Bavaria Ocean 40 - Experience?

[Carolin]

Dear Bavaria Ocean 40 owners,

We, Max and Caro, have been looking for a solid sailboat for some time now. The Bavaria Ocean 40 fulfills, at least theoretically, many of our wishes. Whether she does so in real life, we could not find out yet. So far almost all advertisements are from the Mediterranean sea and since Caro is currently pregnant, far travels are a bit complicated for us.

That's why we wanted to try our luck here: Are there owners of a Bavaria Ocean 40 at the North Sea or Baltic Sea, who would like to show us their boat? Of course coffee and cake will be sponsored by us !

We (33 years old) are both from Hamburg and currently sailing a small Albin 85 Cumulus. She is a fine boat, but with a toddler on the way we want to expand.

Greetings from Hamburg,

Max and Caro

[Yngmar]

Sorry, we're also in the Med (Sicily), so can't offer any closer. But we've been living and cruising on our 40 Ocean since 2016 and are happy to answer questions.

Generally very happy with our boat and often when we tour other peoples boats we come back to ours and think we chose well (both for layout and especially for maintenace)! Of course like any boat you always dream of having a bit more space ;-)

We made many improvements, like adding a stern arch, closing off half the transom gate (so we can hang the liferaft there) and cutting the enourmous boards covering the locker under the forward berths in half. Some annoyances we haven't fixed yet include the breaks in the cushions not matching the boards underneath and the bimini, which is a tricky one to get right on a CC boat. Also, whatever you do, don't get one with an old teak deck! 

Feel free to ask if you want to know more. We may want sell in a year or two, but not sure yet, so don't get your hopes up!

[geoff]

Another happy 40 ocean owner. Bought new in 2001 and still ticks the boxes for us. Teak decks can be a problem if treated badly ,ours are still ok. Engine is md22, all good based on a perkins van engine ,bits are cheap if generic sourced .Leaks from toe rail are common but easy to fix. Overall very happy ! Geoff

[Carolin]

Hey guys!

Thank you so much for all the helpful tipps! At least now we have a perfect checklist, in case we are going to find our bavaria 40 ocean !
Any other owners in Germany, the Netherlands or Denmark?

Greetings,
Caro
 

[Joe]

Hi Caro and Max,

We are happy owners of a 38 Ocean since 13 years already and sailed the boat in the baltic before we retired 3 years ago and decided to live on board now (both are also from Hamburg and presently at Andalucia). The Ocean series is often called the best Bavaria ever built and we are sure it is. Of course, the boats are now 20+ years old and a careful check is necessary but even the teakdeck is not as worse as sometimes told (at least ours is still in perfect condition - not the only advantage of a German boat stored in a boatshed during winter). And sorry, our boat is not for sale and we will keep her for the rest of our sailing life.

Joe

[Jeffatoms]

We too are very happy owners of a 1998 38 Ocean.  We agree that the Ocean Series is a great design.  We are two 50-somethings that live aboard and we couldn't be happier with the boat.  The boat sails great, is well built and logically laid out.  As liveaboards who had a 22 year old come back to roost aboard, two is comfortable, three is only good for a weekend...but a baby might be different.  Good luck!