How big is too big?

[dhays]

Dhayes, now you can have a power cable at both ends, makes life real easy.

So True! I only had a 30 amp plug in the stern of my sailboat. Bow in meant a real stretch at times for a 50' cord to get to the stern of a 40' boat.

I do need to buy a 50amp cord for my home dock. Then I don't have to deal with two adapters at either end of my 30 amp cord. Anyone have a used 25' 50amp cord they want to donate?

 

[Art]

Baker packed a lot of wisdom in that post so let me chip in my 2 cents. Think about how far you live from the boat. I work less than 45 minutes from my marina but live close to an hour and a half away.

Buying the boat I envisioned leaving from work to enjoy a late afternoon cruise before dinner. Problem: the reason I bought the damn boat was to spend time with my family. I quickly learned to hate solo trips after work and by the time I'd get home it wasn't worth the drive both ways.

Now I had a few other issues pop up but the long and the short of it is my boat has a new owner and we're exploring our options for what our next step is. If we move closer to the water we may buy another, quite likely larger boat. If not we'll charter.

Craig - - > I'm shocked! But, I know just what you mean. If you come back into "water-daze" LOL... I of course recommend Tollycraft!

 

[BandB]

Baker packed a lot of wisdom in that post so let me chip in my 2 cents. Think about how far you live from the boat. I work less than 45 minutes from my marina but live close to an hour and a half away.

Buying the boat I envisioned leaving from work to enjoy a late afternoon cruise before dinner. Problem: the reason I bought the damn boat was to spend time with my family. I quickly learned to hate solo trips after work and by the time I'd get home it wasn't worth the drive both ways.

.

I know people who are fine with the long drives but I'm not. I never lived more than 15 minutes from a job. The thought of hour and a half drives like many have is horrible to me. Our office today, although we don't go there that often, is 10 minutes by car, about 20-25 by boat but then that's far more pleasurable. The national average commute is 25.5 minutes. However, there are 11 million people who commute more than an hour and 600,000 who commute at least 90 minutes each way. I had one acquaintance who commuted about 75 minutes so he could live far out in the middle of nowhere. He spent 10 hours per week more commuting than I did. I just saw that as 10 hours more work or 10 hours wasted.

I've never lived more than 30 minutes from the water.

 

[ranger58sb]

Docking and undocking at your home dock are things you will do thousands of times. Do anything you can to make them simpler and quicker. Determine what the task that most costs you time is and then find a way to reduce the time it takes.

Yep, all that. Stay-at-home shore power cord and docklines, dock bumpers, all that. We even have loops on both ends of those "home" docklines, so it's all pre-measured; hang the line on the pile as we leave, put the loop on the cleat as we return, done.

I'm sometimes surprised at how much work some folks are willing to do to get in and out of their home slip...

-Chris

 

[Rebel112r]

Dhayes. Surprised that you have 50amp, must have air conditioner.

 

[BandB]

I'm sometimes surprised at how much work some folks are willing to do to get in and out of their home slip...

-Chris

I think if you can't do it all in 15 minutes or less, then you need to rethink how you're handling it. And if you have two people doing it instead of just one, then you can create a synchronized dance almost.

I've noticed large boats, with large crews, that take an incredible amount of time. But what I noticed was with a crew of 7, only one or two was doing anything related to docking or undocking. They fall victim to it and start avoiding some of the stops along their way.

 

[psneeld]

Or electric heat and a bunch of normal home appliances.

Living aboard or cruising a lot and 50 amp I consider a inimum unless you like camping mentality.

Sure you can get a boat nearly 100 percent DC and propane....but a microwave, heat gun and water heater will often trip a 30 Amp CB.

Yes, yes.....dual 30s will do it.....but 30 Amp plugs are insane if you draw that much power. They just naturally don't stay connected Ted firmly...thus the smart plug and Mainco's new EEZ plug or whatever it is. The 50 amp plug eliminated all that.

 

[ranger58sb]

Dhayes. Surprised that you have 50amp, must have air conditioner.

I'd be more surprised if he didn't have 50-amp. And probably at least two ACs.

