Ever wish the boat was smaller?

I would modify Skipper Bob's mantra to say "Don't buy the biggest boat you can afford, buy the smallest boat you can live on". I think it's a whole different attitude. This is how we ended up with a 36' boat that meets our needs. The hard part is to truly separate wants from needs. Once you can honestly agree on that, the boat decision is much easier. Get a boat that fits you, not somebody else. Enjoy the ride.

For most boaters there are 3 key elements in the decision making process. What I want, what I need, and what I can afford. Rarely do the 3 align themselves except for the fortunate few.
For those like the OP that have chartered before and owned a 30 footer, the decision making becomes easier. They should pretty much know what they want and possibly what they actually need. That leaves them with the 'what they can afford'. If you like/want a 45-50 footer and you can afford it, don't let someone else change you mind especially if they never owned a boat in the 45-50' range and have never downsized. When I use the expression "you" I am referring to a joint decision between you personally and your SO.
Incidentally, a "joint" decision is now becoming legal in many states.

Interesting thread, but the question is somewhat of a conundrum for us. We have a 36 ft. boat that we're happy with....no elbow rubbing, even in the galley for the most part. But the puzzle appears when we think about moving up in size, the cubic space of our 36 is huge, and we'd have to go 42' or more to gain much. We have actually considered stretching out boat to 40, so wishing it was smaller hasn't been a cosideration, save for the times when a hurricane was threatening us from the Atlantic.

One thing I'd add. Someone said or implied having a guest cabin wasn't important for the small amount of use, to put the guests in a hotel. That means you're tied the entire time to that or other hotels. So now you can't really take your guests on your normal cruise to enjoy what you enjoy with you. Now, I'm not saying you need a huge amount of cabin space, but also saying that one of the greatest pleasures of cruising is when guests join for a short period.

BandB said:

One thing I'd add. Someone said or implied having a guest cabin wasn't important for the small amount of use, to put the guests in a hotel. That means you're tied the entire time to that or other hotels. So now you can't really take your guests on your normal cruise to enjoy what you enjoy with you. Now, I'm not saying you need a huge amount of cabin space, but also saying that one of the greatest pleasures of cruising is when guests join for a short period.

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Yes, the operative word is short.

Greetings,
Short?

There were somethings I really liked about my little Pilot 34. It was great on fuel even with a good turn of speed. The simplicity of a single engine was a big plus. The full keel was nice to have. However, I do enjoy the comfort of my 42. It's kind of like the "Perfect Trawler" thread. There are many perfect trawlers as the one that fits your needs is perfect for you. Then again there is no one perfect trawler for everyone.

Marvelous posts!!
Interesting thread, but the question is which gun and anchor will I strip from the bigger boat to use on the smaller? Gotta run with a little humor here.
I think if you scan the replys you see consisent NO! reply for boats in the 35-42' range, 42-50' range most will be a conditional NO, a few bracketing or qualifing their reply with conditions of use etc.

I havent seen it mentioned here yet but, especially if live-a-board, it is nice have space enough for when communications breakdown with the "Chief", comfortable seperation is sometimes desirable! A cot in the ER is not acceptable. Just trying to provide the best preparation for others here! Also Keep the statreroms limited to two , smaller guest lists that way.
From personal experience, saved and looked for ten years for the ultimate 48-50', visited the "tanked" market again last year and ended up with bigger. Now the challenges, 50' is the breakover, finding slips, dockage, boathouse, for larger is a PITA . Would I give it up? Naw- not till the $ supply dictates so. But I am getting tired of the assumption that I am a rock star or something when paying at the register. I see the letdown in their faces when I must inform them I am nothing but a wage-earner fulfilling a lifes dream simply dressed in a Phil Collins disguise!!

Ah for all you doubters from the begin of the post, wouldn't advise to go without the Forfjord and follow the advise of the great Jack O'Connor the .270 is the choice for all non-dangerous North American! But now if you are only hunting halibut .357 works great. But for sakes do hand out ear-plugs first,it's really-reallyloud!
Cheers to all.

