I thought about this as I read the thread, and I have to say, given the sheer volume of old
fiberglass and even
wood or ferrocement
boats out there still on the waterways including the oceanic and nearshore/inshore paths, the chance of
capsize and/or sinking is being highly inflated by people's fears relative to these issues. Most of the
lost vessels I have heard of in my life were
lost either by fires (bad
wiring and
cooking and
engine accidents) or by storms (and often the vessel was tossed onto higher ground or into a tree by storm surge, or impaled or crushed by another
boat or pier in the storm).
I have no doubt my relatively (to most of the people here) small 27 foot vessel will handle inland waters just fine. I also have no doubt she would handle six foot
wind waves fine, and swells even higher, as long as the slope and wave period are not terribly steep (ie., I am not in a severe tropical or cold
core low storm in open sea). I have seen what 20+ foot seas look and act like in the North Atlantic, and have seen the damage the waves alone can do to a
steel hull. I have no illusions about this. That said....
If a person will keep the hoses and valves to the few seacocks on even a relatively
seaworthy monohull in good
repair, watch for damage in the
hull prior to departure and underway, attend to
maintenance on the durable structures of the vessel on a regular and ongoing basis, and keep the
rigging in tune and good
repair while attending to sail
inspection on a regular basis with
maintenance repairs of same, there is no reason a
boat with an experienced crew cannot make long trips, assuming of course they have sufficient funds to provision and
storage to make it from one land location to the next.
However, I don't think that the science of monohulls lends itself to them remaining inverted should one turtle temporarily, and that when they revert to upright state, they make EXCELLENT lifeboats should such occur, provided someone is dumping floodwater into the sink drains and/or
cockpit, also provided these drains are running clearly and that the person keeps at it while running whatever
bilge pumps they have at their disposal.
I don't think I will likely be able to own a cat in my life because they cost a great deal more than I can seem to scrabble together at any point, and I can afford a LOT more
monohull quality and resto than I can afford stripped
catamaran. I therefore do not fear
capsize as much as sinking, but I also don't fear sinking that much either.
So, given I am using the mono only for comparison and sinking versus capsize, I think capsize and sink are equally unlikely, and if one does happen, well, at least I was able to get out there and enjoy something I love, the ocean and the
animals and winds inhabit and caress her, vindictive as the beeotch may occasionally be.
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