-Chris

 

[dhays]

Dhayes. Surprised that you have 50amp, must have air conditioner.

Yeah, it is odd. No AC ever installed in the boat but that doesn't meant the buyer wasn't thinking about a future install. He initially had a Washer/Dryer installed but removed it. He always used a 30 amp cord with an adapter on either end. I don't like to use adapters if I don't have to and REALLY don't like connecting and reconnecting them. I have 50 amp service at my dock so have always used adapter. But I connected it carefuly, used plenty of dialectic grease and then never take it apart.

Now a 50amp cord on the dock and then a 30amp cord on the boat with a boat side adapter that never gets opened will make me happier.

 

[BandB]

Or electric heat and a bunch of normal home appliances.

Living aboard or cruising a lot and 50 amp I consider a inimum unless you like camping mentality.

Sure you can get a boat nearly 100 percent DC and propane....but a microwave, heat gun and water heater will often trip a 30 Amp CB.

Yes, yes.....dual 30s will do it.....but 30 Amp plugs are insane if you draw that much power. They just naturally don't stay connected Ted firmly...thus the smart plug and Mainco's new EEZ plug or whatever it is. The 50 amp plug eliminated all that.

You can live off the grid on land. You can boat off the grid, so to speak. However, most of us don't choose to do that. We don't want to put forth the effort it requires or live with the limitations. I also consider 50 amp to be the minimum one would want.

 

[Codger]

Buy the smallest boat that your wife likes and will be happy to spend time on.
I cannot underestimate the importance of this.
Start looking at boats at the lower (sized) end first.
In our case "the boat" turned out to be a Pilgrim 40.
My wife loves this boat, but I grit my teeth every time somebody calls it "cute"

K. Churchill mv Miss Lily

 

[Baker]

Buy the smallest boat that your wife likes and will be happy to spend time on.
I cannot underestimate the importance of this.
Start looking at boats at the lower (sized) end first.
In our case "the boat" turned out to be a Pilgrim 40.
My wife loves this boat, but I grit my teeth every time somebody calls it "cute"

K. Churchill mv Miss Lily

Howdy Codger. I believe I have seen your boat at South Shore?

 

[dhays]

Buy the smallest boat that your wife likes and will be happy to spend time on.
I cannot underestimate the importance of this.
Start looking at boats at the lower (sized) end first.
In our case "the boat" turned out to be a Pilgrim 40.
My wife loves this boat, but I grit my teeth every time somebody calls it "cute"

K. Churchill mv Miss Lily

But Miss Lily IS cute! Embrace it.

 

[Codger2]

I'd be more surprised if he didn't have 50-amp. And probably at least two ACs.

 

[BandB]

My wife loves this boat, but I grit my teeth every time somebody calls it "cute"

Wifey B: Get ready to grit because it's cute cute cute cute cute cute cute cute cute cute.

 

[markpierce]

It's simple. If it is too big to afford purchase/maintain, or too difficult to handle with available crew, or won't work well in your waters because of length, beam, or draft, it is too big.

If one can't answer the questions, one needs more first-hand experience. Best to start small.

 

[markpierce]

... Best to start small.

Follow maritime academy practice. Do "book" learning, sail multi-crew sailboats under 30-feet in length, then go to "trawlers" and all the while learning your waters as well as your likes and dislikes which can be helped by crewing other peoples' boats.

Getting close to graduate:

 

[Aquafarm]

Buy the smallest boat that your wife likes and will be happy to spend time on.
In our case "the boat" turned out to be a Pilgrim 40.
My wife loves this boat, but I grit my teeth every time somebody calls it "cute"

K. Churchill mv Miss Lily

OMG....Sorry...it IS cute. Love it.

 

[BandB]

Follow maritime academy practice. Do "book" learning, sail multi-crew sailboats under 30-feet in length, then go to "trawlers" and all the while learning your waters as well as your likes and dislikes which can be helped by crewing other peoples' boats.

One of the finest Maritime schools right in Vallejo with you. We know someone who went there and is now an Engineer.

