Average Mono Size for Cruising

[boatman61]

[QUOTE=Khagan1227;690397]
Yes, it is an inanimate object,QUOTE]

Heresy............
Wash your mouth with Lye.....

[Kettlewell]

Full disclosure--I currently have a 38 footer, which to me is a "big boat." From many years of cruising and observing I think that the smaller boats are generally having more fun--I know it was that way for us. The bigger the boat the more there is to maintain and fix, and that is the #1 cause of cruising dissatisfaction, IMHO. On the other side of the coin, the folks on the smaller boats "think" they would be happier on a bigger boat, and they inevitably buy a larger one, but I don't think they are really happier. The smaller boat folks are more carefree, they sail more, they go more places, they anchor closer to shore or in harbors that the big boats can't get into, they have enough money to leave their boats and fly home, they don't worry about leaving their boat, they don't have as many visitors, which are always a hassle, they don't tend to be crewed by more than one or two, and the smaller crews are happier...It goes on and on. Plus, the cost differential is HUGE, whatever Don says. Get a one-gallon bottom paint boat and you will save lots of money on everything from batteries, to haulouts, to paint, to sails, to rigging, to autopilots, to alternators, to engines, to you name it. My favorite size is about 32 feet. Big and fast enough to cross any ocean, yet small and cheap enough to be no hassle and plenty comfortable for a couple.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Kettlewell

Full disclosure--I currently have a 38 footer, which to me is a "big boat." From many years of cruising and observing I think that the smaller boats are generally having more fun--I know it was that way for us. The bigger the boat the more there is to maintain and fix, and that is the #1 cause of cruising dissatisfaction, IMHO. On the other side of the coin, the folks on the smaller boats "think" they would be happier on a bigger boat, and they inevitably buy a larger one, but I don't think they are really happier. The smaller boat folks are more carefree, they sail more, they go more places, they anchor closer to shore or in harbors that the big boats can't get into, they have enough money to leave their boats and fly home, they don't worry about leaving their boat, they don't have as many visitors, which are always a hassle, they don't tend to be crewed by more than one or two, and the smaller crews are happier...It goes on and on. Plus, the cost differential is HUGE, whatever Don says. Get a one-gallon bottom paint boat and you will save lots of money on everything from batteries, to haulouts, to paint, to sails, to rigging, to autopilots, to alternators, to engines, to you name it. My favorite size is about 32 feet. Big and fast enough to cross any ocean, yet small and cheap enough to be no hassle and plenty comfortable for a couple.

The secret to small boat cruising with a woman.... make sure you get a small woman to match...
Me dancing with one of my Delivery crew on 'equal terms...'

[Khagan1227]

Originally Posted by Kettlewell

Full disclosure--I currently have a 38 footer, which to me is a "big boat." From many years of cruising and observing I think that the smaller boats are generally having more fun--I know it was that way for us. The bigger the boat the more there is to maintain and fix, and that is the #1 cause of cruising dissatisfaction, IMHO. On the other side of the coin, the folks on the smaller boats "think" they would be happier on a bigger boat, and they inevitably buy a larger one, but I don't think they are really happier. The smaller boat folks are more carefree, they sail more, they go more places, they anchor closer to shore or in harbors that the big boats can't get into, they have enough money to leave their boats and fly home, they don't worry about leaving their boat, they don't have as many visitors, which are always a hassle, they don't tend to be crewed by more than one or two, and the smaller crews are happier...It goes on and on. Plus, the cost differential is HUGE, whatever Don says. Get a one-gallon bottom paint boat and you will save lots of money on everything from batteries, to haulouts, to paint, to sails, to rigging, to autopilots, to alternators, to engines, to you name it. My favorite size is about 32 feet. Big and fast enough to cross any ocean, yet small and cheap enough to be no hassle and plenty comfortable for a couple.

You are making the assumption that people with big boats are boat poor.

If you take the money out of your post, the only objection to a big boat seems to be draft and there are plenty of small boats like the Morgan 32 that has a lot more draft than a Benetau 42.

