Smaller Bluewater Cruising Monos

[model 10]

Originally Posted by Scot McPherson

What I fogot to write about is, the canal authority is in the business of making money (or at least supporting itself). Traffic that slows down commerce is a hit on their bottom line. That's why they have speed minimums.

No one is being fooled but it's a wink wink nod thing. You fill out the papers saying your boat can do the speed, whatever it is. The advisors are pretty cool. What you don't want is to break down in the middle somewhere. That will really bug them. By going slower you sometimes miss the connection with a big ship they have planned for you at the end of the day at Colon. So you will spend the night on the mooring ball, no big deal. Going the other way, they will often move you onto the lake the evening before and you spend the night on the mooring ball ( it's huge.) Then you will have a full day to get across before dark.

[deanowens1966]

I just emailed the wife to put the house on the market... We are buying a boat...

<Just Kidding>

[Broken-Sailor]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

I'm gonna triple the Westsail 32
My neighbor has one and going through it, it seems well built. I believe there is a way on the HIN to determine if it was a factory boat or not. A lot were home finished


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From the information I found on the Westsail 28, if the 32 is done the same the way you can tell which it is

A “K” in the first four digits of the hull number means it was a owner completed kit boat which will have varying construction quality. An “F” means factory finished.

Resource: Atom Voyages - Good Old Boats List

[gaspass3]

How about:

Bristol Channel Cutter 28

Or

Shannon 28

Or

Pacific Seacrest Orion 27

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[Broken-Sailor]

Originally Posted by deanowens1966

At this point, I'm leaning toward the Westsail 32 and then the Albin Vega 27. This is not to say that there has been a final decision. Of course, there hasn't. But after a lot of the research that I've done and many of the very good posts here I am, as I said leaning toward these two boats. One of the issues is proven safety and long term, long-distance liveaboard and passage making.

I will continue to look and have further discussions, so that when it is time, a proper decision will be made.

Thanks for all of the encouraging and positive posts. I really like the videos and blog from Chuck and Laura Rose on the SV Lea Lea. This Long term cruising couple has provided much insight into the life aboard a vessel like I am expecting to sail. I especially liked the honesty of both Chuck and Laura when it came to some of the decisions that they made and the negative ramifications of those decisions. It is quite refreshing that they aren't afraid to demonstrate what the real cruising life is.




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Lots of used Vegas for sale well below the price you have to spend here.Used Albin Vegas and the Westsails are Here

[Blue Crab]

I skipped a couple of pages but would like to add a vote to go to ~30'.

Pretty big difference in volume with each foot longer. It's going to matter on a long voyage in terms of storage space and motion.

[jangann]

Pacific Seacraft
Westsail
Southern Cross (google Donna Lange)
Valiant (cue the blisters discussion, but google saltbreaker)

Good Luck! Very exciting to undertake this adventure!

[gjordan]

56 horsepower in a 32 foot boat???? The only justification for that much HP is if you refuse to learn how to sail. Look at the tankage and figure the weight, and figure the size of the (parking brake) prop. The second W32 has a slightly lower HP , but even more fuel, which is more weight IE less performance. If the OP is still comparing Vegas, to W32, he should consider the cost of a refit/maintenance on a boat the displaces 4 times what the Vega does. There is no question that the W32 will be roomier, and more comfortable than the Vega, but does the OP want or need that??? W32s can turn in good passages (look at Roverhi) but so can Vegas, with much less cost and physical work. ONLY THE OP CAN DECIDE!!!. ______Grant.

[clockwork orange]

As a guy who does his own thinking I consider many of the usual suspects as not being any better for the job at hand than many of thousands of older cruiser racers you see in marinas all over the country. What happens is some guy or gal does a long passage in a particular model of boat and writes a book so someone else thinks it must be a good boat so does the same and pretty soon the boat becomes the boat to have. There are many old cruiser racers in the 25 - 30ft rangethat would, with a few upgrades be every bit as suitable as the Albin Vega or Contessa 26, such as a few of the Cal models, Ericson 27 and 29, Ranger 26, 28 and 29, Tartan 27 and 30. The list goes on and on, my personal favorite is the Lindenberg 26, a huge 26 with lots of freeboard (so when its loaded for cruising its not a half tide rock like the contessa), beam, headroom, and more deck space than most 30 footers and close to a minute a mile faster than most of the boats mentioned so far. I know of one for sale right now for 4k with a very nice road trailer,(not mine) definatly in need of a refit but you would have a lot of change from 50k if you didn't go stupid like many do.

Steve.

[Blue Crab]

CO makes several good points; especially about some boats getting/having a certain circumnavigating cachet. Most of us agree the boat is a distant 2nd element of the equation, the Cap being #1 by far. And I'd think the smaller the boat, the better the Captain has to be.

That doesn't happen just by taking ASA courses or having enough money to buy an endless stash of electronics to allow redundant plug and play capability. Nope, ya got to sit there in the wet scary dark and be a problem solver. If you're not a very self-reliant person, you'd better save your money and avoid certain heartache or worse. Only you have the answers.

