Upper size limit

[Boatwithnoname]

I'm new to cruising and I am trying to work out how big of a boat I can have before I start to run into too many limitations around the world at the various locations.

At what length does a boat start to find it hard to:
1. Get a berth in a marina?
2. Get hauled out of the water?

[Joh.Ghurt]

This isn't a good question, as people are cruising on 300' superyachts and have fun. Depending on the size of the boat, the type of cruising you can do and that is fun changes. You won't go gunkholing in the aforementioned superyacht.

If we talk sailboats, usually the sweet-spot seem to be 6' draft. You get a lot more option if your draft is below 4' and the boat can fall dry. Racers have usually a lot more draft, which makes them better offshore but more difficult to get into places.

Another factor is the size of the crew. Up to 45' or so it's easy to sail single-hand without electric winches. After this, things get big and some electric assistance is very welcome for sail-handling. In the past, for a couple the sweet-spot was 35'to 42', now it moved up to 42' to 50'.

You need first to figure out what kind of cruising you want to do before talking size.

For marinas, under 35' it's easy and cheap, 35' - 45' will be still be affordable and over 50' prices go up.

Same for available options to haul out. 35' often still can be done with a mobile crane and over 50' expect yards to tell you, they can't accommodate you.

[Pete7]

Are you solo or a family?

Pete

[StuM]

Pesonally, i feel that 45ft is a good size and is about as high as I would probably go with a monohull for a couple or small family.

[CruiseN]

I ain't a big cruiser. Still dreaming.

Bilge keel would allow access to big tide coves then sit nice and flat on low tide. Reduces depth, leeward keel underway getting low though to provide traction whilst windward keel up providing heel resistance that way.

I generally grew with feel that after 40foot is a much reduced slip access to do maintenance plus costs grow quickly regarding maintenance on dry, weight of sheet underway.
I don't know though which is why I'm looking around 40 foot due to my ignorance and simple acknowledgement that it'll cost me less.

I bought a marina berth. I was interested in a 14 metre berth and a 13.5 metre berth. Half a metre less is about half the yearly cost to own,use. Maintenance would be same if not included in costs per annum, I don't know exactly.

At 13 metres plus leeway, boats that catch my eye vary. Momentum is lovely underway but just slower to change degrees . At same length, boats vary from 7 tonne to double that. Obviously at 7 tonne, with less mass is a reaction allowance.
Moment of inertia springs to mind.
Larger volumes have a fuller keelsun, holding course, refusal to be tack fully playful, can be a hassle in tight manuvours.
Lower volumes don't carry storage. Crew weight, food, etc.
But lower volumes should make a more responsive vessel and hence 'fun' in sooner weathers which we all prefer.

I don't know how others go, they like simple too.
Different vessels will prefer different locations.

I was just giggling because YouTube had a Bavaria which is a really big boat in my eyes.. but included was a BBQ access from fold down swimming platform. Last time we had a shark was a 14 footer chasing the meat oil from the fry pan during bucket wash in cockpit.

Although same lengths, boats I'm interested in are basically half as big, or twice as big depending on view. Yet move rythm of same displacement wave.

Hope that helps.. doing homework the same sir..
Liking idea of Hells Gate, anchorage, off grid for a year gone kayaking or similar.

Big tides we saw were in UK, mostly bilge keels, pretty much all of them.
China has big tides too. Uncle was captain of full size freighter that was stripped to salvage. They ran that full ahead onto beach during flood tide. High and dry, men cut her up. Bow section took 24 hours by carry of men on feet.

Each boat is different. Balanced in their own ways.
Each person has different experiences.
Different choices of roadways are both efficient for traveling from a to b.

[Boatwithnoname]

Please keep the thread focused on the question/answer.

At what point do any of the physically attributes (L x W x H x Weight x displacement etc) start to restrict your options when cruising.

Particularly with regard to marine services or marinas.

Thanks

[CruiseN]

We cruised a race boat for years but my introduction to cruising boats happened years later.