[SaltyMonkey]

Originally Posted by Kettlewell

...The smaller boat folks are more carefree, they sail more, they go more places, they anchor closer to shore or in harbors that the big boats can't get into, they have enough money to leave their boats and fly home...Plus, the cost differential is HUGE...

GAD someone who actually GETS it!!!

THank you Kettlewell!!!

[Kettlewell]

If you take the money out of your post, the only objection to a big boat seems to be draft and there are plenty of small boats like the Morgan 32 that has a lot more draft than a Benetau 42.

Money, time, hassle, it all grows exponentially with a bigger boat. The bottom that used to take one hour to paint now takes half a day. The systems are more plentiful and more expensive on bigger boats, so you spend more time troubleshooting and worrying about them. Seriously, when down in some place like Cartagena in Colombia most of the cruisers on larger boats did almost nothing but organize and work on repairs all winter long, while the smaller boat folks were off exploring the countryside or out sailing. No matter how much money you have you simply can't pay anyone to fix a lot of things properly in some place like Cartagena and everybody ends up spending tons of time looking for parts and doing repairs.

I'll never forget arriving in St. Thomas one December on my 32 footer and anchoring next to a really spiffy 42 footer that had all the mod-cons, but every other thing was broken or causing a problem. The boat was easily worth 4 or 5 times my boat. We eventually left the harbor, went exploring in Puerto Rico and the BVIs and had a wonder couple of months of sailing around, flying home for a visit, etc. Two months later we returned to St. Thomas in order to clear out to head to Bermuda and that 42 footer was in the exact same place still repairing stuff--he hadn't moved in two months and was really sick of the problems. Typical story.

[capttman]

My boat is 47 feet its too big for one guy but when I built her I had a promise build a big comfy cruiser and I will cruise, well I did and now cruise alone I think 36 foot is the balls

[jackiepitts]

I believe how much time you spend repairing a boat has more to do with how the boat was maintained rather than the size. Personally we have had almost nothing break on our 54' boat over the past 5 years of heavy use. On the other hand with boat we owned before our current one (a 30' Allied) it was a constant project not because of it's size but because the previous owner neglected maintenance whereas the big boat was always maintained. I really do not think it is a size thing.
Also I was just as happy on the small boat as on the big boat so not sure why someone would be more happy on a small boat as opposed to a large boat...really does not make sense to me. Seems either a person is happy or not regardless of what they have or don't have (or the size of what they have for matter).

[captain58sailin]

Amen jackiepitts, I have spent plenty of time working on small and large boats, and I am happy on either, I like messing around on boats. Once I buy a boat, there is always a lot of work bringing "her" up to a standard, once that standard is achieved then unless there is a catastrophic failure, there is only the day to day maintenance that any vessel requires to keep her seaworthy and fit, regardless of size. Yes the anchors are more expensive as are the sails, and mooring slips it really is relative, you also get more cubic footage of living space. I don't think one can quantify the happiness quotient to a direct correlation to the length of waterline.

[wolfenzee]

I try to keep my fantisies from becoming too fantastic....which is why I live on a nice little 30 footer instead on standing on the dock lusting after a 60' schooner. I would actually prefer something around 35-40'...but I am happy with what I have. I am trying to make it comfortable for two, so I don't have to go at it alone, There is alot more to the size of a boat than length.
I will provide 2 examples designed by the same man around the same time, my boat and one 15" longer and 3 " wider, 3" shallower carriing the same sort of rig and sail area. Other than the similarities it is huge in comparison.
Atkin & Co. - Captain Cicero (my boat)

Atkin & Co. - Marie-Princess

Then compare the new style glass boats of the same size, like the Catalina 30'

Between those three....I chose grace over space.

[Don1500]

I was down in Newport Harbor today and I think the average lenght there was about 9 million feet. The I went down to the end of the dock and saw my price range, 23-28 feet, with lots 'o work to be done. I could see the only workout the bigger boats got was from the dock boys cleaning them. 5-10 million dollar boats that stayed at the dock for months at a time. WHY?

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by jackiepitts

Seems either a person is happy or not regardless of what they have or don't have (or the size of what they have for matter).