 

[nodestination]

Bigger is not always better. I had 27 feet sailboat and felt comfortable. Then I change to 28 feet Carver with single engine. It did look bigger and intimidating. Now, I have 34 feet MT (1974) and again, scare to drive as my experience is limited. I feel more comfortable in bigger boat, but more to fix and maintain. Twin engine - easy to maneuver, but twice the headache. If the 34 was good for you, keep it.

 

[MurrayM]

...My wife loves this boat, but I grit my teeth every time somebody calls it "cute"...

That's why tug-ish designs are so popular; women find them cute and men recognize their hairy chested work boat heritage...a marketing sweet spot if there ever was one.

 

[dhays]

That's why tug-ish designs are so popular; women find them cute and men recognize their hairy chested work boat heritage...a marketing sweet spot if there ever was one.

Very true and very effective indeed.

 

[Art]

Very true and very effective indeed.

My wife loves the look/cuteness of tugs. I think they are OK, but basically could care less. However, neither of us would want to own one on a bet!

 

[Mako]

I earned my tow endorsement with small tow works a long time ago. There's something grand about pushing around a boat that is so strong at the caprail and so well-fendered that you're not worried about bouncing any part of it off of concrete walls or obstacles. The stress level when docking or tying up alongside is really low.

Wouldn't want to have to maintain one anymore though and certainly converting one to a private vessel is really un-attractive. Tugs do not make good conversions at all.

 

[Pgitug]

You want to end buying with the "TwoFootitis mentality. For two adults one child and maybe a guest here is a nice size boat with a little wiggle room.

 

[No Mast]

I'm not sure that has enough room for us

 

[Art]

Smart boat buyers/users/expectation[ers] do not own/have boats "too big" or "too small". They have boats just the "right size" for their time of life at hand and their foreseeable future boat uses.


I've seen people purchase bigger than actually needed boat for their time of life at hand with expectations of their fantasy for cruising the high seas in the future become dashed for one reason or another. Then they are burdened with a "too big" boat and usually get less use than if they had one "just right" sized... as well as overhead and eventual need to sell - often at steep loss. I've also seen people purchase boats that are smaller than their time of life requirements and soon to arrive boating need expansions. Those "too small" boats can become a burden for several reasons and similar to the "too big" boats mentioned above get less use than if a "just right" size boat had been chosen in the first place.

All in all: Finding, choosing, owning, maintaining and using a "just right" size boat is similar to threading a needle. In that... You sure don't want to spend the time of putting thread through the needle hole and then begin sewing for a period of time (maybe even to completion) just to eventually realize that the thread is incorrect size/strength to uphold the requirements of garment/material use-needs. Then if you want to keep using the garment/material you must remove all thread and start over. Similarity is that if you find boat chosen is incorrect size - to get the correct size one, in order to continue boating - you need to remove the boat and basically start over again.

Boat size/shape/layout/type should be thought over deeply and then chosen wisely - for a myriad of reasons!

Happy Boat-Size-Choice Daze! - Art

 

[Art]

I'm not sure that has enough room for us

then you must have 40' it is.

 

[Codger2]

Smart boat buyers/users/expectation[ers] do not own/have boats "too big" or "too small". They have boats just the "right size" for their time of life at hand and their foreseeable future boat uses.

I COULDN'T AGREE MORE WITH THIS STATEMENT! THE REAL PROBLEM, HOWEVER, IS BEING BRUTALLY HONEST WITH ONE'S SELF AS TO THE REAL (HONEST) ANSWERS TO THE ABOVE QUESTIONS.

 

[dhays]

Smart boat buyers/users/expectation[ers] do not own/have boats "too big" or "too small". They have boats just the "right size" for their time of life at hand and their foreseeable future boat uses.

I COULDN'T AGREE MORE WITH THIS STATEMENT! THE REAL PROBLEM, HOWEVER, IS BEING BRUTALLY HONEST WITH ONE'S SELF AS TO THE REAL (HONEST) ANSWERS TO THE ABOVE QUESTIONS.

Art and Walt are exactly right. I think another factor is the person/couple's level of experience. Until you actually have used and owned a boat in the waters that you will be cruising, you really don't know the answers to those questions. You might think you know, but experience is the best teacher.