Somewhere along shimmering Pittwater, where silver wavelets were building on the strengthening sea breeze, I struck one of those mercurial moments when life's meaning seems as clear as day - as clear as the day that befell me: a perfect summer's day, with all the time in the world for sailing.

In that lucid moment I reminded myself that the beauty in sailing is not necessarily the destination but the journey along the way. Said the great writer Robert Louis Stevenson, author of Treasure Island: "For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move."

As we moved on the 10-15kt sea breeze, I heard the cries of fairy penguins, which you simply wouldn't hear over the roar of a motor. I ran past shoals of feeding fish and clouds of breeding jelly blubbers, which, I later discovered, were not jellyfish at all but blotches brought about by marine biologists dumping huge amounts of salt in the water to kill a noxious seaweed that is invading Pittwater.

I watched the tell-tales on the headsail, as one does on occasions when steering a cruising yacht, and the windvane, which did 90° shifts as we sailed past various contours in the land. I did my best to keep the little 32ft yacht knifing through the water, travelling to nowhere in particular, on this brilliant summer's day.

Eventually we cruised back to Church Point, broad reaching on the breeze.

I experienced many things on the Bavaria 32 that I wouldn't have seen travelling by other means. This is exactly what this affordable, agreeable little yacht sets out to achieve - not to break race records or bank balances, but to go happily with a crew who likes to travel.

GERMAN HERITAGE
You can dispense with flowery prose when discussing Bavaria yachts. After all, the German-made boats don't exactly break the mould. What they do best is provide a value-for-money, strong, spacious and, well, predictable boat that can go places.

While some yachts may be better finished, the Bavarias don't hide building inadequacies behind a flashy veil. Each year, around 2000 yachts between 32 and 50ft leave the factory. Though the Bavaria 32 is the 'kinde' of the range, it is built to the same standard as the 'keiser'.

A fully-glassed sub-frame, big timber knees for the chainplates, and timber bulkheads glassed to the sole strengthen the hand-laid fibreglass hull. The factory, 100km south of Frankfurt, bakes its boats in ovens to ensure curing consistency.

Much of the boatbuilding process is automated, from the use of CNC-controlled wood-cutting machines and auto-varnishing lines to conveyor systems and robotics. To further reduce production times, little is offered by way of options. The interior joinery is mahogany or, err, mahogany, and there are only four choices of fabric, plus two more expensive mock suede materials.

SPACE RACE
By virtue of its hull design, the Bavaria 32 offers almost as much room as bigger yachts. I judged headroom, for instance, to be around 185cm. The two cabins each have double berths, which allowed me to stretch and wiggle my toes. What's more, the head is a beauty.

Because there are two cabins, the head is more spacious than that aboard some 36-footers. It has a full hanging locker for foulies and headroom.

Ditto for the galley, which is bigger than that on the Bavaria 34. The cockpit storage locker gains, too, being deep enough to carry an outboard and duckie, even a stowaway.

Among the good gear on the Bavaria 32 are a 19hp freshwater-cooled Volvo engine with saildrive, Harken two-speed self-tailing winches, Rutgerson jammers, Selden spar, solid vang and so on. The stainless appears sturdy and the deck mouldings are really quite fair.

A 20lt hot-water tank works from a heat-exchanger on the motor or a separate 240V element. There is reasonable water pressure at the shower rose, 150lt of water tankage, a 90lt fuel tank and separate engine starter and house batteries so you can run things like the boat's excellent 12V fridge.

The yacht's wiring is, I discovered, numbered and coded according to the owner's manual. In fact, the switch panel alongside the nav station is very well laid out. A combination water/battery gauge lets you do a press-button running check before heading out.

The Bavaria 32 doesn't look too bulbous thanks to a blue cabin line, teak cockpit and teak-topped decks. The blue bootline, which helps break up the hull, is gelcoat, not a transfer as on some other yachts.

The boat motors to its hull speed of around 7kt, and that's pretty much how it arrived for this test sail, pushing a fair old bow wave, with the dealer looking excited behind the wheel. As with most saildrive arrangements, the Bavaria 32 is a manoeuvrable boat under power.

LIVING SPACES
During our travels I ventured down below with a view to sleeping and living aboard. The companionway, untroubled by the traveller across the cabin top, leads to a conventional interior with the galley and aft cabin to port, head to starboard, saloon amidships and a forepeak master cabin.

Engine access is made easy by a gas-strut that helps raise the companionway steps. There are hatches to most parts of the boat, so you can access the fridge unit, seacocks, steering, batteries and pumps. All the waterpumps also have inline filters.

The galley has blue formica-like benchtops with recessed icebox and fridge, bordered by fiddle rails and topped with a useful amount of food-prep space.

