Largest boat

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Going alongside solo is just a matter of preparation.. I lead my bow and stern lines to midships.. also have a line on the mid cleat.. come alongside and step over with the midship line and secure it.. then grab the stern line, tie that off and then collect the bowline as I walk forward.. tie off.. job done.

Absolutely preparation is the key. I do the same; rig lines, run outside shrouds and lifelines to the cockpit, come alongside and step off with lines in hand and tie off.

Most of the time it works just fine but then there's that occasional glitch when the wind is cranking or there's a cross current and before you can get secured you're sideways. At least I haven't stepped off the boat and lost the lines and let the boat go drifting away although came close once.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by skipmac

Absolutely preparation is the key. I do the same; rig lines, run outside shrouds and lifelines to the cockpit, come alongside and step off with lines in hand and tie off.

Most of the time it works just fine but then there's that occasional glitch when the wind is cranking or there's a cross current and before you can get secured you're sideways. At least I haven't stepped off the boat and lost the lines and let the boat go drifting away although came close once.

That's the beauty on the midship cleat.. get that on first and she's going nowhere.

[Kalinka1]

We call the midship line the hail Mary! Always Always use it! Also if you keep the engine in forward It will pull the boat into the dock.

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by Tetepare

How big, huh?

I've pitch poled 14, 16, and 17 foot catamarans, and turtled a 20'. Sank a 7' sailing dinghy.

I think I'd better downsize!

When you talk about single-handing, don't just think sails. Think about the other stuff, and when something goes wrong.

Say, for example, your windlass craps out, can you lift a 44lb anchor? A 65lb anchor?

When the gearshift breaks off while landing the boat, can you stop it yourself with a dockline?

In a big blow when the furler stops working, do you want to have to go up on deck and try to yank the sail down? Or would you rather send your wife?

Relax.

All the things you've mentioned have happened on our boat at the worst possible time, and it wasn't a big deal. Everything was handled just fine.

[JPA Cate]

The point here is what will do the job. We can add in our own values, like max comfort, that means the OP might go bigger. We might say best bang for the dollar, and there might be disagreement. But if overall costs matter to you, by going smaller, you pay less for mooring, boat bits, maintenance ........... Whether that matters to you, is of course a matter of individual choice.

Ann

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by mayberrybfd

In your opinion,,,What would be the largest boat one might want to sail Singlehanded,,,,,,

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

The point here is what will do the job. We can add in our own values, like max comfort, that means the OP might go bigger. We might say best bang for the dollar, and there might be disagreement. But if overall costs matter to you, by going smaller, you pay less for mooring, boat bits, maintenance ........... Whether that matters to you, is of course a matter of individual choice.

Ann

The OP wanted to know the "largest boat," not the cheapest boat for a singlehanded sailor. I'd feel very comfortable at 66ft if the boat was properly equipped, in fact we're considering one.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by boatman61

I would not like to go much larger than say 65ft.. and definitely not if Med mooring.. unless it was using my own anchor off the bow.

Docking and mooring is always the limiting factor.

I single hand my 54-footer without the slightest problem, and could sail a much bigger boat single handed. In many ways, the bigger the boat, the easier it is to sail single handed. Certainly a bigger boat is far more stable and easier to get around on.

But mooring and docking is a different question. I can't see the dock from behind the wheel of my boat, which creates obvious problems. Getting from behind the wheel to where I can throw a midships spring line on is -- well, can't be done in one second.

I do dock my boat single handed in reasonable weather. I am able to do it, because I am able to handle my boat in close quarters in a way that allows me to bring her to a complete stop just touching the dock. Like that unless there is a strong wind blowing me off the dock, I am able to then go, without hurrying, to the side deck, to lasso a cleat with a midships spring.

I do not step off, unlike others here. First of all, I have way too much freeboard -- it would be leaping off. Second, my boat weighs about 25 tons all up. If the boat started to move off with me standing on the dock, I couldn't stop her with bodily force. Furthermore, even tied up, if not tied up closely, I might not be able to get back on board if she is lying too far off the dock, especially if the wind is blowing her off. So I stay on the boat and lasso cleats on the dock. Obviously this doesn't work with rings.

