smallest w/a boat suitable for overnighting?
 

I have a 21 ft Angler boat W/A that I find to small to overnight in. I
mostly boat in Biscayne Bay florida. I am looking for the minimun size boat
any of you guys have overnighted successfully in.
I have a wife and to kids 6 and 10,,,
Any advice is appreciated
Frank Prieto

smallest w/a boat suitable for overnighting?
 

On Tue, 16 Sep 2003 03:13:50 +0000, FPrieto wrote:

I have a 21 ft Angler boat W/A that I find to small to overnight in. I
mostly boat in Biscayne Bay florida. I am looking for the minimun size boat
any of you guys have overnighted successfully in.
I have a wife and to kids 6 and 10,,,
Any advice is appreciated
Frank Prieto

Hmmm....I donno about WA's, but I've spent many a long weekend with 3
aboard my 22ft sailboat. Maybe it's not the length, but the type of boat.
Perhaps a cuddy or express cruiser might be a better choice?

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36: room for 6 for a week...

smallest w/a boat suitable for overnighting?
 

I have a 26' WA. Overnighting with 2 is fine, any more and it'd be a mess.
WA's are designed to have a place to crash after a fishing trip, not really
for a family overnight.

"Lloyd Sumpter" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 16 Sep 2003 03:13:50 +0000, FPrieto wrote:

I have a 21 ft Angler boat W/A that I find to small to overnight in. I
mostly boat in Biscayne Bay florida. I am looking for the minimun size
boat
any of you guys have overnighted successfully in.
I have a wife and to kids 6 and 10,,,
Any advice is appreciated
Frank Prieto

Hmmm....I donno about WA's, but I've spent many a long weekend with 3
aboard my 22ft sailboat. Maybe it's not the length, but the type of boat.
Perhaps a cuddy or express cruiser might be a better choice?

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36: room for 6 for a week...

smallest w/a boat suitable for overnighting?
 

It really depends on what your minimum personal requirements are. If you're
a "close" family you can all snuggle up in a pretty tiny space. If you're
just occasionally overnighting then you can get away with less.

For us the minimum was 28 feet but we spend every weekend on the boat and
will spend more as our time allows.

We often go to bed at different times so a dedicated V-berth was essential
(as opposed to converting the dinette every evening).

When we have guests we don't want to be tripping over them so a separate mid
or aft cabin was essential.

A proper head was essential with shower capabilities.

A large cockpit area was essential since that's where we would spend most of
our time.

We had determined a budget that we could afford and didn't scare us so there
were constraints there too.

We settled on a 30 foot express cruiser.




"FPrieto" wrote in message
ink.net...
I have a 21 ft Angler boat W/A that I find to small to overnight in. I
mostly boat in Biscayne Bay florida. I am looking for the minimun size
boat
any of you guys have overnighted successfully in.
I have a wife and to kids 6 and 10,,,
Any advice is appreciated
Frank Prieto

smallest w/a boat suitable for overnighting?
 

I once spent a winter with a girlfriend living on a 22 ft. Bayliner
Sailboat(that's an oximoron, Bayliner Sailboat)

smallest w/a boat suitable for overnighting?
 

"FPrieto" wrote in message link.net...
I have a 21 ft Angler boat W/A that I find to small to overnight in. I
mostly boat in Biscayne Bay florida. I am looking for the minimun size boat
any of you guys have overnighted successfully in.
I have a wife and to kids 6 and 10,,,
Any advice is appreciated
Frank Prieto

I've got a 24 ft WA thats fine for two people once in awhile. Can't
handle more then two though, and I wouldn't want to live on it for a
few days, but it works well after a night of too many cocktails and
fish stories at the marina, or to get a jump start on an early AM
trip. The 22 ft boat in my line (Grady-White) is just about as big.
The 20 footer they used to call the "Overnighter" looked too small for
me.

FishFan

smallest w/a boat suitable for overnighting?
 

On Tue, 16 Sep 2003 13:49:50 -0400, . .@. wrote:

On Tue, 16 Sep 2003 03:13:50 GMT, "FPrieto"
wrote:

I have a 21 ft Angler boat W/A that I find to small to overnight in. I
mostly boat in Biscayne Bay florida. I am looking for the minimun size boat
any of you guys have overnighted successfully in.
I have a wife and to kids 6 and 10,,,
Any advice is appreciated
Frank Prieto


With a wife and two kids aged 6 and 10? About 38 feet.
=================
Better yet, 38 foot catamaran. One hull for the kiddies,
one hull for the parents.

My wife and I are in this debate about how big a boat we need to live
aboard 4 to 6 months of the year. Most of our estimates are in the 43
to 53 foot range, though on occassion we decide half humorously that
there may not be a boat big enough, short of cruise ship proportions.

