40ft or 50ft -What Do You Like ?

[savoir]

Most marinas hike their fees from 49 to 50 ft. You might find 49 at $1 pf/n and 50 at $1.30. Similarly, all gear on a 50 will be bigger and heavier and so a little more expensive.

I reckon the ideal liveaboard is 45 - 47 ft.

[svmariane]

I agree with all the above -- AND disagree with all the above. Everybody has thier viewpoint, so here's mine:

Tied up in the marina you'll love the dockage costs of the 40 footer.

Out there on the wide and wild blue seas you'll love the 50 footer. (I want an aircraft carrier that folds up into dinghy sized when in port.)

I've a 48 foot cutter-rigged sloop and I'm 61 years old. So let's talk about aging...

For the sails and thier weight and other required muscle power:

1) Get good winches and lubricate/maintain them.

2) Sails: I've added a double block at the mainsailhead and an additional block at the mast-top. Yeah, its a lot more line, but instead of a 1-to-1 ratio I've got 4-to-1 power when hoisting by hand. Plus the power of the winch. Electric? We don't need no stinkin' lectric. I use the same principle with our spin-drifter.

3) Anchor: see sails and use of multiple blocks for leverage - if, or when, the windless acts up. That spinaker halyard is useful. {Or even the headsail halyard.}

4) We would never hire a crew to 'help" sail our boat. If my wife and I can't handle it then I'll run the boat onto a beach at high tide in Malasia, throw rocks under and around the hull, and retire. {Again.}

5) Reefing: If you THINK about reefing, it's time to reef. Don't be a hero. We always reef down at dusk - 'cause you can't see the squalls coming in the dark. Reef early and it doesn't take that much muscle. If you're in a hurry then take the plane!

Other thoughts:

1) Clotheswasher: we've a small {2 Kg} cold-water unit. Hot water from the stovetop kettle if needed. Store below when not in use. Runs on 12V. Dryer: fully green! Wind and sun and a clothesline.

2) Dishwasher?!?!?

3) Storage: A bigger boat just has more space.

Some folks wear the same T-shirt for a week; some folks like to dress up when they hit port. Everbody needs an assortment of weather gear">foul weather gear. Unless you buy all new kit in each port you're going to need space for clothes. Add in spare parts, extra sails, motor oil, jerry cans, etc. etc.

We like to have six-months worth of canned foods aboard. We stock enough drinking water for two months in case of no rain and a broken water maker. {Water maker works? Yay!} Four tanks/bottles of propane/butane gives us four months cooking.

We've solar panels {4x 85 watt} and a wind turbine. Batteries of 800 Amp/hour rating. {4X Rolls/Surrette T-12-250} No need to start motor for battery charge. Bigger boat has space for that kind of stuff.

You might LEAVE port for a three-week cruise, but tsunamis and storms happen and your destination port and its support infrastructure might be out of action when you get there.

Did I mention that a bigger boat has more space for essentials, like wine and beer? {Okay.... soft drinks and lemonade if you'd druther.}

Running costs: Yes, the bigger the boat, the higher the maintenance costs. Balance that out against the value of your wife when the storms kick in, the winds hit 55 knots, and the waves are 12 or 13 metres. But then again... Maybe you will never experience such conditions.

Bottom line for us: The bigger boat if you can handle her.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by minaret

. . . .Just gotta get a short spring on first and the rest is easy. . .

That's funny, but that was also my big breakthrough in docking my big boat. The problem is that over 50' you can no longer manhandle the boat at the dock. The short spring line is the ticket to drama-free docking.

OT, sorry.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by yworry

. . . .some say 40 is all 2 can handle in weather others say it no big deal I think it really depends on exper. & type of boat

In weather, on the contrary, a bigger boat will be easier to deal with (all other things being equal).

It's on the dock where bigger boats become much harder to deal with.

[savoir]

If the choice had to be made I would pick a clothes washer over a dish washer.

[matauwhi]

G'day, mates. We have a very large main on our 53 footer. With the Harken battcar system and lazy jacks we are able to sufficiently handle it with just the two us. Our staysail is hanked on with an inner forestay that can be released and stowed back along the mast to allow easily day sailing for tacking the headsail. Cheers

[limejucer]

Originally Posted by yworry

Wow guys/gals great info - were taking some sailing classes this summer and trying to get our plans in order-just still undecided on brand of boat. I want a monohull -dont know if I should go older or something newer like a bene. might be in my price range.I can fix just about anything(been a mechanic for 30yrs.) built a few houses -just not sure I want another project

On the project side you will spend time fixing any boat! and it is all good you need to know where everything goes and how it works. spending time early on getting everything up as you want it is not wasted time. you can do the work quickly in comfort dock side, then sail and enjoy safe in the knowlege that if it breaks it is your fault but you can fix it.(fewer surprises)
my unexpected have been riggin, engine out, water system, electrics on a boat that was ready to sail

[minaret]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

That's funny, but that was also my big breakthrough in docking my big boat. The problem is that over 50' you can no longer manhandle the boat at the dock. The short spring line is the ticket to drama-free docking.

OT, sorry.