Racing boats lined the dock, but when a simple white hulled beast rocked up, loads of dockhands became ready to be used.
I was working or racing at time. My main job was to pilot the Yacht Squadron tender, a small 14 foot diesel boat used to ferry crew, tow windward if required, just basics.
I asked what was wrong with vessel. First reply was that she is steel. A more thoughtful reply was that it wasn't so much the material, although she was a shorter and much the same width vessel, she was in the water and carried alot more weight. They're all worried about her strength.
Later on, material didn't matter, bordering a fibreglass cruiser she didn't move. Feeling was easier to see, would take a bit to move this one regardless of keel design although knowing that there must be plenty underwater.
Hence regarding size, although same lengths, they are much bigger vessels.

Good news or bad news?
Bad news..knot really.
Maybe patience when docking if in a hurry.

Good news.. loads of dockhands become available really quickly during rallies because they don't want a new through hole.
They tend to hold anchor better due to a big belly and plenty of rocker is my impression anyhow

[Sailmonkey]

How long is a piece of string?

Where are you cruising?

I’ve never had a problem finding a place to tie up our 32’ boat.

I’ve had friends with an 80’ boat not be able to find a slip anywhere near where they wanted to go. The same boat is limited to the yards that can haul it.

All of this changes geographically.

[s/v Moondancer]

We cruised for 11years in a 55ft Tayana. We never had trouble finding a slip or a lift from Nova Scotia to Japan but cost of repairs, sails and rigging go up faster than the length goes up. With a bow thruster my wife handled her well in tight spaces, my job was line handling, but when the thruster was broken she was hard to dock in a tight slip.

I think 40 to 45 ft is a good compromise, you don’t really need an aft cabin as big as a hotel room and sleeping in a queen size bed in a seaway can be a challenge.

[LittleWing77]

Originally Posted by Sailmonkey

How long is a piece of string?

+1, Sailmonkey

There are multiple threads on this topic, Boatwithnoname.

If you search the Forum, you'll find a kaleidescope of answers. Most recently, a woman whose catamaran has a 32' beam and she couldn't find a place that could haul her in the Chesapeake (one of the "Sailing Capital"s in the World...)

Fair winds,
LittleWing77

[CruiseN]

Most preferred the cruiser/racer bias towards the racer end of volume down this way because they are easy to move around tight spots with such as marina and were often berthed..
On another 30foot cruiser, as crew, she felt beautiful. On a 40 foot cruiser,as crew, we were racing and I complained about the 30footers passing us because we had the length. Regarding such, vessel was bias towards cruiser end.. much much slower but weather wouldn't bother her. Even in marina, because she was in the water, topside weather didn't budge her course much. But something to be aware of is if not confident with a nice slow STEADY pace, damage would be much larger due to a much larger vessel.
Alot of modern production cruiser/racers are towards fast (racer) end of bias.
Cruisers are better at sea because they're designed to move really slow. But awkward when asked to be tied up unless crew is very gentle.

I hope that helps sizing. Best I could do.

[CruiseN]

I don't want to lead you astray neither.

We'd made the lengths during the beat but were outrun white sheets on the return reach.
They go alright. Just not plane.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Boatwithnoname

Please keep the thread focused on the question/answer.

At what point do any of the physically attributes (L x W x H x Weight x displacement etc) start to restrict your options when cruising.

Particularly with regard to marine services or marinas.

Thanks

It's not an answerable question, except in context. Some cruising areas are more restrictive in draft (Ex: Bahamas). Some areas will be harder for wider-beamed boats (Ex: Great Lakes), and some areas may be more challenging for taller height boats (Ex: areas of the ICW).

Sailing almost any size boat is pretty easy when everything is going fine. It's when things aren't going fine that size (sometimes) matters. Low to mid-40s LOA has been a standard for distance cruisers for decades.

So it's a nonsensical question to ask outside some context.

[Boatwithnoname]

It's a valid question. This is an abusive forum. I think I'll just stop asking questions.
Clean the 20 year old content out of this forum, and then I'll search through it.

Thanks to those that answered

[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by Boatwithnoname

It's a valid question. This is an abusive forum. I think I'll just stop asking questions.
Clean the 20 year old content out of this forum, and then I'll search through it.

Thanks to those that answered

It’s not really a valid question without some context. There are areas of the world where 60’ isn’t easy/possible to deal with. There are other places where this is a small bean.

Some people can handle a 50’ boat single handed, others can’t work a dinghy.

I don’t see any abuse here...I do see reality as well as questions intended to tweak more information out of you.

Purging old content is akin to purging history because you don’t like it.