So I've been doing my
research as best I can on the subject of
boats for
offshore. I've been combing through Atoms list for small
budget cruisers. What I've noticed primarily is that 90% of these
boats are either 3/4 or
full keel. From what I can gather it's that a
full keel handles better in poor
weather conditions and has a better directional stability. However they're slower than fin
keel and other types of boats and from what I've read more crampt. The other thing I've found is that they maneuver well in downwind conditions but handle poorly in windward conditions. Maybe not a big issue since crossing follows the
trade winds?
In any event I'm just trying to understand the pros and cons of each and why one is favored over the other for
offshore sailing?
The second thing I'm curious about is if I'm spending say a total of 60 days at sea and several months island hopping and coastal sailing. Should that be taken into factor as well or should I primarily focus on what's best for getting there?
Lastly the thing I'm taking into consideration is a lot of these boats (in my opinion) have very crampt and difficult to maneuver decks. Many of them like the
Columbia 26 have multiple raises in the
cabin and nearly no room along the edges to get from the
cockpit to the bow. Where as it's predecessor the MK II has more of a Vega 27
deck design which is much easier to maneuver around on in a pinch without tripping over things. I'm a big guy with big feet so I want a
deck I'll be comfortable getting around.
If you guys could help me understand the bigger picture it would probably help me in choosing a suitable
boat.
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