BoatBanter.com - Sailorgirl

On Sat, 13 Aug 2005 21:28:56 -0400, rhys wrote:

On 12 Aug 2005 21:02:56 -0700, wrote:

Somebody ought to get a fleet of old mid-size boats together in a cheap
place in FL and lease (option to buy with part of lease payments going
toward purchase) them to people who want to try the cruising life
without spending yrs planning.

That's a very good idea, although I bet the insurance companies would
have a field day on the liability front.

Two-footitis is rampant: you can get a Shark or a small '70s cruiser
(Mirage, Edel, Kelt, Tanzer) for very few dollars because the original
owners are retiring or moving up to trawlers or Beneteaus/Hunters and
nobody seems to want a boat that just sleeps three and has perhaps an
"exposed" head and a butane ring for a galley.

But they sail just fine up to 25 knots.

I agree. One benefit of spending family vacations for several years
on a small boat is that it later makes the 35-footer seem huge and
extravagantly comfortable. Another advantage is that it kind of
focuses your mind on what amenities you really need and which are just
bonuses.

Unfortunately, some people who might be quite comfortable on the
35-footer might not be willing to try it if their first experiences
are too uncomfortable, or if too much of their childhood was spent
outgrowing a v-berth. There's some tradeoff there, I guess.

I also suspect that fairly small boats are more forgiving to learn on,
giving various family members the chance to get comfortable with
different chores and positions, and giving at least the skipper in the
family the opportunity to develop skill and confidence to single-hand.
Anchors are lighter. Loads on sails and sheets are smaller because
sails are smaller. Flaking the main on the boom is easier. If the
docking job isn't perfect or the wind makes it tricky to get out of
the harbour, the crew can fend off usefully without breaking limbs.
This also means that the consequences for a new helm learning to dock
are limited.

Beginning boat-maintainers/improvers might also find it easier to
drill their first holes and make their first mistakes on the $5,000
boat than on the retirement-dream boat.

Depending where you live, boats which draw less than four feet can
safely visit more nearby places than boats which draw 6 feet. Having
nearby places to go, and going to them frequently, is also good
preparation for longer cruising life - if you and your crew enjoy
getting up on a fine Saturday, throwing a few things in a bag,
stopping at the grocery store or gourmet takeout, heading downwind for
a few hours and spending Saturday night relaxing at anchor, you've got
a start at becoming comfortable with the pace and compromises of
longer vacations. You'll learn that it's always worth taking your
foul weather gear and warm socks and that it's always worth putting on
sunscreen the first day. You might learn that family talking and
listening come so much easier once you've rounded the corner into the
river and turned off the engine, compared to in the living room with
the television on and the kids' friends calling and the pile of bills
to pay sitting on the table. You'll learn to keep the boat stocked
with more paperback books than you need right now, and also more
toilet paper and Knorr soup mix and sunglasses and tools for
tinkering.

Louise,
who could go on, except that I want to wait to charge the computer on
the inverter until the engine is running