A single mixer tap, circular sink in which you can stack plates, and two-burner gimballed gas stove/oven complete the amenities. In the mahogany lockers that line the galley, you will find the gas shut-off.

You get cutlery drawers and a cupboard with a garbage bin that opens out when you swing the door. But there is a void under the stove where pot storage might otherwise go. A microwave could be a handy inclusion.

The saloon, lined with lots of lockers including glass racks, is the highlight of the Bavaria 32. There are handrails to help your passage in a seaway, opening portholes and 12V halogen lighting. The central mahogany dining table has two opening leaves and magazine storage.

Plenty of room exists to move through the saloon when the table leaves are folded away. At around 178cm long, the blue fabric-covered settees can be used as sea berths.

Beneath the settees are full-length ply lids tough enough to jump on. Lift these lids - better than fiddly hatch boards - and you will find the batteries and fridge unit, plus plenty of storage space.

NAVIGATION AND LOO
While not the most comfortable stool, the navigation station has a big chart table and room for mounting electronics in the timber facia alongside. A stereo is the first thing I'd add to the boat, not to drown out nature's songs but to play beer-hall music below at night.

The head, just aft of the companionway and chart table, is a whopper. You get a manual pump-out loo linked to a holding tank, a moulded vanity with sink and a sealed hatch so your dunny rolls stay dry. Hey, you even get a toilet brush courtesy of the Bavaria factory.

There is a manual sump pump, sitting room over the Jabsco loo to shower and a moulded liner with a channel, so the wet locker actually dries and drains your foulies. The fuel cut-off hides in the wet-locker.

All the doors in the Bavaria 32 hit stoppers to prevent you damaging the veneer timber work. The door locks have double-toothed tongues to stop rattles and the doors swing on quite solid stainless steel hinges. Silicon wipes, joinery and linings indicate the Bavaria 32 was built fast but with some respect.

SLEEP CITY
The aft cabin, while handy at sea when on starboard tack, is best for guests or kiddies. There is room to stand and dress beside a hanging locker, overhead hatches and soft-backed vinyl wall liners. A drip tray under the wheel steering prevents any chance of the cabin getting wet (unless you leave the porthole open).

Two hatches give cross-flow ventilation, another hatch leads back to the steering gear and yet another hatch lets you access the side of the Volvo-Perkins engine block. Lying on the double bunk, I could have easily drifted off to sleep.

But for my money the forepeak cabin, with a double vee-shaped berth, twin hanging lockers, small dressing settee and superior headroom, felt more comfortable, and is sure to be the most popular choice when swinging on the anchor.

SETTING SAIL
We had the standard-issue sail wardrobe of furling No. 2 headsail (quite high cut) and battened main with single line two-point reefing system but no lazy jacks. Deck-stepped, the Selden twin-spreader stick has an adjustable backstay, while the keel on all imported Bavaria yachts is the deep lead version for stiffness.

All the lines lead back down the cabin top to jammers. The halyard winches are single-speed Harken 16s, the primaries are two-speed 32s that make light work of trimming the headsail, which is a mere 24.6sqm.

An open pulpit with seat makes the Bavaria 32 an easy boat to climb aboard. The aft lifeline was missing, which made the cockpit not quite as safe as it would normally be, but I judged it to be plenty big enough for a family of four or a couple, which are the boat's probable loads.

The non-skid on the decks and their mouldings allow sure-footed movement. At rest, the cockpit table can be assembled off the pedestal for al fresco meals. A basic electronics pack is needed; otherwise it's ready to go.

The yacht doesn't hobby-horse when quartering moderate white horses, and the vision from the leather-bound wheel is okay when sitting outboard. A bigger wheel is an option, though you run the risk of cluttering the smallish cockpit. The halyard winches fall to hand alongside the wheel.

The waterline length of the Bavaria 32 is, according to the brochure, 5cm longer than the Bavaria 34, which points to the fact that you get plenty for your money. The entry-level leisure yacht costs $195,000 sailaway.

For an extra $40,000 you get more speed and a third cabin. You could buy a spinnaker, too. And no doubt a self-feathering rather than fixed prop would help. But do you need it?

We travelled for travel's sake during an afternoon affair with the wonders of the wind. Most people buy yachts for exactly this reason. The Bavaria has no pretences.

This 32-footer is not especially fast, nor demanding. As Stevenson said: "To travel hopefully is better than to arrive." And life on dry land isn't half as much fun.

HIGHS

• A lot of yacht for your dollar, excellent resale value, good sales and service support.
• Big galley and big head, plus twin double cabins.
• Build integrity that lets you sail out to sea wherever the wind takes you.
• Deck layout makes for easy single-handed trim and tacking.

LOWS

• No greyhound around the track.
• No third cabin might dissuade some buyers, lack of pot storage in the galley, needs music and electronics.
• Steering wheel could be bigger.