How Small Is Too Small?

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by sneuman

my Tayana 37. So far, so good, ......37 is an absolute maximum for one or two sailors. !

Recently we were aboard a Tayana 54. If someone gave you one you would learn that 54 is now the absolute maximum

All the best

[hpeer]

Trying to keep with the intent of the OP I would suggest that they read
Voyaging on a Small Income by Annie Hill.

Good read about how to do it on the cheap, and about how small is too small.

From someone who has been there and done it.

Built their own boat (plywood dory, unstayed cat/ketch junk rig) and have sailed from England to the Caribbean many times with side trips to Greenland and Baltic.

Cheers

[Hud3]

Scott,

I think you're right, on both counts! Mine's a 38'.

[Jim Cate]

[quote=sneuman;. I also happen to think 37 is an absolute maximum for one or two sailors. So, there's the rub![/quote]

Surely you jest, sir!

Without invoking all the myriad of current and past cruising singles and couples who have made and enjoyed great passages and cruises in boats far bigger than 37 feet, how about US? When we moved from Insatiable (36') to Insatiable II (46') only two things were more difficult: hoisting the main and paying for it.

Any arbitrary size limitation, bigger or smaller, is silly. People seem to be quite adaptable, and happy cruising can happen in almost any size boat!

Cheers

Jim and Ann s/v Insatiable II lying Gladstone Qld Oz

[meyermm]

I have to agree Marina fees and entering marina pens are the only area that gets harder with the extra length. You do not have to fill the bigger boat up the idea is to have more living space not clutter

[sneuman]

maybe my pronouncement of "absolute" was a bit over the top. I would say that I want to be capable of single-handing, and I'd feel uncomfortable with a boat much bigger than mine. The difficulty in handling the main is non-trivial.

In any case, this is all rather subjective. So, that's just my opinion. Take it cum grano salis, as the Romans used to say.

[Martinini]

Here is my criteria---buy the biggist boat you can afford and still be able to singlehand! And that means safely.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by Martinini

Here is my criteria---buy the biggist boat you can afford and still be able to singlehand! And that means safely.

And I would also suggest considering carefully the word "afford" - "can afford to run" is not always the same as "can afford to buy" - boats same same as much else on that one.

[DavidGC]

Larger boat =
Initial purchase price is more $ (generally speaking)
Sails are bigger, more $
Lines and rigging are longer, larger, more $
Deck and rigging hardware must be heavier, more $
Haul outs are more $
Bottom requires more paint, more $
Marina slips are more $
Wheel steering vs tiller = more $
More "stuff" (refrig., watermaker) = more $

I've weekended and spent weeks at a time solo on a 22 ft and didn;t fel like I was "camping."
For me, anything over 30 -32 feet is just 1. initial purchase money, and 2. upkeep money that could be spent on something else -- like a better refit, more months cruising, or more rum while cruising.

Ultimately, it's a question we all answer differently.

DGC

[nautical62]

Another thing to consider is insurance if you desire it. You may have a difficult time getting a small boat in need of work insured for any blue water cruising. When you find a boat you are interested in, get a free quote so you know all the implications of your decision before you make it.

(Also a survey, check into storage options, etc.)

[mandlmaunder]

Glad to hear that there will be 1 more cruiser out there doing the fun things.
As has been said to many people, your comfort zone is "your" comfort zone and different from anyone else's.
The size of boat you choose, the Q's of what it' made of, do you need hot running water?, do you need ice cream in the middle of the ocean? do you want to beach your boat or anchor off,there are hundreds of Q's to be answered and the only way for you to answer them is to get out and start sailing.
A large part of gaining experience is learning what you don't like ,want or need! only you can answer those Q's.
Try joining a sailing/yacht club that has regular race's and sailing events that way you can sail many different types of boat without having to buy. You will gain experience and meet many who have done what you want to do and can talk knowledgably about it in the safty of the bar.
Sailing is like any sport , it has its' own language, it's own hero's , and when you start the"networking" things will start to fall into place.
Good luck and happy hunting.
Mark

[SteveMH]

I am also a novice. The best advice I received was to get out and sail. I joined a local sailing club and it has been a hoot bith good and bad weather. Members with boats take us newbies out, we pay for fuel as needed and bring the food and beverages. We clean the boat and help secure it after our sail.