I know of an Ericson 27 on the hard with running Volvo for a couple of boat bucks. Needs very little to splash. My Cal 29 could be had in your $range. They've been round and round. Mine could leave tomorrow but fortunately, I don't have that particular vice. Pearson 30s can be had on the East Coast for giveaway $.

I'm not suggesting any of these but it buttresses CO's point. The current generation disposable-income sailor believes in bigger is better and 40' is now considered the AWB but for a very long time 30' was considered the norm by long distant voyagers.

Another way to look at the problem is boat features: I'd want a tiller, a windVANE, a diesel, as much room as possible, reasonable boat speed, and brand new rigging. It's not just about water and food storage. You'll want your dive gear, fishing stuff, a rowing dinghy, a bike, more than one Danforth-copy with 4' of rubberized chain, a real sail inventory (think taking up space), etc., and if you're the kind of guy who has to take along a 3/4" socket set, well ....

And what of the wifey? (That's how we refer to mature female spouses on CF.) Absence makes the heart grow fonder (for somebody else). As others have said, this is an overdone topic on CF. Do your own homework, sir.

[clockwork orange]

Yes, I am a boatbuilder by trade and spend a lot of time around marinas and have had the opportunity to be onboard a lot of different boats and to be honest there were a lot of very good boats under 30 ft built in the 1970s that would be a great starting point for a budget offshore cruiser, many of them are much better performers than their more modern counterpart (of which there are very few) Most of the smaller ones, say 25 -28ft are in the same 5 - 6k displacement range that boats such as the Vega and Contessa have proven to be adequate to carry the stores and gear needed for long passages for one or two people and are built just as stout without being ridiculous like some of the ultra heavy full keel offerings. To be clear, despite its track record the Vega has as many well known shortcomings as many others such as weak rudders and poorly designed compression posts as well as others not so well known. The same goes for the Contessa 26. I point this out only to show that ANY boat is going to need a lot of improvements to be suitable for the purpose but if you are reasonably handy these are quite inexpensive on boats in this size range. There is a huge jump in volume when you go from 24ft to 26ft so I would consider 26ft to 30ft as a nice place to be and then narrow it down by what is important to you, for example if you want reasonable headroom and inboard diesel you could probably eliminate the Contessa 26, Ranger 26, AV 27 and a lot of others and focus on boats in the 28 - 30ft range. An outlier is my personal favorite, the Lindenberg 26 a Lee Creekmore MORC racer design and a very interesting design study for those with an interest in the impact of choices made at the design stage.

Steve.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by gjordan

56 horsepower in a 32 foot boat???? The only justification for that much HP is if you refuse to learn how to sail. Look at the tankage and figure the weight, and figure the size of the (parking brake) prop. The second W32 has a slightly lower HP , but even more fuel, which is more weight IE less performance. If the OP is still comparing Vegas, to W32, he should consider the cost of a refit/maintenance on a boat the displaces 4 times what the Vega does. There is no question that the W32 will be roomier, and more comfortable than the Vega, but does the OP want or need that??? W32s can turn in good passages (look at Roverhi) but so can Vegas, with much less cost and physical work. ONLY THE OP CAN DECIDE!!!. ______Grant.

Yeah, 56 is getting up there, but the WS32 is a big boat... don't let the 32 fool you... it's beamy, heavy and has the waterline length of many a 34-36 footer. The two boats are just apples and oranges; the Vega is a narrow style more like a folk boat, small for a 27 by todays standards and will be a wet ride that sails well heeled over at only 8 ft beam. You only use the HP you need.

[familycruisers]

Nobody mentions the Westerly Centaur. At 26 foot with a 6.5 knot hull speed and the twin keels which ate up the 10~15 footers we put ourselves in twice, shes very stout. We only cruised down the east coast, to the Keys and back but the offshore stuff we did do, inspired us, amd instilled a lot of confidence in my boat and crew, ie wife and two kids!
Distant plans, but the fact she motors at 5knots in the flat has come up in conversation for potentially crossing the Panama.

[avb3]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

From your linked source (bold front from myself):

"... The optimum minimum speed to transit the Canal, is 8 knots. The Canal Authority may deny transit if a handline vessel (i.e. a yacht) cannot maintain a minimum speed of 5 knots..."

The source you linked is from 2012; I know boats that transited in 2013 and 2014 none of which could attain 8 knots, each of them could make the minimum 5 knots. None got fined, nor denied transit.

As you say they are stricter now, any links to reports of boats that got fined or denied?

barnakiel

It seems to me the information was discussed here on CF, but I would have to do a search, which doesn't work as well on my smartphone.

Good to hear that they are still making exceptions. A LOT of us would be excluded otherwise.

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[deanowens1966]

I want to thank everybody for the great posts.

I think that we would be better off getting a West Coast boat. Even trucking the boat from a East Coast port to the West Coast probably would be cheaper than going through the Panama Canal.

The adventures of the crew of Lea Lea have been inspiring. I also read another blog about a couple sailing a Contessa 26. It is evidently for sale in the Western Pacific. I believe Tonga.

As I sit here in St. Louis Missouri, with it being in the low 90s both temperature and humidity I look at the current temperature in Tahiti and really wish I was there instead.




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