40ft or 50ft -What Do You Like ?

[Cotemar]

Originally Posted by Don L

I keep hearing this "how big cats" are. One of you cat people need to invite me onto you boat because I went onto a 38' cat at the Boston Boat Show and I felt it had less room than my boat! yes it had a decent size salon table that would seat 1 more thn my table, but the rest just sucked!

Not saying that you don't have a nice boat, just that I don't believe the blanket statement based on the cats I've been on.

Its not a blanket statement, it square footage. Just simple math.
I have 2 staterooms with queen beds and two large heads with large showers the length of the boat in both hulls.
The Saloon an Galley are 17 feet wide X 10 feet long.
Its just more square feet.

In our Catalina 380 the stateroom was large, but you had to crawl into bed as you were under the cockpit. If you sat up in bed you would hit your head.

When your down below in the galley and saloon you can not see forward. Your just in a big hall way at that point.

[JK n Smitty]

Originally Posted by Don L

However, going bigger would mean (in order of importance to me)

1) more time doing maintenance than having fun.
Why as they all have the same systems! So unless the bigger boat has more systems, especially electrical ones, the maintenance time is the same! The only thing that takes a little more time is painting/waxing/cleaning the deck. I will admit that probably wastes 30 minutes a year more for me.

More boat means more hardware to rebed, more bottom to paint and clean, more things that could break and need repair. Again it is minor amount of extra time and is well worth the extra comfort of the larger boat. My 43.5' boat has LESS fittings on the deck than my 39' boat had.

OK, looking at you for an example. You went from 39 to 43.5 feet. (This is a very general analysis and obviously the particulars of the actual boats may differ.) That additional 4 feet doesn't typically come at the ends but in the middle of the boat, at the beamiest point, and would come with an additional 8-12 inches of beam. For easy math lets say the beam goes from 12 to 13 feet. That means approximately an additional 80-90 square feet of bottom to sand, clean, paint, scrape, etc. It would also mean an additional 100 square feet of hull to wash, wax, buff, compound, etc. If you can do that in 30 minutes, hats off to you.

There are probably two additional window/portals, at least one additional hatch and 2-4 additional stanchions all to be polished, rebedded and cleaned.

I have seen very few 40+ footers that don't have two heads. So that's additional work to maintain and winterize those systems.

A larger boat will require more electrical components (i.e. lights, fans, etc.). Those will require additional battery capacity or they will reduce your capacity quicker. Either more charging or more batteries to maintain.

Again, this is only going up 4 feet! From my boat to yours is going up 13 feet.

2

) more cost for replacement items and repairs. sure some costs are going to be more, but it isn't all about costs

I guess this is how you look at it. To me, it's about cruising and enjoying my life. I don't have an unlimited budget. I am not on a trust fund, I didn't strike it rich in the stock market and I still have yet to figure out how to turn lead into gold. So I have one very simple equation I live by: more money = less time cruising.

I am also going cruising at 40. I am not going to wait an additional 25 years to enjoy my life. So spending money smartly is very important to me.

3) compromises on features because i would have to get an older boat to stay in that price range. just another budget item

See above.

4) a harder boat for my Bride to handle when it's her shift. I don't think a 45' bat is any harder to handle than a 35' boat, unless you have 35' boat winches on your 45' boat

Difficult to quantify. I guess I would simply leave it at that a larger boat is more intimidating.

If your goal is cruise and not just go sailing I'm
going to stick to my belief that you should get the largest boat you can afford to buy, operate and maintain (within in reason which for a couple to me gets to the point of low return around 46-48'). This is going to be your HOME!

So ask yourself how much is reasonable per year to have the extra comfort.

I never questioned your belief but you said earlier that the "go small" and "go big" philosaphies are the same and I was pointing out that they were not. Also, I was giving my reasons why bigger isn't better.

Last year we lived on our boat from April through December. We never felt it was too small. This year we hope to live aboard full time, once we can sell our house. I plan to add some systems for that (mainly a 12 volt diesel heating system) but I don't think we need additional length. We will be leaving for crusing on June 26, 2015 on a 31 foot boat.

I would challenge your question on comfort with the following: how much time cruising does each foot of boat length cost you?

[captain58sailin]

When I was single, I was looking at 42' as the small end for liveaboard, that would obviously be roomy enough for the occasional couples outings. The question's answer is as individual as the different boats are. I admire an old plank 36' Herreshoff that has a wind genny and a small suitcase gas genny, to supply power, and a woodstove in the main salon, very homey and snug. Could I be comfortable and content aboard her, most definitely. How ever I have set different goals and those require a larger vessel and the added expense is offset by the added income, and comfort. Each to their own. As far as the timing of going off around the world, again we each have our own priorities and time line. For a couple on a long term basis, I would say 45' is the smallest that would be comfortable for long periods of time, be it, cat, tri, or mono. Half the fun is in the search.

[rpnuy]

hello. for the most part, I agree with Kettlewell. I saw a 39' pilothouse boat on ebay last week with a starting bid at $25K. that would leave lots in the cruising kitty!!! I also agree with what many have said about the cost accelerations that come along with the bigger boats and the handling/docking issues. in the end, it's completely up to you....what you want. just try not to saddle yourself with a boat too big to enjoy. Ralph

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by captain58sailin

When I was single, I was looking at 42' as the small end for liveaboard, that would obviously be roomy enough for the occasional couples outings. The question's answer is as individual as the different boats are. I admire an old plank 36' Herreshoff that has a wind genny and a small suitcase gas genny, to supply power, and a woodstove in the main salon, very homey and snug. Could I be comfortable and content aboard her, most definitely. How ever I have set different goals and those require a larger vessel and the added expense is offset by the added income, and comfort. Each to their own. As far as the timing of going off around the world, again we each have our own priorities and time line. For a couple on a long term basis, I would say 45' is the smallest that would be comfortable for long periods of time, be it, cat, tri, or mono. Half the fun is in the search.

Hmmm.... Fight a lot huh.. I prefer cozy, snuggly...

[captain58sailin]

I do get grumpy sometimes.

[boatman61]

Awwww...