how large a boat does one need to consider cruising?

[jthatcher]

I hope that this is an appropriate place to post this thought..    I have spent considerable time  trying to envision what it will be like to spend 3 or 4 weeks  on Adagio  as I  make my way from Barnegat Bay  to Lake Champlain this coming season ( post Sandy repairs, of course!)

I found this to be an inspiration..   i was reading the duckworks news letter earlier in the week  and noticed a post there about a fellow from Nazareth PA  who shipped his boat  ( 15 1/2 feet)  to Finland and then spent 3 and a half months cruising Europe..  well, the story caught my eye for a number of reasons.   pretty small boat,  i used to live in Nazareth,  3 and  a half months!!

so i wrote to the fellow, asking if he had any experience with the trip i am contemplating.   he wrote back and shared this thread 

http://renevidmer.com/boat.pdf

if you happen to dream about doing the great loop.  this is for you!   if he can do it in his boat,  any one of the compacs would surely be a candidate..  maybe not for the whole family,  but, apparently,  he travels solo..   enjoy!    jt

[crazycarl]

i spent 30 days in a starwind 19 sailing the keys.  very doable.

also, look up the book, the unlikely voyage of jack de crow.  it's about a fellow who sailed a 10' mirror dingy from south wales to the black sea.  quite humorous.

remember, anything is possible with the right planning and the correct attitude!


carl

[Bob23]

JT:
   Wow..great tale.  Check out Tinkerbell and Yankee Girl. I guess you can google 'em.
   I suppose it depends on who your'e sailing with. My wife and I would murder each other. I'd be more inclined to sail solo.
Bob23

[Koinonia]

I second that one Bob, Id be on on the smaller boat but my wife is another story.  Also depends on how far away from land your willing to go in a small boat.  Im hopeing to make a run at the keys again this summer for a month.  Koinonia will have a bigger diesel and a 20 gallon tank instead of that dinky 11 gallon tank!  Id love the launching ability of the CP19!

That guy took a very interesting route!  When I was little I remember a guy kayaking the great loop.  guy had a small mast and a pole that came out to help hold the paddle so he didnt have to hold up its full weight.

[jthatcher]

If you happened to enjoy that story,  you should check this one out..  http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/13/outings/rene/index.htm

This is pat two....     http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/13/outings/rene/index2.htm

Adveturous is not quite adequate to described this fellow!     

I agree that careful planning can go a long way towards increasing the odds of success.   As supportive as my wife has been,  I suspect that the Lake Champlain trip would be pushing the envelope for her.   At this point,  she may join me for a segment.   I am hoping that my son might be available for a segment as wee.   When it comes to planning,  however,  I am not counting on any crew.    Jt

[capt_nemo]

JT,

It all depends on what you define as "cruising" and the creature comforts you expect to enjoy along the way.

Long and short "cruises" have been undertaken in smallish boats by both experienced and inexperienced skippers to varying degrees of success and "enjoyment".

I recently joined the West Coast Trailer Sailing Squadron on a 3 day cruise to a nice anchorage on one of the Gulf Islands of Charlotte Harbor, SW Florida. I sailed and lived aboard solo on my modified 17' Com Pac Sun Cat "Frisky" and had a wonderful time.

In addition to having a boat that sails reasonably well (and safely), the two most important activities that contribute most to really enjoyable cruising are EATING WELL and SLEEPING WELL. So make sure that your boat is  well equipped and prepared for these activities.

Here are a few pics that illustrate my mods for the EATING WELL function.

A homemade Storage Module with large working countertop.



A Ham & Cheddar Cheese Omlet with hot coffee and buttered toast!



Definitely FOOD for thought!

capt_nemo

[jthatcher]

hey.. looks like you have your priorities straight!    i  tend to be satisfied with very little..  so, i think that it should be relatively comfortable..   we have slept on the boat a number of times over the past two years, so i am confident that it will be no problem to sleep well at night.   i have found that an afternoon nap in the cockpit is very nice too!    i like your set up for your cooking arrangement. thanks for sharing...    at this point.  i have a one burner / pot set up  hanging on the aft bulkhead.  that seems to do well for heating water for tea and making soup.    i need to make other provisions for scrambling eggs!      jt

[Bob23]

   Although I've made no long extended voyages on my 23, I find it's a comfortable boat to sleep on. My cushions are original though so a Thermarest sleeping bag pad adds lots of comfort.
I fly a riding sail while we're anchored or at her mooring. That, along with a 2nd anchor, practically reduces swing to zilch. Depending on where you stop, that might not be a factor...or it might. I would imagine a trial 1 week shakedown cruise would be in order.
  In a recent issue of Small Craft Advisor, there is an article about sailing non refrigerated. It's a condensed article which appeared in Good Old Boat about a year ago, maybe more. A family of 5 liveaboards (including 3  boys) sails extensively on the East coast and the Caribbean (don't quote me on that) without ice or refrigeration of any kind and they've really thought it out well. If you'd like, I could scan it an email or you probably can find it on GOB's site. Just remembered the authors name: Connie McBride.
  I'd bring some small weights...a lack of excercise can make one lethargic.
Bob23
Nemo- That's a great looking omelette...is that a Suncat option? One nice thing about eggs is they need no refrigeration.

