I don't think I've ever suffered from 2-foot-itis. I have bounced around a lot. Every boat was intended to fill a certain desire, some of them short-lived, others permanent. I thought about listing my boats, but it would take too much time and effort. And, like innocently walking the docks, I can fall in love all over again.
The list goes from a 9' whitewater kayak to 43' tri-cabin trawler. The odd thing is, I probably spent more overnights with the kayak than the trawler. I, my wife, and a few other crazies did self-supported river trips in Nevada, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, Yukon, and Minnesota (Boundary Waters). Some were "first decents" and, similar to Captain Vancouver charting a newfound shoreline, our river diaries are now parts of whitewater guide books. Yes, we were living out of 9' boats for a week. People who never learned how to camp complain that cruising in a small boat is like camping, as if camping is uncomfortable.
What we found was that smaller boats allow for more boating. Whitewater kayaks, sea kayaks, double sea kayaks, canoes, day sailors, cruising sailboats, trawlers, sedan cruisers, dinghies. We have bounced around a bit concerning LOA, but in keeping with the concept that a boat is a vehicle to get to a remote destination (or to shore in a remote location), 43' was bigger than necessary. We went smaller, then even smaller. Our present boat is basically a GB 32 (a little smaller and a little better). Easily soloed, single engine, decadent space for two. Definitely one of the slowest boats that I've owned, but we are now both retired. And at 1.2 gph, we do see more otters, whales, etc. Just a fact of life for us. If I needed to get to the next marina before they gave away our reservation, I would likely have a faster boat. But that would completely change why we boat.
Despite buying our "new cruiser," I kept our old cruiser. It's a 16' C-Dory cruiser. It actually sat in the garage unused this entire year. At first, the wife made comments about when was I going to sell it. Not anymore. This year when returning from 2 months in northern B.C., she started talking about doing a different type of cruising next year, going back to the CD 16. We've cruised all over in it, from Lake Powell to Yellowstone to every nook and cranny on the west side of Vancouver Island. But here was her new concept of "cruising" for old geezers in a CD 16.
First, the C-Dory is trailerable. B.C. Ferries offers a boat/trailer service which they call "hostelling." You take your boat to the B.C. Ferry terminal (say at Port Hardy) and park your tow vehicle. B.C.F. then uses their tractor to load just your boat/trailer and unload it at your destination. At the destination, you get a local (Shearwater marina can also do this) to launch and store your trailer. Instead of towing your boat from Seattle to Prince Rupert (4-5 days, +1K miles, and $3K? in fuel and lodging?) you spend that money for tickets and 2 nights on a ferryboat ride through the inside passage.
But wait, the decadence is just beginning. Although you (well, at least my wife and I) can overnight easily on the C-Dory, my wife has done some research on the availability of remote "bed and breakfast" type businesses. There are lots of them. Everything from staying onboard and just getting meals (and laundry) to full blown spa treatment every evening. When we visited some of the fishing lodges on the west coast of Vancouver Island, we learned that although they try to fully book, they often have free days during a change of clients and are perfectly willing to accommodate "boat-ins." We once dropped in on a fishing lodge that had freezing facilities. They had a processing charge that was reasonable so we decided to fish a bunch and returned from that 10-day cruise with #140 of frozen salmon. We did way more sightseeing than fishing, including some hikes.
The point is that this type of cruising doesn't require a 65' boat. Or even a dinghy (the CD16 has an 8" draft). No need for a freezer, shower, TV, etc. on board. And even a 65' boat is unlikely to have a hot tub. Not so with staying at lodges. She is now glad that we still have the CD 16 for planning next summer's cruising. Her question now is why are we paying $400 a month moorage for too big of a boat when we have the perfect size cruiser sitting in the garage? That money could be spent on spa treatments.
The size boat you need depends on many things.
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