It IS funny isn't it? No one taught me this, it was just a light bulb that went off in my head one day. I had been taught for years "stern first for safety first", when it comes to dock lines. Now this makes no sense to me. Of course after I figured this out for myself I learned that that's how everyone with a big boat does it. It has completely removed all the drama from docking the boat for me. All I have to do as the helmsman is get my midships cleat close enough to the dock cleat for my wife to get a line on it, and the rest follows. I'm still laughing at the time a few months ago when we came into the slip late at night in ugly weather. The neighbors jumped out to give us a hand docking, something I don't normally do, but we were tired and happy to accept a helping hand. My wife tossed them a stern line and a bow line, and they proceeded to be towed to the edge of the finger pier by the boats windage. Even with a half turn on a cleat, these two big guys were turning purple trying to haul the boat in to the dock. They almost went swimming. My wife normally does this by herself with no drama. It's all about technique and experience. You can't fight 65k lbs. of boat and win.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by minaret

It IS funny isn't it? No one taught me this, it was just a light bulb that went off in my head one day. I had been taught for years "stern first for safety first", when it comes to dock lines. Now this makes no sense to me. Of course after I figured this out for myself I learned that that's how everyone with a big boat does it. It has completely removed all the drama from docking the boat for me. All I have to do as the helmsman is get my midships cleat close enough to the dock cleat for my wife to get a line on it, and the rest follows. I'm still laughing at the time a few months ago when we came into the slip late at night in ugly weather. The neighbors jumped out to give us a hand docking, something I don't normally do, but we were tired and happy to accept a helping hand. My wife tossed them a stern line and a bow line, and they proceeded to be towed to the edge of the finger pier by the boats windage. Even with a half turn on a cleat, these two big guys were turning purple trying to haul the boat in to the dock. They almost went swimming. My wife normally does this by herself with no drama. It's all about technique and experience. You can't fight 65k lbs. of boat and win.

LOL. Fight 65k lbs of boat and swim, is more like it. You can't use muscle power over 50'; have to use your brains.

That said, we actually do put on stern line first - because I can control the bow with the thrusters. Short spring to midships cleat, then stern, then bow, then springs, then breast lines (if appropriate), then take off the short spring, then boarding ladder & shore power (if there is any), then it's officially cocktail hour.

[stevensuf]

I wonder how many people in smaller boats would move to larger boats if money was not an issue!

Personally I'd say 42-46ft is the ideal size for a cruising couple, not too big to be a handful and not too small to be claustrophobic.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by stevensuf

I wonder how many people in smaller boats would move to larger boats if money was not an issue!

Personally I'd say 42-46ft is the ideal size for a cruising couple, not too big to be a handful and not too small to be claustrophobic.

Well I'd move straight to this... LEKKER..
Its a Cheoy Lee Clipper 42... and this particular boat was owned by a Dutch couple who were living the dream... Tom & Taya... lovely couple we wintered alongside in Andratx in the 90's... an event filled winter it was to... he stuck his head into our Aerogen during a storm.. quite a few stitches needed.
Did not sue us for damages thankfully... (a) he's a seaman, (b) he'd jumped on board on his own account not by request... what this guy could do on a wind surfer was amazing.. but then he was a Dutch champ....
The internals have been altered from original but she's a drop dead gorgeous boat and I sure there's many folk who remember her in the Med...

[Kettlewell]

Noting that your home base is in North Carolina, keep in mind the dimensions of the ICW if you plan on visiting NC or anywhere on the East Coast between Norfolk and Miami. The overhead clearance limit is 65 feet for the ICW, but anything much over 60 feet and you will have to be careful in several places. Depths in parts of the ICW mean that anything over 6 feet will cause you delays and/or trouble at times.

[matauwhi]

"Price and cost of maintenance goes up exponentially with length -- a 50 foot boat is nearly twice the size of a 40 foot one, in terms of volume, weight, and so forth. So price will be nearly twice and cost of upkeep more."

G’day, mates. This statement from an earlier is simply not accurate. The length of the boat is not the only factor that is going to influence your maintenance costs. Three other big ones involve the quality of the build, how you use it and how capable you are at doing a lot of the work your self.

Here are the actual costs this year, here in the Bay of Islands New Zealand, for an offshore boat to haul, wash the bottom, spend 5 days on the hard and then return, 40 ft = $464 NZD, 50 ft = $634 NZD, an actual cost difference of 36%, not even close to double. Sure, the cost of having someone strip and paint a bottom is going to generally cost more for a 50 footer than a 40, but you can greatly mitigate the differential by doing the work yourself.

Over the last 12 years, I have spent the equivalent of $25,056 USD to maintain our Mason 53 to a very respectable standard. That averages out to $2,088 USD per year. I’m sure there are hundreds of 40 ft owners have easily spent in excess of that and many will have spent double, if not triple.

Below are a couple examples of work that my wife and I were able to undertake ourselves and save substantial costs, stripping the bottom & application of a new barrier coat and stripping & painting our mast. Hope this helps shed a little different perspective with the discussion at hand. Cheers.

[minaret]

I agree with the previous poster, length is just one small factor, and does not necessarily mean the boat will be much heavier than a shorter boat. For instance, if we compare say a MacGregor 65 to say a Hans Christian 44, we will immediately see that the Mac is much narrower and lighter than the Hans, despite being much longer. It's interior volume is also smaller. It's just not as cut and dried as saying that a 50' boat will always be twice as big as a 40' boat. Too many factors to consider besides just length, such as beam, type of construction, layout, freeboard, etc etc.

[Capt Phil]

+1... matauwhi... Capt Phil