[jthatcher]

good morning , Bob.   i recall reading that article in good old boat.  as a matter of fact,  when i posted this last night, i was sitting in barnes and noble, enjoying a cup of tea and reading the current edition of good old boat!    i have also been visiting  a site  from a designer up in maine, who promotes a rather minimalist approach to cruising and who also suggests that, along with a lot of other complicated systems, one should consider forgetting about refrigeration when planning a sustainable cruising situation.    i think that having expectations that we can bring all of the conveniences of home to a liveabord experience ( particularly on a 23 foot boat )  would insure failure..    I am looking forward to documenting my experience this summer.. thinking of buying an inexpensive video camera to bring along.   I sure am anxious to see how it all works out!  in a conversation that i had with a friend a few months ago, i described an experience from childhood..    my grandparents had a cabin on the deleware river, north of Easton PA.  we rarely went there, but i can still remember how excited i would get to be around the dock and the boats when we did happen to visit.   and i loved the opportunity to get into the "speedboat "  ( it had a 20 hp johnson engine)    and go out on the river..  but, what a disappointment to find the just up stream , there was a set of rapids  and less than a mile downstream, there was another set of rapids..  " what was the point, i thought..  you couldn't really go anywhere in the boat!"   i have been dreaming of a cruise ever since

[skip1930]

Single handed? A 20 foot Flicka or 26 foot Hinterhoeller Yacht, Nonsuch Ultra would be great, IMHO.

skip.

[Bob23]

   It would be great to follow your cruise via video. I think your CP 23 would do just fine. It's funny, how that wanderlust gets planted in us from an early age and just needs to resurface. Ironically, I just bought Sterling Hayden's book "Wanderer". I had a flashback, upon opening the book that I was Bilbo and all the dwaves were in my house with Gandalf....and the Tookish side was winning! The thirst for adventure would win out in the end!
   I had the same experience while vacationing on Budd Lake in NJ as a kid. We had access to an aluminum rowboat and me, spotting something white on the other side of the lake, decided to "go for a row to find out more about it". After a long time, I reached it only to find out it was a discarded washing machine and the row/rescue back is another story (in Messing about) but I just had to find out what that white thing was!!!!!! I still do!
Bob23

[brackish]

My longest cruises so far on the 23 have been the 4 night BEER cruises in Pensacola.  I could easily extend to a longer cruise but not sure my wife could.  She kind of got used to those 8-10 day Carribean bareboat charter cruises on a 38' CC Endeavour and a 42' CC Hunter Passage.  Have to admit those were nice.  For her, standing head room and a decent head made all the difference.  The center cockpit boats also really give a nice master stateroom aft.  

So I guess I could go smaller, even much smaller, but I'd be by myself. :

Really like Capt Nemo's ingenious drop ins.  The sliding drawer for the ice chest is on my sketch board as we speak but will come out from the normal place under the companion way steps.  I just bought a water jug like his that will hold two gallons and fit over the bulkhead cuttout between the main and forward cabins, going to make a little platform that will clamp there for it to sit on.  Just for potable water, don't like drinking the tank water, just never quite sure about purity and how non-toxic that antifreeze actually is.  Still struggling with a table design that will work in the cockpit and the cabin, raised enough to get your knees under it with ample room for two to dine, that can be stored under a cockpit seat.  Got a sketch pad full of rejected designs.

[deisher6]

Hey JT:
I really liked our C27.

Our family of two adults and 3 daughters all under 11 cruised for about 30 days covering all sights between the New River (river) and the Pamlico river in NC.  We had a bullet proof Boston Whaler dingy that we trusted the girls with at anchorages.  It was a good time on a boat that was just the right size for us. 

I often wounder if one of the CPYOA members now owns the boat?  It was named the Windrunner and had a stained glass compass rose in the top drop-board.

regards charlie

[jthatcher]

charley..  sounds like you have some great memories!     if there were more than two of us,  we would have to move up to a larger boat.. but the short term and long range outlook is that my wife and i will be the only ones really using the boat..  and  i just might end up ding a fair amount of single handing  in the near future..  so the 23 should be very comfortable!   when i lived in NH, a colleague of mine had a 27.  he was the one who introduced me to compacs, actually.   we sailed it on lake winnipesaukee..    i think that it came from florida.     he had a surveyor look at it,  and when he got a positive report, he bought the boat sight unseen..   it all worked out well..   and i was very pleased to find a compac when  i started looking at boats!   jt

[Eagleye]

JT,
Suzie and I would like to welcome you and your crew for a stop over on your way up the Hudson River.  We live about 8 miles from Shady Harbor Marina in New Baltimore and we would be happy to be a part of your support team. 

http://www.shadyharbormarina.com/

They have a small store and a nice restaurant there but we would gladly take you out to get supplies and come back to our house for a BBQ.   Please consider it if it works into the schedule.

Allen & Suzie