I have been watching this thread and itching to say something. We don't sell Hobie Waves, or any kind of boat, but I just think this is the perfect answer for you.

Your wife would LOVE the Wave, and so would your kids. I have had all my grandchildren out on my Wave since they were babes in arms. The boat is very stable and hard to capsize. If it does capsize, it can't turtle and trap people beneath it, because it has the masthead bob. And it can be righted by a 100-pound woman. In fact, most women have no trouble even raising the mast themselves. And it has more deck and trampoline area for seating than much larger catamarans -- more than a Hobie 16 and even a little more than a Hobie 18.

It has tremendous buoyancy -- it carries two adults and all four of my grandchildren with no problem whatsoever.

In lighter winds you could let your 2-year-old steer the boat without worries. When your kids get a little older, you can add the optional trapeze wires, because kids love to trapeze.

It tacks amazingly well.

Yes, it is slower than larger catamarans, but all boats are slow and relatively boring in light air, so that is not really an issue. In moderate wind ranges up to 20 knots, you would notice the speed difference with bigger cats. But over 20 knots you won't notice any difference because most of the other cats will be on shore while you are zooming around having a blast in up to 35 knots of wind.

As far as rigging time, I figure 2 minutes to raise the mast and connect the forestay, five minutes to untie the boat from the trailer and put it on the beach (or launch it from a ramp), 2 minutes to raise the sail and be ready to go.

For your particular family situation, it sounds like the ideal boat at this point in your life.

Personally, I would not get the back rests, and I would not get the jib (at least to begin with). I do recommend the spreader bar between the bows because it makes it a lot easier to move the boat around on shore.

You can always add the jib later. And if you want to make it even more fun, you can add the optional spinnaker or a non-standard, roller-furling "Hooter." But for right now, with your limited budget, find a good, used, basic Wave and see how your family likes it.

Rick and I have had Waves (we each sail our own) for almost 10 years now, and, although we have sailed and raced many different beach cats over the past 35 years, we are having more fun with our Waves than with any other cats, and have found them to be the most versatile. But the most important factor is that with the Waves we have been able to do more sailing than ever before because they are so easy to rig and launch and also because they can be single-handed in a much greater wind range than most other cats.

In eight years, after you have gradually (as money allows) souped up the Wave as much as possible with add-ons, if your kids are clamoring for a bigger or faster boat, you will have a bigger budget by then.

As far as durability, Waves seem to be almost indestructible. We have owned several, and have never had to do any repair work. Granted, the material is difficult to repair if it gets a hole, but so far that has not happened. We still have my original Wave, purchased almost 10 years ago, and the hulls are still fine.

Note: If you buy a used boat from a rental operation, though, be sure to check out the skegs. If they slide the boat up and down the beach without using beach wheels, over a period of time the skegs get worn down flat on the bottoms, which will hurt the boat's pointing ability.