QUESTION:
Do you see any Cal. 34s out there? Can they handle? I want to get into a roomy boat at an affordable price, much coastal but no cruising experience. Any suggestions?

ANSWER:
There are plenty of online boats-for-sale sites, where you can search for what you want. As far as whether a Cal 34 is "blue water", well, I couldn't tell you, but it seems to me that most people who are considering cruising think that only a heavy full-keel boat is suitable for blue water cruising, which I don't agree with.

A seaworthy boat has a sturdy rig, is well-constructed with all dry lockers. I like fiberglass, but that's because that's what we know. I still don't think that steel is the answer to a cruiser's dreams, believing that maintenance is greater, more expensive, and requires far more vigilence than fiberglass. And although steel is supposedly stronger than fiberglass, I'm not so sure that it is in the ways that it counts - puncture resistance. Oh, well, another issue, another day.

Watermelon was a Jeanneau Sun Fizz, 38.5 feet, 7'2" fin keel (fully loaded), 7.5 tons displacement. She was quick, extremely seaworthy, and took us a long way in (relative) comfort. The fellow who sold her to us expressed surprise that we were brave enough to take her across oceans. Hah! He, too, believed some of the "conventional wisdom".

Do a search on the internet for Cal 34s, and see where they've been. Check the Cal 34 owners site (I feel fairly sure there is one, though I don't know what it is).

Go for it, and fair winds,
Jeanne