I can't Baltic or Med moor her single handed. Baltic (bows to the quay) is completely impossible, or at least, almost impossible to imagine doing. Med mooring might be possible if there is someone on the quay to throw your stern line to, but I haven't tried it.

[daletournier]

Im new to my 47 footer and haven't sailed that many miles on her yet (130nm) . I backed her out of the marina after I purchased her and have just come into another marina, coming from alot of single handling of a 33 footer, these are my observations so far.

Under sail or motor its just as easy if not easier than my previous smaller boat. Coming into anchor in a decent wind is harder, its further to get up to the front and this combined with much greater windage means I get blown of quite quickly, its important to get that anchor down faster, in a tight anchorage this can be a concern. Also the new large modern boats tend to sail around at anchor alot which is something to consider. As others have mentioned docking isnt easier, I could manouver my previous boat in close quarters very easily. This boat has alot more momentum that has to be taken into account combined with greater prop walk. Also having two wheels and such a wide transom changes things, the throttle is on the starboard side, if its a port side tie up visibility isnt as good. But the most important thing to note is freeboard. My last boat was easy to just jump off and cleat the the midship line, this could be done quickly and safely resulting in the boat being secured with no fuss. On the new boat it is quite a long way to the dock you would not want to screw that jump up.
I think the big boat requires more respect, there is more weight and more power.


Sent from my vivo Y35 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

I can't Baltic or Med moor her single handed. Baltic (bows to the quay) is completely impossible, or at least, almost impossible to imagine doing. Med mooring might be possible if there is someone on the quay to throw your stern line to, but I haven't tried it.

Med mooring is fairly straight forward if using one's own anchor.. now only at Greek quays in the main as most countries to the W have organised pick up lines and chains/blocks for bowlines.. and charge for the privilege.. used to use my own hook to Med moor on the Esplanade in Palma de Mallorca and the quay at Andratx.. but those days are long gone.
Drop your hook around 100ft off the quay then reverse in (cockpit windlass control very handy for this) as you close the quay stop the windlass and let the boat take up the slack in the chain a bit till you get close enough to step off with your prepped stern lines.. may need to leave the engine in reverse tick over to stop the weight of chain pulling the boat back out while tying off.. or shout a passer by/spectator to grab them.. usually by then there's at least half a dozen enjoying the show.
Adjust chain/stern lines to suit.. lay out plank and head for the bar across the road for a cold Frappe..
Its a trial and error process as each type off boat behaves differently but the theory is the same.. can also do this in steep sided Cala's with limited room to swing.. using rocks or trees to tie off.

[Tkeeth]

Originally Posted by skipmac

Docking single handed is really no harder than docking with a crew. It's getting the lines over and tied up when the wind or current is going that's the hard part.

Exactly, I get it placed perfect, then by the time my fat rear can climb out and get to the lines I am blown all over the place! I am not very fast anymore.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by toddster8

I had decided on 40(ish) feet. Why would one person need more boat than that, anyway? But after actually starting to shop around and looking at the increased costs for... well, everything... Sticking with 30 feet is starting to look more comfortable.

I was actually looking at between 30' and 35' myself, and found what I thought was a really nice little boat and asked the wife what she thought. Her answer was its OK, but with the kids, its going to be awfully small down here on a rainy day.
Of course I was thinking after the kids were gone, she I don't think wanted to think that, and I was not going to argue with her, after all she was looking at boats and thinking about it, and it was my dream, not hers.
So we got a little bigger boat, not a whole lot, but 8' or so is actually a lot more boat when your talking about 30 ft boats.
This may sound nuts, but I like living small, I'm comfortable with it. I Liked living in a 5th wheel with two kids, my wife liked it better in the 3500 sq ft house.

Why would anyone want to singlehand a big boat? If your in a hurry, fly.

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Docking and mooring is always the limiting factor.

I single hand my 54-footer without the slightest problem, and could sail a much bigger boat single handed. In many ways, the bigger the boat, the easier it is to sail single handed. Certainly a bigger boat is far more stable and easier to get around on.