I've had several boats in the 34 foot range and that's just about
right for 4 people over no more than a week or two in my opinion.
Smaller is certainly possible but it's going to be very crowded.

One of the things that impressed us on our Rideau Canal cruise to
Canada was the number of significant families cruising on relatively
small boats. They would typically tie up ashore and set up folding
tables and chairs on the dock at meal time.

smallest w/a boat suitable for overnighting?
 

I've got a 24 ft WA

sorry to be so dumb, but what is a WA?

smallest w/a boat suitable for overnighting?
 

it is a Walk Around fisherman style boat
"Richard Malcolm" wrote in message
om...

I've got a 24 ft WA

sorry to be so dumb, but what is a WA?

smallest w/a boat suitable for overnighting?
 

I love some of these answers! Thirty eight feet is the smallest to
accomodate two adults and two children? Must be nice.

Perhaps Frank's question needs to be expanded upon. Obviously, in
asking for the smallest boat, we are assuming budget constraints are the
priority therefore we are probably looking to meet a "minimum" comfort
level. Even within this context, certain questions need to be addressed
before anyone can give any sound advice (sorry to all those who felt that
it could be given previously).

What type of cruising are you doing? Will you always be an hour or two
between source and destination(s), or will you be traveling for hours on
end? What climate will you be traveling in? Florida? Will you need air
to be comfortabe?

When you travel what type of facilities will you plan to frequent? If
you are tying up at a full service marina (bathroom, showers, etc), and
perhaps near restaurants, you might not need ample onboard facilities.
Conversely, if your anchoring out, you'll want facilities to be able to
prepare, consume and expell your food.

How long will your trips be? If your only overnighting, perhaps you can
tolerate more modest conditions. If your going on 2-3 week trips, you
might need more space for gear, food, and to combat cabin fever.

Last, but by no means least, WHAT DO YOU AND YOUR CREW REQUIRE TO BE
MINIMALLY CONFORTABLE? How big are the people staying aboard? Also, if
your crews definition of roughing it is staying at a three star
motel/hotel, then you have to take that into consideraton. Often finding
the right boat layout will make as much difference as size in maintaining
your comfort.

Even if you were to give this information to the group, no one is going to
be able to tell you what YOU need to be minimally comfortable. By by
sharing experiences, you might be able to get a better idea as to where to
look first. Since you asked for stories pertaining to the smallest boat
overnighted on here are a few of my anectdotes:



As a child, I have taken 2-3 week trips around the great lakes, on MY
FATHERS 40 and 30 foot vessels with two siblings in comfort. Before
those boats, me and my parents started overnighting in a 16 foot bowrider
with my parents sleeping in the jump seats and me between the bow seats.

As an adult, I started overnighting on my 16 foot Cape Cod Catboat. Our
overnight crew consisted of two adults and two dogs. I have slept five
people and two mid sized dogs in a 19 ft spindrift. Even though it was
just one night, I would not recommended it to anyone, but it was a sucess
as the boat did not sink. My last sailboat, a 17 foot Renken, I've spent
a week along the Florida panhandle with a friend and one dog. That trip I
wound up getting Streph from a cruising partner's kid, and I HATED
Florida's humidity (especially when the sun went down, everything got
damp) but other than that the sleeping accomodations were fine.

Like all my previous sailboats. When I first got into powerboating, I
had a 16 foot Bayliner cuddy, which had only sleeping ammeneties. Took
that boat from Sandusky Ohio accross Lake Erie and up the Detroit River to
Windsor Ontario and stayed three nights with two people and a dog. My
next boat, a Trophy 2160 was large enough to have food, cooking, and a
head (which I never carried) aboard. It has often held three adults and
my dog and all our supplies (sans toilet) for weekends at a time. To
adults and one dog have cruised with this boat for 4-5 days at a time,
with the boat goig from Sandusky to Lake Huron.

My latest boat is a 23 foot Chris Craft mid cabin with everything from
shower to refrigerator and stove. Once again because of my needs, I
still don't use the head. I use it as a closet to free up space.
Cabin-wise there is more sleeping and standing room than the 21 foot
trophy. This should be more comfortable than anything right? Usually
yes, but since the cabin leaks (it is a project boat), it was extremely
onconfortable to stay on boad with only two people when we had a 20 hour
rainstorm on Labor Day. A lack of a bimini meant we could not sit on deck
or keep the companionway door open, so we were closed up inside a damp
cabin. This is a case were we would have been alot more comfortable in
the Trophy. See, even weather and boat layout can make an extreme
difference in one's comfort level.

Hope this helps, Frand et al.

