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Old 02-25-2013, 06:59 PM   #31
Marin
Scraping Paint
 
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Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 13,745
Quote:
Originally Posted by GalaxyGirl View Post
Great harbour GH47. Very shallow draft, the company says it's a world traveler. What do you guys think of ocean crossings with this draft?
Ignoring for the moment that I think the Great Harbor boats are among the most butt-ugly boats on the planet, I do not think they are suited for long range, open ocean cruising.

I grew up in Hawaii and in the 70s I did a lot of fishing off the north shore of Oahu and in the Molokai Channel. There were days-- nice days weather-wise-- in the Molokai Channel where a boat like our current GB36 would not have stood a chance. The combination of huge swells with steep wind waves on top of them would have put the boat on its side in short order if one tried to do anything but head straight into them. And very often the steep wind waves blown up by the local wind are coming at you from a different angle than the swells.

While there is no question that a GH can cross open ocean waters-- one was taken to Hawaii but that was a stunt, not any sort of routine cruise-- the issue is that once out in the ocean you don't have the option of staying in port until the weather blows through. If you can't outrun or outmaneuver the weather, you have to be able to take it. And this is where the GH will let you down. Along with just about every so-called coastal cruiser.

As a live-aboard or house-type boat in coastal waters where the options of staying put or getting to shelter are never all that far away, the GH seems a fine choice if you can stomach its appearance.

But long, open ocean crossings tend to take away a number of options so the boat you're in had best be able to deal with worst-case scenarios even if you do everything you can to put the odds in your favor.
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