How much space do you need on a boat so that a party of four can live
aboard for 3-4 days and not feel cramped? What features are desirable,
and what can you do without? Are there any boats that you feel are
particularly well laid out in this respect?

Thank you in advance for any replies.

Peter Wezeman
anti-social Darwinist

On Thu, 13 Aug 2009 14:19:06 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

How much space do you need on a boat so that a party of four can live
aboard for 3-4 days and not feel cramped? What features are desirable,
and what can you do without? Are there any boats that you feel are
particularly well laid out in this respect?

Thank you in advance for any replies.

Peter Wezeman
anti-social Darwinist

Is this typically four singles, two couples or a family? Makes a
difference.

On Thu, 13 Aug 2009 14:19:06 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

How much space do you need on a boat so that a party of four can live
aboard for 3-4 days and not feel cramped? What features are desirable,
and what can you do without? Are there any boats that you feel are
particularly well laid out in this respect?

You will get some discussion on this but something in the range of 26
to 28 ft is about the minimum in my opinion, with 33 to 34 being
considerably better. Power boats tend to have more usable room than
sailboats of comparable length, and layout options can make a
considerable difference in perception. Climate makes a difference
also. If the weather is usually good and bugs are not an issue, it
makes sense to optimize outdoor space at the expense of cabin room.

On Aug 13, 4:25*pm, jps wrote:
On Thu, 13 Aug 2009 14:19:06 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

How much space do you need on a boat so that a party of four can live
aboard for 3-4 days and not feel cramped? What features are desirable,
and what can you do without? Are there any boats that you feel are
particularly well laid out in this respect?

Thank you in advance for any replies.

Peter Wezeman
anti-social Darwinist

Is this typically four singles, two couples or a family? *Makes a
difference.

Four singles. Also, I should have specified that I meant making a 3-4
day passage rather than, say, island hopping for that length of time.

Thank you,
Peter Wezeman
anti-social Darwinist

On Thu, 13 Aug 2009 18:56:33 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

Four singles. Also, I should have specified that I meant making a 3-4
day passage rather than, say, island hopping for that length of time.

Making a 3 or 4 day passage, presumably offshore, gets into a whole
bunch of other issues like seaworthiness and safety equipment which is
partially related to size also. Passage making, you will always have
two people on deck so you really only need bunks for two, but they
need to be good bunks with weather cloths/bunk boards, etc. You also
need room for everyone's gear plus your sails and other equipment.
Personally I'd want something over 30 ft and a really solid boat.

On Thu, 13 Aug 2009 23:16:22 -0400, wrote:

That never really occurred to me but I guess you do need port and
starboard duty sections on a cruise with only 4 people. How do you do
it, or do you stop somewhere every day.
I suppose you could just dial up Rio on the autopilot and set the
depth alarm but that would be wrong ;-)

I've done a lot of offshore and overnight sailing in my past life and
my wife and I still do some long passages on the trawler. Typically
you set up a watch keeping schedule, sometimes 4 hours on and 4 hours
off but there are many variations. Basically you just keep going.
On a small sailboat, and many larger, you just take over the bunk that
was vacated by the person going on watch. On the 50 footer that I
used to sail on a lot we typically raced with a crew of 12 or 13.
The bunks were stacked 3 high and each had its own block and tackle
arrangement for adjusting the bunk to a level position. On a long
race you'd get to the point where you could readjust your bunk after a
course change without ever really waking up.

On Aug 13, 9:56*pm, wrote:
On Aug 13, 4:25*pm, jps wrote:

On Thu, 13 Aug 2009 14:19:06 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

How much space do you need on a boat so that a party of four can live
aboard for 3-4 days and not feel cramped? What features are desirable,
and what can you do without? Are there any boats that you feel are
particularly well laid out in this respect?

Thank you in advance for any replies.

Peter Wezeman
anti-social Darwinist

Is this typically four singles, two couples or a family? *Makes a
difference.

Four singles. Also, I should have specified that I meant making a 3-4
day passage rather than, say, island hopping for that length of time.

Thank you,
Peter Wezeman
anti-social Darwinist

Some of the big sailing cats come configured with 4 cabins.