View Single Post
Old 09-14-2015, 09:36 AM   #84
Britannia
Wannabe
 
Britannia's Avatar
 
City: SF Bay Area
Vessel Name: Stillwater
Vessel Model: Kadey-Krogen 54
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 782
Quote:
Originally Posted by wayne-c View Post
As I am reading - I understand that I am catching a bit of flack for not knowing what I want to do with the boat, if I want to cross oceans or not. Here is what I can say. I do not have plans to cross oceans per say, however I would love to eventually be capable (whether I do or not, idk) of going around the entire North America continent. From my understanding, many will say this is just coastal hopping - maybe it is. If so, I guess that is what I want to be able to do. Either way I agree that I would like a boat more capable and more safe than I would use. If I invest everything, I wont have the luxury of upgrading or changing 4-5 yrs from now.

As I know - Nordhaven is a fairly popular boat for long range, however to be honest I am not impressed with the living spaces. Yes I know this is a sacrifice for the safety and configuration of crossing oceans. However I will be doing more living then crossing oceans.
I was in your position not all that long ago. You can't possibly know everything about what you want to do in the future. Everyone here wants as much possible detail so they can give you their best advice. In general you have heard that the good coastal cruisers will enable you to fulfill your dream of circumnavigating NA - as long as you make good decisions about weather etc. In the end, as has been pointed out many times here, it's about you much more than it is about the boat. Your spirit and determination will be the biggest factor.

There is one exception though. Even though you will be doing more living than crossing oceans, if you pick a coastal cruiser you will never be crossing oceans in that boat. Truth be told, the majority of ocean crossing boats don't do it either. However, you will be making that decision once you buy the boat. You can, of course, have your coastal boat shipped across an ocean one day.

Quote:
So with that being said - what are the important features I should be looking for if I want to have the capability of circumnavigating the Continent - Also, I will show my ignorance here and ask why the long range "ocean crossers" have only a primary single engine vs dual?
The single engine in an ocean crossing boat is usually for the reduced fuel consumption to give it greater range. It's not about the cost of the fuel but rather carrying enough on board to make the crossing with some reserve.

Richard
Stillwater
KK54 #5
Britannia is offline   Reply With Quote