An interesting proposition - on that coast! :-)
The majority of the "curriculum" you need to master to be a competent
small boat seafarer is common to
power boats and sailboats, so your motorboating
experience will stand you in good stead. The actual differences in
boat handling between the two modes of seafaring are to be found in the "hand, reef and steer" department, but the rudiments of that I could teach you in a long weekend aboard a
boat of twenty seven or thirty feet
LOA, so the task before you is not overwhelming.
But bear in mind that in a
monohull of that size - a five or six ton boat - you'll be lucky to do six knots over the ground. Now, while I've never been there, something -
Google Earth - tells me that to get from, say, Nelson Mandela Yacht Club to anywhere else where you can land safely is at least a ten-hour sail. And that is the crux of the matter.
So if "cruising locally" is something of an impossibility given the nature of your coast, having a "learner boat" will grow tedious quite fast because handing a sailboat in cruising mode is, unless the
weather is rough and the sea running high, something of a dunce's job.
For me, at least, the joy of cruising is to be found in the places you get to. The
passage between places is just a job to get done. The harder the
weather, the more it's like a job you ought to get paid for! Once you are trimmed up on your point of sail it can become utterly boring. In a well-found boat, coming about is an evolution lasting but a few moments. Wearing requires a little more attention to the
work, but provided that that is given, the job is completed almost before it is begun.
That being so, "learner boats" are much of a muchness.
Marketing people can bloviate all they like seeking "product differentiation". There isn't really any in terms of boat handling. "Learner boats" are a commodity. It will be up to you to become sufficiently knowledgeable and "situationally aware" about the way you - you, not somebody else - do the
work required to hand the boat so you can rig it to suit yourself and you "style" of working her.
The same goes for her accommodations. Some layouts work well, others don't. That a layout will work well for Joe doesn't mean that it will work well for Harry, let alone for Jane. But your motorboating
experience will give you guidance.
Given the nature of your coast and its
wind regime, as I understand it, you may wish to consider a pilot house "motorsailer", i.e. a boat rather heavy for her length, and fitted with a rather more powerful
engine than is common, say six horsepower or so per ton
displacement and with an actual wheelhouse with an inside
steering position.
Let us know how you go :-)
TrentePieds
Re: Newbie
Linear Mode
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