G Gonna agree and disagree(I'm from the school of "boat handlers are
born, not made") with the overall jist of the thread.
If you have the basic understanding of how a boat steers and reacts to a
propeller/propellers, wind and current, to a point (and even beyond),
the size will not really matter.
In fact, the larger boat may even be the better one to learn on, since
it will tend to react more slowly and predictably.
Not everyone will learn and react the same, so my suggestion would be to
look at what you want, but get someone to take you out in it, who knows
what they are doing, and get a feel for how you feel and handle the boat.
It may be too big for you, it may not .... don't just spend 5 minutes,
spend an hour or two, and BG be brutally honest with yourself ....you
may be better off with a motorhome.

otn

PS My first powerdriven boat, other than a few outboards, was a 45'
"Liberty Launch" with a tiller and bell signals for the engine .... talk
about a learning experience!

Gould 0738 wrote:
Paul,

A 30 foot boat is still too big for a first boat. Get a boat around 21
feet long and learn what your doing with it, then move up after two
years. It's a boat, not a car, and it takes time to learn to operate a
boat properly.


I would disagree, based on experience.

My first boat was a 34-foot, single screw trawler. Twenty some years ago. No
bow thruster, no stern thruster.
No serious problem.

To this day, some experienced boaters are known to remark about my current
boat, (not much larger at just 36 feet) "How do you handle a single screw? I
have enough trouble with twins and a thruster!"

Biggest difference? I had some excellent, hands-on instruction from a qualified
instructor who knew what he was doing. Other wise, you are probably right:
if the learning process is going to involve just setting out and bouncing off
everything in sight until some workable substitute for proper technique is
accidentally stumbled upon, we should all start with a very small
dinghy.....preferably an inflatable. :-)