But mooring and docking is a different question. I can't see the dock from behind the wheel of my boat, which creates obvious problems. Getting from behind the wheel to where I can throw a midships spring line on is -- well, can't be done in one second.

I do dock my boat single handed in reasonable weather. I am able to do it, because I am able to handle my boat in close quarters in a way that allows me to bring her to a complete stop just touching the dock. Like that unless there is a strong wind blowing me off the dock, I am able to then go, without hurrying, to the side deck, to lasso a cleat with a midships spring.

I do not step off, unlike others here. First of all, I have way too much freeboard -- it would be leaping off. Second, my boat weighs about 25 tons all up. If the boat started to move off with me standing on the dock, I couldn't stop her with bodily force. Furthermore, even tied up, if not tied up closely, I might not be able to get back on board if she is lying too far off the dock, especially if the wind is blowing her off. So I stay on the boat and lasso cleats on the dock. Obviously this doesn't work with rings.

I can't Baltic or Med moor her single handed. Baltic (bows to the quay) is completely impossible, or at least, almost impossible to imagine doing. Med mooring might be possible if there is someone on the quay to throw your stern line to, but I haven't tried it.

Come on over to Italy and Croatia, I'll show you how it's done. Our boat has very low freeboard which makes docking a cinch. Even Med mooring can be done alone quite easily even without a cockpit windlass control.

Here's a pic of me on the boat alone in Sardinia.

[sck5]

I used to singlehand my old boat, a Caliber 33, all the time. Eventually got everything set up properly and knew how it behaved, etc. Now we have a Caliber 40 which is a much bigger and heavier boat though the same lines and behavior as the 33. Not much different I have to say.

My rule on either boat was that as soon as you start thinking strength has anything at all to do with getting the boat into the slip you are screwed. It is only about spring lines, leverage and friction of lines on cleats. And a willingness to go around and try again 5 times in a row if that is what it takes.

[Sandero]

I suppose the issues related to size are all related to not sailing per se but in things such as maneuvering in close quarters, docking etc... With increasing size forces are greater... and at some size they are too great to "muscle" without mechanical assistance. When I was younger and stronger I could raise my 440SF rather heavy full batten main to about 75% of the hoist using the halyard at the mast. To get it up to full hoist I had to use a winch... which I did from the cockpit. So there were turning blocks and so on. But even with a winch it was not a "breeze". Now I use a Milwaukee with a winch bit to drive the winch. Easy peasy. For a larger main at this stage of my life I would HAVE to have the Millie... although I suppose given enough time I could get a heavier sail up with a winch and be exhausted and sweating.

I certainly don't want to be hauling chain now and added an electric windlass with reversing switch and a remote so I can anchor with only a press of a button. I suppose the boat and anchor size wouldn't much matter.... except if the windlass crapped out.

I think as you move past the mid 30s to 40 you get to the size where you are quite dependent on working mechanical assist devices... powerful winches and a windlass.

My freeboard is really too high for me to jump to a floating dock...at my age...something I kinda learned the hard way as I used to do it without a thought in the past. Loss of strength, stamina, balance etc. all come with age and you need to adjust to this. No one gets stronger with age and this should be a consideration when deciding what is the largest boat for you.

And of course what do you need all the space for that comes with a larger boat? One person on a 50+' will have several heads and only one is needed. And lots of berths for people who are not using them. You don't need much in the way of clothing when you live aboard in the tropics.

I'd like to hear from the big boat single handers what they do with all the extra real estate?

[SV Windrush II]

I did the Pacific crossing from Hawaii to the Philippines singlehanded in my Mariner 40 ketch.
The main challenge was navigating through the reefs and coral heads in the atolls. I bumped off coral several times because I could not be at the helm and at the bow at the same time hahaha.

But this year we will move up to a larger boat, something around a 55-60 ft is fairly easy to handle with power winches and such.
After singlehandling the ketch, I definitely will go with a sloop rig this time. Whoever thinks a ketch rig with all the extra lines, sheets, stays, winches and a mizzen sail etc, etc that most of the time is not worth raising, is easier to sail than a sloop Is beyond me!