Bob Dimond







In article ,
wrote:

On Tue, 16 Sep 2003 13:49:50 -0400, . .@. wrote:

On Tue, 16 Sep 2003 03:13:50 GMT, "FPrieto"
wrote:

I have a 21 ft Angler boat W/A that I find to small to overnight in. I
mostly boat in Biscayne Bay florida. I am looking for the minimun size boat
any of you guys have overnighted successfully in.
I have a wife and to kids 6 and 10,,,
Any advice is appreciated
Frank Prieto


With a wife and two kids aged 6 and 10? About 38 feet.
=================
Better yet, 38 foot catamaran. One hull for the kiddies,
one hull for the parents.

My wife and I are in this debate about how big a boat we need to live
aboard 4 to 6 months of the year. Most of our estimates are in the 43
to 53 foot range, though on occassion we decide half humorously that
there may not be a boat big enough, short of cruise ship proportions.

I've had several boats in the 34 foot range and that's just about
right for 4 people over no more than a week or two in my opinion.
Smaller is certainly possible but it's going to be very crowded.

One of the things that impressed us on our Rideau Canal cruise to
Canada was the number of significant families cruising on relatively
small boats. They would typically tie up ashore and set up folding
tables and chairs on the dock at meal time.

smallest w/a boat suitable for overnighting?
 

Richard,
WA stands for Walk Around, the boat has a small cabin but wide enough
side decks to walking around the boat.
Paul

"Richard Malcolm" wrote in message
om...

I've got a 24 ft WA

sorry to be so dumb, but what is a WA?

smallest w/a boat suitable for overnighting?
 

WoW!

While you have me, and probably everyone else in this group beat, a girl
in my marina lived aboard a 25 foot sailboat year around in Northeastern
Ohio!

Bob Dimond

In article ,
(Florida Keyz) wrote:

I once spent a winter with a girlfriend living on a 22 ft. Bayliner
Sailboat(that's an oximoron, Bayliner Sailboat)

smallest w/a boat suitable for overnighting?
 

Even within this context, certain questions need to be addressed
before anyone can give any sound advice (sorry to all those who felt that
it could be given previously).

How silly of us, but your pity of our stupidity somehow makes me feel
better.

smallest w/a boat suitable for overnighting?
 

Except perhaps budget... Other than that I'm all for it!



I think a 38 foot boat would cover all of the criteria you supplied
without any problem.

BB

smallest w/a boat suitable for overnighting?
 

Sorry, Paul. Actually your one of the few people who qualified their
opinion. Bad choice of words on my part, and not meant for you. Just to
others who seem to toss smart ass comments off the cuff without truly try
to help.

Bob Dimond



Even within this context, certain questions need to be addressed
before anyone can give any sound advice (sorry to all those who felt that
it could be given previously).

How silly of us, but your pity of our stupidity somehow makes me feel
better.

smallest w/a boat suitable for overnighting?
 

Yeah sorry here too, I was in a snarky mood.

House renovations had debris raining on my head -- I was actually holding a
golf umbrella while I typed and my desk is covered in a sheet with small
openings so I can see the screens. It's been going on all summer and I work
from home. At that point I would have snarked at Christ himself.

It's over next week thank God.

"Bob D." wrote in message
...
Sorry, Paul. Actually your one of the few people who qualified their
opinion. Bad choice of words on my part, and not meant for you. Just to
others who seem to toss smart ass comments off the cuff without truly try
to help.

Bob Dimond



Even within this context, certain questions need to be addressed
before anyone can give any sound advice (sorry to all those who felt
that
it could be given previously).

How silly of us, but your pity of our stupidity somehow makes me feel
better.

smallest w/a boat suitable for overnighting?
 

Thank you guys...very interesting contributions..specially Bob D
By overnight I mean literally one nigth..not having to come back ashore the
same day.
And self sufficient..(no shore power),,,,most likely beaching the boat along
elliot key or some other sandy key in Biscayne Bay...about 15mile trek one
way
My family can tolerate some inconviniences for one night...but I dont want
to push it though!

anyways....thanks guys


"Bob D." wrote in message
...
Except perhaps budget... Other than that I'm all for it!



I think a 38 foot boat would cover all of the criteria you supplied
without any problem.

BB

smallest w/a boat suitable for overnighting?
 

Well, close. I spent a summer on my Venture 22, and a winter on my Cal 25,
before spending several years on my Catalina 36 (and I know several
liveaboards in Catalina 27s)

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36


On Wed, 17 Sep 2003 14:59:22 +0000, Bob D. wrote:

WoW!

While you have me, and probably everyone else in this group beat, a girl
in my marina lived aboard a 25 foot sailboat year around in Northeastern
Ohio!

Bob Dimond

In article ,
(Florida Keyz) wrote:

I once spent a winter with a girlfriend living on a 22 ft. Bayliner
Sailboat(that's an oximoron, Bayliner Sailboat)