You know, I really thought I was done w/ this thread, but bash has pulled me back in, shame on me.
"I'll tell you what--if anyone else on this thread had actually sailed an H54, he'd be talking about how unbelievably high they point, not about how scary the cockpits are."
If pointing was the mark of a good ocean cruiser then we'd all be sailing bullets with few creature comforts and a pretty wet ride.
I must admit, the H-54 I sailed in the Virgins in the early eighties was a pretty good sailing boat. In the Sir Francis Drake Channel!
The drawbacks, as I remember them, in order of most irritating, to least;
1) the dink space was like a drum all night when we were at
anchor; VERY, Very noisy even a nearly flat anchorage.
2) pretty uncomfortable for 6
charter guests & a
captain. Small
cockpit, very small
interior for a 54
1 again ) the dink space was like a drum all night when we were at
anchor; VERY, Very noisy even a nearly flat anchorage..
3) one of the wettest 50 foot boats I think I've ever sailed
1 again ) the dink space was like a drum all night when we were at anchor; VERY, Very noisy even a nearly flat anchorage.
4) pretty squirley going down hill, but in all honesty, most of us were more used to sailing long keeled boats like the OI 41 or P-424, so if I'd continued to sail her, I'd probably have gotten better at it.
5) certainly not the best boat to back into a different slip every time you docked.
Seriously, the
noise at night was horrendous & as a senior
captain in the fleet, one
charter was enough.
Remember all, the OP asked for thoughts on this specific boat as an ocean cruiser. All else on this thread seems to be something I just don't understand. Maybe a few of you should just "get a room".