Was told by many the perfect boat for weekend warriors like us drank six, fed four and slept two. Down to one kiddo now and he fits nicely on the fold down. Our vberth is plenty comfortable for us. Only negative thing we've found so far is we'll never buy another boat without a stern door. Aside from that, Bliss.

In the future if the right boat comes along we may trade up a little, but not much. We've found everything we need to enjoy a very pleasant weekend on the water in under 30'.

I loved my 50' single screw Pilothouse, but it was too narrow. The old Meridians (pre-Brunswick) and Trojan Pilothouses (Whittaker), Durbecks, and others made great designs back in the early 70's, but all too narrow now. Made sense back when dockage was cheap and plentiful as a narrower boat needs less horsepower to drive, but in the later years-when much beamier boats were introduced (like the Harry Schoell designs-one in photo above, but he also designed the Trojan Meter series), one could get the same interior volume of a long boat in a shorter one. If you follow yacht designs, you definitely see improvements in interior space and sea-kindliness as time moved forward. A 25' Doral SE for example has as much actual usable cockpit and interior space as a older 40' boat, and are excellent rough water boats to boot. Your not "stuffing" the bow into the waves as you would in a larger boat, you ride up and over them, like a duck. So I like wider, except for THE boats named Wider=ugh. New engine packages make it all possible. First I/Os then IPS and Zeus, and Outboards really free up interior space that used to be taken up by machinery. I had a guy from the Ukraine buy a 4788 from me with the intention of taking it back over there and building something similar out of Aluminum but with IPS drives, shortening the boat, and using the area now engines as another stateroom. He had a heart attack though..so that didn't happen. Great idea though!

manyboats said:

I was shopping for a little bigger boat a while back but now that I'm not in the land of cheap federally provided moorage I'll just keep my little 30' boat. Even though I do like long and narrow now I'd rather my 10.5' wide Willard was 12' wide. But Willy isn't really narrow as is.

Relative to size I'd like to have the wide body Willard ... the Voyager. Look how much space is lost (pics) w those side decks.

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I'm with you, Eric. Wide side decks come at a price. When I'm in the salon, I sometimes wish I had more beam in the cabin, but when I'm moving to the bow I sure love 'em.

When looking for marinas with covered slips, I sometimes wish FW was a little shorter! I'd have a greater selection of marinas to choose from.

Al, it sounds like you need a wider boat.

Aw heck – I jus gots ta chime in ta dis enteresten thread afore hitten da bunk! Dis tain't so much ta do bout size o' boat... but rather bout da relationship that gets put-in-state twixt Captain and his water born charge!

I believe our boats sorta choose us... think that thought's been said before by someone else in a different thread.

By that I be meanen: Via conscientiously applying proper due-diligence; when we finally get through with all your what ifs, wish I coulds, if onlys, why nots, and I'm sure I cans... to the point where you actually pretty well have defined (know) what you really be seeken for "your" boat... then... you may well suddenly (actually often unexpectedly) be held tight by some boat's essence... i.e. "her" very soul, if you will!
Now, first of all don't be no pushover to no female sole boat (caus they actually is all girls - ain't they?? - lol)... cause these floaten ladies can be darn tricky as to what guise they may use to hussy-capture your heart and your wallet. Our relationship with em becomes a bit of a push me pull you love affair, at least in the early days. Understand, they all want to be "owned" by their Captain and if treated right each WILL open up wide to meet and fulfill our desires... but, if she feels her Captain's been dismissive then her pipes can get all clogged up and she might not even want to start getting all warmed up most of the time for a playful romp in the bed-of-water to which you want her to lay down her wake! Heck man, like most women... keep her happy and she’ll keep you smiling from ear to ear. Someday we’ll need to chat on this male/female “equal rights” thang... brother, that’s a whole other story all together; one for OTDE I’m sure! - LOL

Anyway - At that time when one boat really catches your fancy, and you get engaged by spenden time n’ money to look up her shirt for checken her real prowess (i.e. equipment and build structure, etc) you need to be stoic and not let her fool you into a marriage you will regret. Last thing you want is a boat you don’t really want.

