Tom and list, I would like to offer a different take on this subject.............One of the ways to significantly lower your maintenance requirements for any boat is to get out of the salt water and cruise the fresh water lakes and rivers.  Furthermore, in the Great Lakes area you have six months for cruising and a forced six months or so for maintenance.   On another note, it seems to me the 'ideal boat low maintenance boat' is new, made of aluminum, is unpainted, has no exterior wood, has durable interior surfaces requiring limited care, has a keel below the prop/props, has whatever complexity that you want or need, but most importantly is designed and built with sufficient space allowed for the mechanical, electrical and instrumentation equipment and allowing for easy access to that space and all the equipment in it.  Plenty of conduits for running wires so it is easy to add/change maintain.  THe goal being to make the maintenance that is required as easy and stress free as possible. But, I could be wrong................. Gary Hagstrom Iron River, Wisconsin