Average Mono Size for Cruising

[sarafina]

Love our Cal28 and would go cruising in it in a heartbeat. Can't cast of the land shackles yet, but the boat's size is not what's holdin this sailor girl back!

[Bash]

Originally Posted by boatman61

'SHOCK...... HORROR....!!!!'
Rampant Boatism....
Is this what our ancestors fought two World Wars for....
One could also claim sexism (boats are 'she') and length disability prejudice...
Thats it... I'm writing to the UN and all Equal Rights Agencies....

Now, now. We all know it's not about the length of your waterline.

(It's number of spreaders on your stick.)

[sv Winterlude]

When we left to cruise the Western Caribbean in 2004, the average size boat in the anchorages was more our size ... 37'. Over the next six years, we were dwarfed more and more every year -- I'd guess the last year we were out, 2010, we were usually the smallest boat in the anchorage ... unless our friends on Kristiana (35') or Bruadair (33') were in the same spot! I'm talking about anchorages from Isla Mujeres to Cartagena, Columbia including the Bay Islands, Belize, Guatemala, and Panama, including the San Blas Islands. Weird that the boats got so big so quick!

[ozskipper]

Define Cruising! Around the world, up the coast, or weekends on the bay? The perfect size is equivalent to a piece of string times the amount of coin in ones wallet divided by ones emotional and practical responses to the design then squared by the planned destinations..

[bangkaboat]

I went for 20'-30' for my Cal 2-30 because, even though it's a touch over 30', I'm supporting the "little guys" & going based on LWL!
Mike

[wsvoboda]

I sail a 34 foot and it works great for me because I single hand everywhere I go. I would like to have more storage but if your coastal cruising you can restock port by port when needed. Plus if your cruiser is under 40 foot your fees for slips and moorings are a little more reasonable if your on a serious buget. I always anchor as much as posible to save. The bottom line is what you can afford, how many will be cruising on your yatch and your ability to handle it safely

[boatman61]

Well.... all I can say is Portugal must be paying back the IMF for its loan via Marina fee's.... my little 21ftr has gone from 900eurs/yr last year to 1570euros this year...
Think I'll be heading for the anchorages of the Algarve when I relaunch.. thats more than I paid for the boat......
30ft-50ft gonna be horrendous...

[Unicorn Dreams]

Don't exactly know how to do the poll on this one

1st RTW- 28'
2nd RTW-36'
This time-43'

I'll click 40-50'

[SaltyMonkey]

For single-handling, the rule was about 27 ft
then it went up over time to 34 ft and now its even higher
and for couples no more than 36 ft and look what happened between 40-46 ft

don know what happened but i dont see many 36 ft boats in the rallys.

for moi, i was looking between 24-38 ft...but now dropped down to between 24-32 ft and I would rather have something on the $mall maintenance $$$$$ide...so I would be happy with a smaller boat in the 20's...

the issue of course is space and speed - enough to carry and get me there quickly.

[Khagan1227]

I like the smaller tender sized boats for cruising in, however, someone else (kaff, kaff) wants a big enough boat that she can run a marathon on.

We'll end up settling on something in the 40' area.

(Sure do like that 41' Bavaria, Boatman pointed out on BVI Yacht sales the other day)

[rubyjean]

I'll be damned, they put up the 20-30 spot. I agree with saltymonkey, I think anything over 30' in a gale is more than most can handle alone, and maybe even a married couple.........Michael...

[SaltyMonkey]

oh you know, a larger boat is AOK for couples...they need their distance!

The maintenance $$$$ and maneuverability aspects are very scary though.

Someone should calculate some fangled maintenance ratio % based on size...

[rubyjean]

Originally Posted by SaltyMonkey

oh you know, a larger boat is AOK for couples...they need their distance!

The maintenance $$$$ and maneuverability aspects are very scary though.

Someone should calculate some fangled maintenance ratio % based on size...

I totaly agree with that. Even my 26' cost more than I would expect. The economy is hurting us all. Buy what you can afford, or plan on spending alot of time at the slip.......Michael.......

[sailorboy1]

As expected most of the replies have become the "smaller is better" line. But I never am going back to smaller! Bigger is just better; better ride, faster, more comfortable, more storage more people space. All this just equals more enjoyment.

The only real agruement aganist bigger is inital price of the boat. I figure the "extra" cost of my 41' boat over a 30' boat is about $200/yr. I keep track of everything I spend money on for sailing; and other than haul-out and winter storage none of it is due to being a larger boat!

[slowshoes]

Originally Posted by Don Lucas

As expected most of the replies have become the "smaller is better" line. But I never am going back to smaller! Bigger is just better;

Pretty much the only justifications most Americans have for wasting money on bigger houses, bigger suv's, boats, etc. ad nauseum.