Soooo... Captain, my Captain, when you first take off her cuffs (dock lines) and get her all hot n’ bothered (sea trial) DON”T be afraid to see just how hard she can be pushed and still not pass out! Both you and she will be glad you together did that first big romp in da water bed, jus a getten ta know each other a bit better. Done correctly, if she is going to be a really good gal for ya on the long run, she’ll respect the hell out of you for showing her what you’re really made of and so she could show you what’s she’s actually got!

BTW, be sure to warm her up good before em, and let her idle to cool down plenty after your romps. Be sure to keep her clean and in good order – She’ll serve you well and make ya Proud to Own Her!

Happy Boating Daze! - Art

you definitely see improvements in interior space and sea-kindliness as time moved forward.

Perhaps more sea kindly at DOCKSIDE.

A HUGE consideration in my book for liveaboards and long distance cruisers is enough room to live and stay organized through repairs and upgrades. Having a boat you can still move around on and live, eat/sleep/shower/etc...while the engine room is being disassembled is a great feature.

That feature is usually only on larger boats. Smaller boats may pack as much into a smaller hull... but it's done by cramming stuff into smaller spaces that need to be opened and stuff laid out all around when working...which is a PIA for the other occupants that still need to go about their business.

This is a repeat from another thread, but it from a lady that knew boats. My late wife's instructions when looking for our next boat were:

• Get the engine room out of the living room
• Get the driving out of the kitchen
• A really good navigator station with good chair
• Wide walk around side decks with good sturdy, secure railings
• As few steps as possible
• Great visibility

Moonstruck fit her parameters. She had one more request. She wanted the coffee maker in a locker. So I drove around for 2 days to find a coffee maker that fit. . . . . . ., and that my friends is how I came to own Moonstruck.

Art has just forced me to clarify "bigger". "Bigger" is a term I used when it comes to overall volume. I just went from a 39' sailboat to a 36' motoryacht. The 36 mainship has about 4 times the interior volume, 4 times the back deck space not to mention the fly bridge area.
I do beg to differ with art about sea kindliness. My experiences have always been that the wider boat is more sea kindly when not at sea. At the dock or in calm weather, the wider boat does not even notice the the small ripples.
When in not so rough weather, like 3-4 ft chops, narrower boats perform better especially if a head wind. The extra buoyancy of a wider hull lifts the bow higher and slaps down hard where the narrower boat tends to glide through the waves better.
Its easier to slice through bread with a knife than a baseball bat.
This has been my personal experience on many sailboats and only a few powerboats.
Disclaimer: This is my experience only and based on similar length boats of similar hull shape styles with varying beams.
Let the games begin.

markpierce said:

Al, it sounds like you need a wider boat.

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No thanks...then I'd have a 6 Kt boat! Everything on a boat is a compromise between cost and benefit. I'm very pleased with my current cost-benefit ratio.

OK Art ..

At least a compromise. A side deck on the starboard side and none on the port. But my little 30' boat has a cabin width of a 22' OB.

FlyWright said:

No thanks...then I'd have a 6 Kt boat! Everything on a boat is a compromise between cost and benefit. I'm very pleased with my current cost-benefit ratio.

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Yeah, but what a difference a foot can make.

The smaller the boat, the bigger the adventure.

CPseudonym said:

Was told by many the perfect boat for weekend warriors like us drank six, fed four and slept two.

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Totally agree!!!!! And not just for weekenders.

I have a 36'er so no, I don't wish for a smaller boat. If I were cruising full-time, it would be nice to have a 50+ footer, but it would be on the large side after the cruise is over when a 40+ footer is more desirable for a weekender. A problem if you don't enjoy the selling and buying process and the expensive sales-tax. For me, the solution would be to get something in between, and one boat that fits the bill would be a KK48 whaleback. It has the room of a 60 footer for comfortable living while cruising but not too big as a weekender. Too bad they are all single screw, but some have wing engines.

I think the width of the boat is more important than length. Mine is 38x12, would love to have 2 feet more width.