First boat for long cruises with small family

[JPA Cate]

Originally Posted by calmowner

I took a look into Morgan Out Island and I'm confused with low draft. Low draft plus serious weight decrease seaworthiness, isn't?
To all who cares about baby - generally I think that it's better to pass all my time with my family, that's one of our goals. I'm pretty sure that baby could be comfortably accomodated in 32"+ boat, has his own berth with a fishnet or cradle which protect him from injuries. I hope to find a boat with double bed in quarter of in aft cabin to provide V-berth for baby. And duties... We still have no slaves in our apartment yet, so cooking is my wife's duty, and childcare will be too. I don't see a problem there.

Well, calmowner, I'm back where i was before. Man, I think you are a troll.

This is why: "We still have no slaves in our apartment yet, so cooking is my wife's duty, and childcare will be too. I don't see a problem there." For me, there IS a problem there, but too bad...... Your plan does not cope with reality. Bye from me.

[calmowner]

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

Well, calmowner, I'm back where i was before. Man, I think you are a troll.

This is why: "We still have no slaves in our apartment yet, so cooking is my wife's duty, and childcare will be too. I don't see a problem there." For me, there IS a problem there, but too bad...... Your plan does not cope with reality. Bye from me.

Sorry if my joke was inpolite, probably I shouldn't joking if I'm not fluent in English. I have meant that there will be usual duties for my wife - cook and take a care about baby, it doesn't matter where we are, onboard or in apartment. So why do you think that it's not cope with reality? I'm not sure just about one thing you have described - I need some kind of internet connection during long jumps between coasts. I have tried to research some satellite internet providers and I found it damn expensive for me. That's what I should manage before escape from coast. I don't worry about visas because with Russian passports we can visit most of countries in Central and South America and rest of them we can visit if we have US visas. The same story with Asian countries, at least such as Singapoore, Thailand, Vietnam etc.

[hamburking]

Originally Posted by calmowner

I took a look into Morgan Out Island and I'm confused with low draft. Low draft plus serious weight decrease seaworthiness, isn't?

The amount of "righting force", or the force keeping the boat upright, is in general equal to the amount of weight in the keel times the average distance below the centre of mass of the boat....or think of it as the depth of the keel.

So you can either have a deep keel, or more ballast (in the keel). Ideally, both. You will find that low draft boats have a more ballast in the keel to make up for the lack of distance...but the end result is the same.

Modern boats cheat a bit by having a bulb or wing keel, adding more ballast where it matters most, at the end of the keel...its a good idea, and it works...so you get less draft but still a good righting moment.

The other consideration is the performance to windward...but that would be a whole nother thread.

However, my point is that a well designed shallow draft boat is no less seaworthy than a deep draft boat. And of course we are talking about monos here....multi-hulls derive their stability from their width and have super shallow draft...a good part of their allure.

[hamburking]

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

1) Caretaking the child. How are these duties to be divided? At sea, while the boat is moving through the water, someone must be on watch. While the child is awake, someone must be watching it. Also, for life to run smoothly aboard, there will be maintenance, cooking, and cleaning up duties at the very same time as child watching and "keeping watch" are going on, and there are but two of you. You need a plan, and it must be something your wife is happy with it. There is at least one CF member who might help you with this: "atoll", who was raised on a monohull.

2) Which space on the boat will you allocate to the 6 month old? Lucky for you, it is sleeping through the night now, and you have less interrupted sleep. The people we know who raised babies aboard, allotted the forepeak to the kid(s). I know Boatman 61 suggested the quarterberth. Frankly, I felt shocked, no idea how your wife would react to the issue. [Could this be a troll????] But there is this to say for it: the child cannot roll or fall far and injure him/herself, and it leaves most of the boat available for the adults or storage.

Excellent points!

I sailed with my daughter when she was about 2 years old. The wife was entirely responsible for the child, and I was entirely responsible for the boat. Its a method that worked, and times at anchor and while easy sailing were great. But when the wind picked up, and when docking, it was difficult for me, since I was singlehanding while the wife and child looked on. When things got dicey, they were sent below so I could work. It was difficult at times. We only went out when the conditions were good, but its the weather, you get what you get, and we had some blows.

As for sleeping, we had a big berth in an aft cabin. The baby slept there with us. Its common for babies to sleep in their parents bed...ashore...and it makes even more sense aboard. The aft cabin bunk was down low, so there was no way for the baby to fall.

When my kids were older (3-8 years old), they slept in the vee of our smaller boat...they were cozy and safe there. It was sad when they got too big for the vee, cause basically I had to sell the boat to get something bigger.

[steveth3b]

Originally Posted by calmowner

I took a look into Morgan Out Island and I'm confused with low draft. Low draft plus serious weight decrease seaworthiness, isn't?
To all who cares about baby - generally I think that it's better to pass all my time with my family, that's one of our goals. I'm pretty sure that baby could be comfortably accomodated in 32"+ boat, has his own berth with a fishnet or cradle which protect him from injuries. I hope to find a boat with double bed in quarter of in aft cabin to provide V-berth for baby. And duties... We still have no slaves in our apartment yet, so cooking is my wife's duty, and childcare will be too. I don't see a problem there.

As long as there is support for your wife, you should be fine. I watched my wife go from being happy about being independent to having to go everywhere with a baby. Men just aren't as good at helping explain these changes. My wife had excellent support from several friends who were going through the same stages of kids, and family. Co-sleeping with both babies (while still <9 months) helped everyone get more sleep.

Good advice on here, I wouldn't plan excursions too far from hospitals, just in case. I applaud you, we bring up the baby, because that will be two huge changes in your life: downsizing to boat, and adjusting everything in your life to accommodate another human that you have to hang out with. Good luck, and I'm sure we'll probably meet out there someday.

[fredw]

I have a fresh water CD 30 cutter with CNG stove/oven refrig electronics if you have any interest in your buget