I am sure that there are similar clubs in your area. I have already altered my thinking as to a boat based upon these experiences. My dream, a Valiant. My budget, something much more modest. I seem to be veering toward a used early to mid 1980's Wauquiez Pretorian 35 or Hood 38. I am not convinced that there is a "just right" boat. I find that I would rather settle for something smaller but what I judge to be well built. Being essentially a woos, I like a boat that gives me a sense of being very seaworthy and relative safety. For me I also prefer boats that seem to "almost" sail themselves. Do not underestimate your need for good storage, water tankage, spares and a place for a good bottle of wine. Check with harbor masters regarding abandoned or derelict boats that can often be gotten for a song.

But as many have previously pointed out so far, get out on the water. The guy with the day sailor who is out every chance he gets is having a hell of a lot more fun than the guy waiting to be able to afford his dream boat.

[malbert73]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Its a good couple of thoughts you have in there and they relate back to the way people respond to these queries about boat size.

I will help answer both parts - stress and "I didn't know how hard it was, now I'm telling you"...

I have been the mate on a racing Swan 651 trans-Atlantic and other stuff too but always plenty of crew stuffed around all the winches. Safety in numbers? (Deluded by numbers?)

But when I bought our boat I couldnt get a 65 footer, so I got what I could afford, a 39 footer.

The longest leg one is likely to do on a tropics circumnavigation is the 3,000 miles Galapagos to Marquesas.
3,000 miles is the same distance as LA to New York and then down to the tip of Florida.
With only 2 people on board, me and Nic.
Remember Galapagos isn't on the coast. Its 1,000 miles from Panama.

At the halfway mark I was sitting in the cockpit wondering about our half way and I thought what happens if.....:

We hadn't seen a ship or boat, or sign of life for over 1 week. (we weren't to see one for 20 whole days)

It doesn't take a storm to make the position precarious... just 2 mistakes.

Someone being injured and something breaking down.

Then you are in a position of having to EPIRB therefore losing your yacht, savings, lifestyle etc... as well as the endangerment of the life of the injured person.

But so far off shore how often would a ship come along? Its NOT on a shipping route. Half way to Marquesas is right in the middle of nowhere H2O!

As for gentle seas and trade winds... trade winds are good for old heavy sailing ships, 20-25 kts is fine downwind, but trying to turn and plug back 1,500 miles is difficult!

You can't go north as there is NOTHING: Hawaii is 2,600 miles, Mexico 1,600, Peru 2,000 miles.


So you get through that and catch landfall in Marquesas and the moment of real fear half way across disappears into the back of your mind.....

Until someone says they want to do it in a 25 footer or a 20 footer, or a beer package, surfboard made of hay like some old Polynesian in 2000BC....

Then when they say that, I then feel its fair for me to say "you don't know how hard it is...".... "Its stressful, why do it?..."

I am not telling people what to do or what not to do in these and other threads... I am just giving my opinion, as I see it, for others to take it, dismiss it, or take one or 2 of the ideas on board.

ONe last thing: About being injured. How do you think the easiest way to badly injure a person at sea is? Falling down the companionway.... Dang that easy life could be so easily stressful!





Mark

Very good points all above. Especially as relates to breakdowns and injuries in remote areas of the sea.

However, probably good to mention that one can cruise for weeks, months, years, never doing 3000 mile ocean passages. Especially for the newbies participating here, cruising can be infinite even if one stays coastal. I know of many people who have escaped to go cruising and have rarely left sight of land.

[hpeer]

"However, probably good to mention that one can cruise for weeks, months, years, never doing 3000 mile ocean passages. Especially for the newbies participating here, cruising can be infinite even if one stays coastal. I know of many people who have escaped to go cruising and have rarely left sight of land."

I heard an apocryphal quote, attributed to the Hisocks' I think. The Hisocks being famous world cruising couple. They were holed up in some New England harbor with a bunch of other yachties waiting for a weather window. The report for the next day is moderatly OK and the harbor clears out as all the local yachties clear out.....except the Hisocks. When queried about it they said that their standard was to sail only in fine weater, if you had to rush youwere not cruising. They had been sailing for decades and expereienced only rare bouts of bad weaterh.

[mobetah]

As for finding a cheap boat that might need a little or a lot of work for a bargin price, you might watch the following site eBay Store - Boat Angel: Boats, Cars, Sailboat for a bargin boat in your area.

Good Luck, Bill A.