Like shopping for a house or a car, buying a boat is a major decision. Add kids to the mix and a desire to do some family cruising, and the selection process will include additional wants and needs. To find out how family dynamics can inform boat buying decisions, Soundings spoke to four clans who recently bought a boat that they felt was the right one for them.
THE NOYES FAMILY
Axopar 37 XC
Brent Noyes has been a boater for most of his 37 years. “My family has an island house,” the Falmouth, Maine, resident says. “It’s one of the first islands off Freeport, so I grew up with skiffs and center consoles.
When Noyes decided to get his own boat, he had to take stock of his own needs. Noyes and his wife, Kristen, have a blended family with six kids between the ages of 4 and 9. She has four children, he has two, and they’re expecting a seventh child in August. Their boat would need the capacity for the whole family, the speed to get to the family island, and the ability to cover much longer distances.
Over the years, Noyes had been on a lot of boats, but it was a family connection that helped him find the right one. His father is friends with Jon Knowles, the longtime owner of East Coast Yacht Sales, which sells Axopars. When Noyes went for a spin on Knowles’ personal Axopar 37, the decision was easy. “I was sold on it,” Noyes says. “If I hadn’t been aware of the Axopar, the decision would have been more difficult, but I fell in love with the boat, so it was a no-brainer.”
Noyes ordered the boat with the aft cabin, an enclosed head, a hot-water system, a galley with a cooktop and the joystick at the helm.
He took possession
