Hi Lage - Before we bought our Bavaria 40 Ocean CC (about 3 years ago) I owned an Island Packet 27 for about a decade. It was a big small boat but still only 27'. It didn't take much to get used to sailing a 40'. The extra weight makes for a very nice ride. I single hand our boat almost all the time with ease. The only time it gets a little challenging is when the wind picks up over 25kts and I need to bring the Genny in myself. I don't like there is only one winch for the Genny and the head sail furler. I plan on rectifying this by adding a small winch next the the Genny. There is a place for it but wasn't standard equipment. then I won't have the Genny flogging hard while I quickly furl it in. First I absolutely love our Ocean 40 CC. As with most boats there is the good, the bad, and the ugly. Bavaria's can be quirky boats. But if you get a thorough survey you should be able to tell what is wrong with it so you can make price adjustments and decide if you want to tackle the projects. This is the same for any boat...not just Bav's. I've included a link to another site that has a couple discussion s on Bav Ocean 38 CC's. The 38 and 40 are very similar and have a great live aboard layout. Keel size should be determined by where you sail. I sail in area's that are between 6 and 12 feet most of the time. A shoal keel was not a luxury for me. With Hurricane Sandy devastating our area (65,000 boats damaged or destroyed) I'm told my sailing area bottom topology may be significantly altered. A dozen years of GPS tracks and waypoints need to carefully reassessed. Back to the 38 Ocean.
A few points to check:
1 - Engine - Most people don't seem to like Volvo engines. Maintain them properly and you'll get more mileage out of them. They are not Yanmars. the block is made by Perkins. I haven't had any significant issues thus far. Hopefully I didn't curse myself. Have this professionally surveyed.
2 - Sail drive. People are polarized on sail drives. you either hate saildrives or don't. I happen to be very pleased with their performance thus far. you need to be mindful of galvanic corrosion since the sail drive is aluminium. Yearly maintenance is a must. I think a lot of problems stem from lack of maintenance because it's not always easy. I pull the boat out of the water for the winter so that helps. I drain the sail leg oil (a pain in the @#$, but I feel it is necessary) and replace it fresh.
3 - Every 10 years (approx) you need to replace the gasket on a sail drive. I just did ours last year. It's a big job but once a decade I'm OK with.
4 - Seacocks. I have a 2001 Bav that had solid sea cocks and steel shut off handles. What genius put a steel handle on a boat? Since I plan on keeping my boat a long time I replaced all the sea cocks for my piece of mind. I had a couple handles rust through. This was a big job - you most likely don't need to do this but I'm a little retentive (OK a lot retentive).
5 - Teak decks. the teak thankfully is glued to the fiberglass deck so you won't get water intrusion like older teak decks. Teak decks are a pain to maintain but do look beautiful and are great anti-skid.
6 - Steering and Rudder. I've heard a number of people complain about the rudder bearings. Search the net for more info. I haven't had any issues with bearings (yet - I say that softly). If the boat steering feels tight make sure you look into it thouroughly.
7 - Lot's and lots of systems. Standard on many boats. A/C, radar, chart plotter, autopilots, lectrasan, etc. They all need to be checked out.
The Bav ocean series is heavier than the aft cockpit model bavs. I believe they are an extra ton. There is additional fiberglass and I don't mind that at all. They ride beautiful and feel very stable even in weather. They are well behaved.
Link to a thread on Bav Ocean 38s (good / bad / ugly) - lots of opinions.
http://forums.sbo.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?t=147611If you have any questions just reach out. Good luck and go sailing soon.
