Researching the best financing and insurance options. Also slip hunting - it's a big boat for the area and we haven't found a ton of nearby openings.

I plan on doing a lot of forum reading and learning. Even if we eventually go with a different brand we're bound to still learn a lot.

- Pat & Paul

Cruising Area
Indian River
Florida Keys
Florida Gulf Coast
Intercoastal (entire east coast)
Bahamas
Caribbean

Type of cruising
Recreational travel
Day long runs, port hopping, moored/on the hook each night (with a few long haul exceptions when necessary)

Expected weather
Night lows of 40s, Day highs of low 90s (Heater and AC a must)
All sea conditions, though will strive to always seek shelter vice trying to navigate in weather

Hull Type: Motor Yacht, aft cabin

Quarters
Master aft cabin suite (with private head, separate shower)
Standard shape bed vice round (sheet availability? $$)
Guest v-berth bow cabin for two
Drop down table for two in salon, or fold out couch good to have
One common head. Separate shower stall good, but not necessary
Chart work area - guest cabin?

Crew
One 55 yo male w/ military experience (navigation, rules of the road, radar, radio, qualified submarines and Craft Master (100 ft twin diesel vessel)
One slightly older female w/ freshwater novice skills - no formal training
No major medical or mobility issues
Both have completed the Florida State Boater's Safety Course

Budget
~$30K down and have loan payments ~$1.2K/month, leaves ~$600 for insurance, slip, and build up of a ~$5K contingency fund

Brands
One thing that's confusing is looking at different years of the same model. It would be nice to be able to say Model X was made year ‘XX - ‘XXX and the differences were ...
Carver 404 Cockpit and Carver 44 Cockpit
Stairs from cockpit to sun deck
Carver 430
Nice, but has ladder from cockpit to sun deck
Carver 440
Nice, but no cockpit, no sliding glass door to aft cabin.

General
More fiberglass less wood interior
Flying bridge and internal console (would be great, but not necessary)
Full sized refrig/freezer
Davit, RHIB
Safe to walk around stern to bow - high rails, wide deck
Reverse osmosis system (great if it's there, add if needed)
Washer and Dryer, wait one year and decide - probably remove for more space
Generator
Radar
Chart table
VSat
VHF
External speakers/hailing speakers
EPIRB
Digital Charts (how do you do updates?)
Voyage Planning system (The Captain)

Training Plan
Basic Coast Guard
Six pack

Training Float Plan
Year One
Indian River Lagoon between the bridges
Indian River Lagoon Port Canaveral to Sebastian Inlet
Atlantic Ocean Port Canaveral to sight of land lost
Atlantic Ocean Port Canaveral to Sebastian Inlet

Year Two
Indian River - St Lucie River - Lake Okeechobee - Tampa - Key West
Key West - Bahamas

Year Three
Bahamas - Turks and Caicos - BVI - USVI

Year Four
Anguilla- St Kitts & Nevis - Antigua & Barbuda