Thank you everyone for your responses! Providing answers to Pepin's questions seems like a good place to start.
I will also mention that there is a Hobie dealer in Dartmouth (Atlantic Winds Adventure http://www.atlanticwindsadventure.com/) but the Hobie lineup seems to have a gap right where I'd like a boat to be. He tried to sell me a Getaway. I want something bigger and a little more spirited - the 14' cat I built in High School long, long ago would run circles around it, I think, (apologies to any happy Getaway owners). Then the product line jumps up into the stratosphere with the Tiger and FXOne going for $22,000 and $29,000 respectively! It's like having to choose between a Kia Rio and a Ferrari, when what I want is an RX-8.
There's also an AHPC dealer in Halifax (http://www.ahpc.com.au/Dealers.html)! I couldn't find it when I was there...need to hunt around on foot I guess. It's right in downtown Halifax, so it's likely to be a little hole-in-the wall shop with nothing but brochures. Probably priced like an FXOne as well; a bit out of my league I think. I'm not trying to win the World Championships :-)

* what conditions are predominant in the part of the world you are going to sail in? More than 20 knots of wind frequent? Or mostly 8 to 10 knots? What kind of waves, short chop, long rolling waves?
Winds here are typically either 10-20 knots or dead calm. Light winds are relatively rare, and I doubt I'd take the boat out then anyway - I like going fast.

* Launch facilities? Beach launching in surf? A nice ramp in a protected area? Rocky beach? How far will you need to move the boat by hand?
Still investigating. There are several nearby yacht clubs with sheltered ramp access. The beaches I know about have no access for boat launching, but there are lots I don't know about yet. Assume a ramp for now.

* Not much water and rocks lurking under the surface or nice deep water?
Water is mostly deep everywhere. Sailing up to Melmerby beach at low tide I'd want to be careful, but the bottom is sandy out to 100 yards from shore!

* There is no trapeze on a wave, the boats you talk about are double trapeze. Just so you prepare your wife
LOL - a nice photo of a 570 with two people on a trapeze has been my desktop wallpaper for a couple of months. She won't go out on the wire, but I will.
I'm a pretty big man (6'3", 245 lbs) - I think I could hold it down all by myself with her sitting on the windward hull. We were far too much for that poor Wave.
I can always spill power off the main if I need to, which is better than wanting more power but not having it.

* Do you intend to race around buoys? Go for day trips? Or just sail back and forth on a screaming reach?
There's no class racing here that I know of - I asked the owner of AWA and he knew of none either. I plan to skipper the boat with one or more guests aboard
during the summer (friends, relatives, nieces, nephews). No more than 4 people on board at one time for just sailing back and forth. Might work my
way up to sailing across Northumberland Strait to PEI, but mostly just fun sailing within sight of land.

* Always the two of you? Being able to sail alone a desirable thing? Or want to take two buddies to go the the island a couple of miles away?
I would never be taking the boat out single-handed. Mostly the two of us, plus occasional guests. I have a couple of friends that I think could make
effective crew for really getting the boat moving while she watches from the beach :-).

* A rough budget?
What can I get for $15,000?

Answers to those questions would narrow your choices by indicating a rough approximation of:

- What rig power you need, and how to control it (no trapeze, one trapeze, dual trapeze)
- Daggerboard or centerboard or neither
- Weight and length of the platform
- Hull material (heavy but tough, or light but delicate)
- A spi is fantastic, but could be intimidating...
Don't need a spinnaker to start with. I'd be the only one who would know how to set it, and I can't do that and steer too!

PitchpoleDave, are you the Dave that owns the nacra.ca site?