BoatBanter.com - View Single Post - Four questions from someone new to boating

Wayne.B

On 19 Mar 2007 07:21:35 -0700, wrote:

I have been drawn to the idea of buying a boat, because of the
independant lifestyle it brings. Here are some rather ignorant
questions, and I would be very grateful to anyone who takes a few
minutes to answer one or all of them:

a) How big a boat is required to go from New York to England (about
3750nm)?

Far more important than size is your own experience and preparation,
as well as the preparation of the boat. You will get very little
agreement on this question but my personal experience would dictate a
heavily built boat over 40 ft in length. People have done it in far
less, but comfort and relative safety increase with size, all other
things being equal. You need to get *lots* of experience with coastal
cruising and boat maintenance before you even think about crossing an
ocean.

b) If I wanted to learn more about boating, is there a book available
by someone who captures what it is like to be at sea, and describes
the pros and cons of boat life?

There are lots of books but most do not do a good job describing life
at sea because that doesn't sell books. Forget romantic notions of
idyllic passages. They exist but not as often as you read about.
Being at sea in a small boat is not a walk in the park, and by small
I'm talking about less than 200 feet. Weather forecasts are only
accurate to about 5 days, so any voyage longer than that on open ocean
incurs a high risk and probability of serious storm conditions (winds
over 35 kts, breaking seas over 20 ft high). After a few hours of
that you will want to be someplace else, just about anywhere else.
Boats also require constant maintenance and you will spend a great
deal of time repairing things and improvising, frequently in difficult
conditions.

c) Do any of you live on your boats?

Counting part time liveaboards (more than 3 or 4 weeks per year),
quite a few.

d) Why does the value of boats fall off so fast? Some new boats seem
to loose half their value in five years.

There are many, many used boats for sale. More supply than demand is
the main reason, coupled with the fact that there are quite a few
people, who for reasons of their own, will only buy new.

Thanks in advance,

Terry.