I have a question that is rhetorical at first blush, but if given consideration I hope has practical relevance. Can a small, "lightly built" coastal cruiser be modified into a "bluewater
boat?" Everyone chimes the mantra, go small, go now, so what if you had a small lightly built coastal cruiser (SLBCC)and were doing that and you decided you wanted to venture
offshore and make a long
passage. If, over a period of time, could you retrofit the SLBCC to be a
bluewater boat. Knowing that the
displacement can not change much, if you upgraded the
rigging,
rudder, pintles and gudgeons,
deck hardware,
sails, halyards and
sheets, would you end up with a
bluewater boat minus the extra
displacement? Or is the
hull and
deck of the SLBCC just not capable of this task? Asked another way, is/can a small light displacement
cruising sailboat be made "heavily built" without weighing 4,000 or more pounds? Was John Guzzwell's beautiful "Trekka" "heavily built" though of light displacement? I understand that if this is possible, it wouldn't ever be the "ideal" bluewater boat, but if possible, it would be affordable to someone who didn't have a large sum to spend initially, but could spend more modest sums over time as the need and desires arose. John Guzzwell said that if he would ever sail around the world again, he would only do it in another boat that he had built, so he would know her in the most intimate way possible. If possible, retrofitting a SLBCC over time while sailing would seem to approach in practice, the intent of John's wise
advice. Thank you for your input!