+1

True words of wisdom. This discussion of boat size and happiness seems strange to me.

The only relationship between boat size and happiness is if you bought a boat bigger and/or more complicated than what you can afford to maintain well.

If you can afford a bigger boat -- not just the purchase price, but the cost of keeping it up -- you can be more comfortable, sail faster, sail more comfortably in rougher weather, accomodate bigger groups of people, etc. More comfortable is not the same as more happy.

I actually have a rather bigger boat than what I planned to buy. When I was weighing the decision to buy this particular boat I considered the size to be a huge minus. I have changed my mind now after two years of sailing her and find the size just right.

She is several times more expensive to keep up, berth, etc. than the 37' boat we had before. I am busting my head right now over a whisker pole, which will not cost less than a couple of thousand dollars, because the "J" dimension of my boat is more than 20 feet, and so the pole has got to be much bigger in diameter as well as longer -- the cost goes up in a geometrical fashion. The whisker pole for the old boat cost a few hundred. The new boat's systems are much more complicated. But I enjoy playing with these systems, maintaining them, fixing them, upgrading them, planning upgrades to them. Fixing and maintaining things is an integral and inseparable part of the sport, and if you don't enjoy it, you are unlikely to be a happy cruiser. Even the smallest and simplest cruising boat will still need lots and lots of fixing and maintaining.

If I couldn't afford to keep her up, I would sell her and buy something smaller. I don't think I would be the slightest bit less happy.

They say a boat is a hole in the water you throw money into. How true! What they don't say is that throwing money at a boat is probably the most pleasure you can get out of money, which is otherwise such a source of unhappiness and problems in life. I derive enormous pleasure from my boat -- more pleasure than anything else in my whole life which could be bought for money. So for me, subjectively, it's a fantastic bargain.

[Kettlewell]

Take a look around any marina or mooring field and observe which boats are used the most. It starts with the small fishing boats--they are in the water first, out last, and in use all the time. As you move up the size ladder boats get used less and less. Larger sailboats are no exception. That doesn't mean that a larger boat won't be best suited for your purposes, but I think it does indicate which boats people tend to enjoy using for their intended purpose. Frankly, I think there are cruisers who prefer setting up the boat just so and all the technical stuff more than they do going places, and for them the more "stuff" to deal with the better. Sure, you can find smaller boats that are more work than bigger boats, but on average that will not be the case, and most people don't like to do all the work, so they eventually tire of it all and drop out of cruising. Take a look at what the Hiscocks and the Roths did--started out at 30 or so feet, got bigger and bigger boats later in life, and then downsized back to something in the mid-30s late in life. I see a lot of retired couples out there who have a lot more boat then they can handle comfortably.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Kettlewell

Take a look around any marina or mooring field and observe which boats are used the most. It starts with the small fishing boats--they are in the water first, out last, and in use all the time. As you move up the size ladder boats get used less and less. Larger sailboats are no exception. That doesn't mean that a larger boat won't be best suited for your purposes, but I think it does indicate which boats people tend to enjoy using for their intended purpose. Frankly, I think there are cruisers who prefer setting up the boat just so and all the technical stuff more than they do going places, and for them the more "stuff" to deal with the better. Sure, you can find smaller boats that are more work than bigger boats, but on average that will not be the case, and most people don't like to do all the work, so they eventually tire of it all and drop out of cruising. Take a look at what the Hiscocks and the Roths did--started out at 30 or so feet, got bigger and bigger boats later in life, and then downsized back to something in the mid-30s late in life. I see a lot of retired couples out there who have a lot more boat then they can handle comfortably.

A generalization which like all such might be often true, but not always, and maybe not even so very often.

I got in 52 sea days and six Channel crossings during 2010 on my big boat, and spent more than 90 days aboard. Not a month went by without my going to sea, despite one of the coldest winters on record. All that despite working full time and living several thousand kilometers from the boat! The only boat in my marina to have been at sea more than mine was an even bigger boat, a Swan 65! I know this from the marina managers, who pay bertholders back something when they are able to sublet your berth when you're away.

[barnakiel]

Surprised. Most boats we meet are 40+.

b.