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Wayne.B

On Sun, 05 Jul 2009 09:07:00 -0400, wrote:

Most of
Wayne's arguments center around his personal need to isolate himself
from his surroundings.

That is an assumption that does not wash. One of our favorite
cruising activities is to go out in the dinghy, explore the boondocks,
go into town, meet the locals, try their food, see the sights, etc.
For most people, including us, that's what cruising is all about.

*All* of my arguments center around what I consider to be necessary
for reasonable comfort and safety on an extended cruise - one where
supplies are not located on every corner, and a high degree of
reliability and self sufficiency are very desirable. Of course
everyone has different ideas about what that means, and there are
always budget constraints for everyone - that's why I don't have a
fully crewed mega yacht capable of crossing oceans in style. :-)

This all started of course when I expressed the opinion that ouboard
propulsion is not a very good option for long range cruising. No
offense intended toward anyone, I just happen to think it's true for a
number of good reasons and some personal experiences.

Some interesting discussion points were brought out in any case. It
might be interesting to start another thread on what people consider
to be essential or highly desirable on cruising boats, perhaps broken
out by three or more size ranges: Under 30 feet; 30 to 40; 40 and up,
for example. I'd suggest that we should consider what it would take
for your wife to agree to a 3 month cruise on the boat. :-) For you
guys who aren't married, you'll just have to use your imagination.

Some possible discussion items:

- Type of dinghy, dinghy power, dinghy storage.

- Water tankage and/or water maker?.

- Pressure water?, hot water?, shower?, number and type of heads.

- Number and type of anchors, length/type of rode, windlass?, etc

- Galley equipment, stove type, refrigeration type, microwave?,
blender?, toaster?, freezer?

- Safety equipment, liferaft?, EPIRB?, SSB radio?, Sat Phone?

- Aux power, none?, outboard?, inboard gas?, inboard diesel?,
tankage/range?, fuel filtration and polishing?, oil change system?

- Electrical system, none?, basic 12 volt?, house bank/size?,
recharging capability?, inverter/type/size/switching?, generator
type/size/switching?

- Self steering?, autopilot?, wind vane?

- Electronics, GPS plotter/features, radar/features, depth sounder,
AIS?, DSC VHF?, handhelds?, entertainment systems?, etc.

and so on....