On Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:47:32 -0700 (PDT), "
wrote:

On Apr 14, 3:19 pm, Bruce in Bangkok wrote:
I've been aboard some of those 35 ft. cruising boats that have been
sailing for several years. The ones that entertain guests in the
cockpit because there isn;t room down below for four people to sit
down.

Well our experience here differs. I've enjoyed a good number of
dinners served below by cruising couples in their 30 something foot
boats. Some on small 30 something boats. We sat six to dinner one
night in Tonga on a 32 foot boat cruised by a couple. Four of us had
dinner below on a 25' Pacific Seacraft that was half way between
Hawaii and Oz with a couple aboard... I've got two sets of
particularly dear friends who've fed us many times in their 36 and 37
foot boats and both pairs of them have been cruising very seriously
for over 20 years. One of them is a professional boat builder and a
talented sculptor and he keeps an extraordinarily complete set of
tools and spares and there's still plenty of room below. Two folks
can live and cruise full time on a moderate displacement monohull of
35 feet in some comfort (eg. with a computer, tv, books &c) and still
have a place to entertain below, stow a few grand-kids for the
occasional week or two and carry a lot of spares. If you absolutely
refuse to ever take anything off the boat you'll eventually be
entertaining on deck no matter how big your boat is.

Of course, bigger boats can carry more, are generally faster, safer
and more comfortable at sea, have more privacy, berths that are kinder
to old backs and so on. The trade offs are that they're more
expensive to keep, and either harder to work or more complex... So,
there's an engineering compromise that juggles money, crew strength,
tech ability and so on. There are also many aesthetic questions. For
instance, I think its good for people to live on boat that gives them
a buzz to behold. Some folks want to live with a Zen like simplicity
and others want to be reminded of oak and tar... One size does not
fit all. But, IMO, all things considered, 36 isn't a bad number.

By the way, Pago is civilization. Heck Apia is civilization. They
have currier service, hardware stores, engineering shops, you name
it. I've had a broken boat in Apia.

-- Tom.

The boat before this one was a 35 footer and I was quite happy on it.
My wife somewhat less so. She is a dedicated cook and she felt that
the two burner kerosine stove was: (1) an antique, (2) hard to light,
(3) the heat was hard to control, (4) prone to get stopped up midway
through preparing a meal, and (5) would be far better on the bottom of
the ocean.

Well, I sold the boat and got a forty footer with a gas stove. The
galley is better but could have been bigger.

I don't remember what I wrote about PagoPago or Perth, but the
meaning was somewhere that you can't get whatever it is that you want.

I've been on those 35 foot boats that actually look bare down below.
I've also been on 50 footers that you can't get into the forward
compartment. Some people have more discipline then others.

But as I originally said cruising means different things to different
folks. For some people a week trip to Bangor is a cruise to others a
bi-annual none stop trip from Phuket to Australia is cruising. Or the
three week sail to India that a mate just made. Or a two week trip up
th Malacca Straits.

I don't believe that there is a correct definition of "cruising" so no
correct definition of a "cruising boat".



Bruce-in-Bangkok
(correct email address for reply)