Thanks for the replies. I will try to elaborate a little more.
Engines. - I would prefer inboard engines. I have stern drives now and while they have their advantages, I'm not crazy about all that money bating in salt water. Fresh water cooling is a must. I have been told that straight inboards hold some advantages over v-drives, but I'm unclear on that aspect. It makes sense that there is less moving parts, but not sure what else the transmission provide in terms of benefits.
Usage - I have 2 kids, 6 and 7 who love going on the boat. We tend to use it one or 2 days of each weekend with overnights both on the dock and on moorings about once a month. We use the boat regularly from June through September. We use it intermittently in October and usually pull it mid October. ~50% of the time we have additional friends come out with us. This is usually another family of 4 or 5. That gets very tight on my current boat both in room and performance. Our usual trips are 30 minutes or so to Potter's cove in Narragansett Bay (Prudence Island. It may also include a further ride to see the bay, etc.
Once a year we go to Block Island for a week in a Marina. We just completed the trip this year and that is where the room for 4 sleeping without the dinette needing to be converted comes from. Dropping and raising the dinette every day gets a little tedious. We also would like the option of kids friends staying over occasionaly which leaves the dinette as expansion berthing. We also need storage for clothes, food, etc for up to a week without living out of bags and moving things around all the time.
I also have soem slip imitations at our marina in terms of beam. 13' is probably the most I can do (which isn't much of a limitation in this style of boat I can accomdte up to about 39'LOA (Although I don't want to pay for all that)
On our typical cruise, we spend a lot of time swiming, kayaking, playing on the dinghy, etc. I have just started to do some light fishing, so a little cockpit room is nice as well. I can't see doing any serious fishing off this boat, I do have friends with charter boats for canyon runs, etc.) more for entertainment than anything.
My general crusing waters are Naragansett Bay and Block Island. We would like to take longer trips, but feel a little limited in space in size of the boat. The longer trips would be coastal waters up to Boston and down to New York CityLong Island.
Why an express?? - There are several factors, one is cockpit seating. Since we often have people with us or meet with friends and then eat on one boat or another, the cockpit gets regular use. I haev considered a fly bridge or sedan bridge, but cockpit seatng can be limited and is usually split. I also like the idea of having some speed at hand. I currently cruise around 22-24 knots and an 18-20 knot cruise is fine. Fuel isn't a big factor but less is still better. ideally the boat still planes, rather than pigging along (many Sea ray 390's seem underpowered with the 454;s for example). I am open to other suggestions though, as long as they meet my admiral's approval.
I am willing to go older, but my familiarity with older boats is fairly small. I also find that older boats have LOTS of wood down below which tends to make a dark cabin. These were just a few of the boats that have caught my attention.
For breakfast? I had a carnation instant breakfast. I had an orthdontist appointment yesterday and my teeth are killing me
