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sailorboy1 · 01-09-2011, 03:55

As a non dog person I can not image a boat big enough to have a dog on it, let alone a 60# one.

Need more poll vote. Would like to eard thoughts from the person who voted that a 30' boat is big.

**Tellie** · 01-09-2011, 04:34

I thought I used to know how big a big boat was until I let my wife aboard.

MarkJ · 01-09-2011, 06:00

Don,

This poll is so funny. You set it to say that anything above 60 feet is big.

Many would say 60 feet is small! Maybe not so many on this forum, but certainly 60 feet is not big.

I have sailed long range on 2 68 footers and a 65 footer and think those for a coupple are bordering on big. But its not till over 70 foot that really needs a crew to help clean is a boat 'big'.
And if you drop into Palma de Mallorca anything under 100 feet is tiny!

anjou · 01-09-2011, 06:32

The perception of size is relative to what your used to. If I won the lotto I would go bigger, much bigger, if only to put more distance between me and guests aboard. Maybe that says something about me and not the boat.
Having said that, more boat space equals more crap aboard, including the possibility others might out stay a welcome.

With all the bits added on, mine will be pushing 60', so for me, anything thats 10' bigger would be a big boat.

Maybe a better deffinition of size is the amount of usefull space available, not the length?

anjou · 01-09-2011, 06:43

It just occured to me

Shirley you cant be serious?

In true Leslie Nielsen style, dont call me Shirley. A big boat is something that floats and can hold a lot of people.

**Adelie** · 01-09-2011, 06:45

Anything over 25' + 7'/adult + 2'/kid or 25' + 6'/adult + 3'/kid

redcobra · 01-09-2011, 06:51

When I had a 19', 25' was big.
When I had a 25', a 30' was what I aspired to and was big.
When I had a 30', a 35' was big.
Now I have a 39' and it's too big.

Why is it too big you say?
1. Costs of things are double that of a 30' (paint, lines, canvas, slip fees, etc.)
2. It's a chore to single hand (raising the main takes some herculean effort at my age.)
3. There is more room than I need for the type of sailing I do and the number of people I now take with me (kids gone).
4. there is a lot more to maintain and keep clean.

Next boat, if there is one, will be between 30 and 35 feet (and a sloop, not a yawl or ketch). Maybe even a small motorsailer (30'-35').

ps: Maybe I just need an electric winch for the main. Now there's a thought.....

MarkJ · 01-09-2011, 07:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by redcobra

ps: Maybe I just need an electric winch for the main. Now there's a thought.....

Nothing wrong with that idea!

Some folks use a right angle battery operated drill with a winch bit to hoist and trim.

Unicorn Dreams · 01-09-2011, 07:38

A boat that carries a dinghy bigger than my boat

Jolly Roger · 01-09-2011, 07:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Randyonr3

always figured a boat with a "bath tub" would have to be a big boat

I’ve just fitted not only a full size bathtub, but a hot-tub with ten jets into my Down East 45, which I don’t consider “big” at all.
One thing which I don’t think has been mentioned is not size as such, but weight. I’ve sailed a Bavaria 39 from England to Gibraltar last year and I though it was really small and easy to handle at only eight tons. In the middle of Biscay I wished it was twice the size. You could push it away from a dock, and when you climbed aboard it rocked.
My boat is only six fee longer and a foot beamier, but it comes in at 20 tons which is a different kettle of fish entirely.
Surely, it’s all relative to experience and personal capacity, age and also equipment, etc: If I had only one arm I might consider 35’ to be big, especially if I had to use a manual windlass to bring in the chain. Electric equipment makes a big boat easier to handle, and therefore “smaller.”

NeptunesTrident · 01-09-2011, 07:49

I hear the Queen Mary II is a big ship.

Boulter · 01-09-2011, 07:53

Hi:

My thinking in saying 35 feet was from searches on Yachtworld. Seems that there are about 10 times the number of boats < 35 than 35-45 feet. So as a WAG I estimate that about 80% of the fleet is < 35 feet, leaving the balance over 35 feet.

Boulter

**David M** · 01-09-2011, 08:25

Right before it fits the definition of a ship, meaning it becomes too big to be placed on a ship.

**Jim Cate** · 01-09-2011, 08:34

G'Day all,

True story: (relative to "big" boat),

Some years ago, a friend singlehanding a 28 foot r/c type boat in New Zealand met an old friend who was skipper on a "big" motor yacht. The old friend said "why sail alone all the way back to California? Come with us!" Our pal said "but, what would I do with my boat?"

Answer: "We'll lift her aboard and moor her in the swimming pool"!

THAT is a big boat!

Cheers,

Jim

PS: He sailed back.