We started looking for our new boat in the winter of 2012/13 – this was a year ahead of our original plans to look for a bigger boat to replace our Halman Horizon 27. Everything we had read, about looking for the perfect boat, made us think we had to start sooner as it was going to take more than a year to find “the boat”. Surprise! It doesn’t always take that long.
Grace V is our 1988 Moody 376. She is the perfect boat for the two of us and allows us to live comfortably, travel and entertain.
The Moody 376 is a Bill Dixon design, an evolution of the Moody 37 – the only difference being the 376 has a sugar scoop swim/boarding platform. The Moody’s were built under Lloyd’s Register Certification for first class construction. Which, we understand to mean the line was built to certain high standards and the shipyard was regularly inspected by surveyors to ensure construction adhered to standards. She’s a centre cockpit sloop, which allows for a generous master cabin in the aft section of the boat – one of the deciding factors in the purchase!
Our ultimate decision to buy a Moody was greatly influenced by John Neal and the information he and Amanda Swan Neal provide about selecting a boat for offshore cruising on their website www.Mahina.com.
