snippage of comparison, small boats vs. large

Then ... there's the fun of riding out the occasional storms.

Eisboch

You make a bunch of great points. Not being retired yet I usually
don't think in terms of 4-5 day trips, and have never had a boat big
enough to use it as a "beach house". For us, waking up to hot coffee
and sunrise means we took the boat to a beach and pitched a tent.
Guess I don't know what I don't know. Hopefully by the time I retire
we will have this all figured out.