How big is too big ?

In my current search for a larger boat I'm now asking myself at what size dose a boat become too big to be handled on my own ? At present the Cunard is very manageable to take out on my own where as other boats on the marina are never taken out because the owners need a crew. I have been aboard some of these 40 foot + boats and don't know why a crew is need is it just the owners don't have confidence in themselves or am I just to overly confident and not yet found myself in a position where I need help .

Who here go out on there own ?? and what are the must have for single cruising my No1 so far is walk around deck

Big boat small boat , there will be days when the conditions would require a crew or 3 to be safe.

Worst that happens is you anchor out , go find fuel elsewhere to be safe.

What purpose does a bigger boat serv for you?

gaston said:

In my current search for a larger boat I'm now asking myself at what size dose a boat become too big to be handled on my own ? At present the Cunard is very manageable to take out on my own where as other boats on the marina are never taken out because the owners need a crew. I have been aboard some of these 40 foot + boats and don't know why a crew is need is it just the owners don't have confidence in themselves or am I just to overly confident and not yet found myself in a position where I need help .

Who here go out on there own ?? and what are the must have for single cruising my No1 so far is walk around deck

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If a big boat thst youre interested in has got a bow thruster, why not fit a stern thruster onto the transom as well?

Electric models seem to overheat after a very short time, but you can buy hydraulic ones that bolt onto the transom which you can leave on for as long as you require...

This is how the big commercial boats operate; once you're up against the jetty with the thrusters on, you could go and have a cup of tea before you need to jump off to tie up!

I can handle my boat quite easily by myself,it's 66' and approx 58 tons loaded ,big heavy boats don't get blown about as quickly as lighter boats with similar windage.Gives you more time to run about.
You have to handle the boat using engines and springs if required,forget manpower.A helper on the dock is nice,but usually I prefer to sort it out myself,overzealous dock hands can make things get worse very quickly.
We don't have thrusters at either end.A bit old fashioned these days I guess,so a boat with thrusters would make life easier,just don't get into situations where you have to trust them not to cut out,demonic little buggers,they have a weird sense of humour.
Our boat PO was 94 when he sold the boat to us and still doing most of the driving and docking himself,owned the boat for 30 years so knew how to drive it pretty well.

I think it depends on the agility and abilities and planning thoroughness of whoever the skipper is. When you say "take out on your own", what do you mean by "take out" ? A day cruise from and back to your own dock? Or extended all day cruising to anchorages, moorings and strange marinas with different dock schemes?

I'm a klutz, plus a bit dyslexic and ADD. No real issue taking the Hatt out for a day spin in nice weather, but that was after a few years of always having a crew member (who is also klutzy, and forgetful). To me, the ability to see all around the boat from the helm, and get anywhere on the boat quickly without going up or down steps, was essential.

stornoway7 said:

I can handle my boat quite easily by myself,it's 66' and approx 58 tons loaded ,big heavy boats don't get blown about as quickly as lighter boats with similar windage.Gives you more time to run about.
You have to handle the boat using engines and springs if required,forget manpower.A helper on the dock is nice,but usually I prefer to sort it out myself,overzealous dock hands can make things get worse very quickly.
We don't have thrusters at either end.A bit old fashioned these days I guess,so a boat with thrusters would make life easier,just don't get into situations where you have to trust them not to cut out,demonic little buggers,they have a weird sense of humour.
Our boat PO was 94 when he sold the boat to us and still doing most of the driving and docking himself,owned the boat for 30 years so knew how to drive it pretty well.

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I agree 100%. I have owned 27,34,36 and now 48 and in many ways 48 is the easiest. Things happen slowly and are controllable dockside because of her mass.

Rustybarge said:

Electric models seem to overheat after a very short time, but you can buy hydraulic ones that bolt onto the transom which you can leave on for as long as you require...

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**OT SIDE NOTE** I priced thrusters a few weeks ago. To fit an electric bow thruster to our Navigator 42 was about $12,000. To fit the same size in hydraulic was over $30,000. AT the moment... we'll get neither while we wait for George to come give me driving lessons

**OT NOTE TO GEORGE** Rhyse hooked me up with a guy coming over this morning to give me some instruction.

Good luck Tom and have fun. 10 mph winds not too bad, should be pretty protected there in Fairfield Harbor.

Tom.B said:

**OT SIDE NOTE** I priced thrusters a few weeks ago. To fit an electric bow thruster to our Navigator 42 was about $12,000. To fit the same size in hydraulic was over $30,000. AT the moment... we'll get neither while we wait for George to come give me driving lessons

**OT NOTE TO GEORGE** Rhyse hooked me up with a guy coming over this morning to give me some instruction.

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Did you make it clear that you wanted to buy thrusters, not the factory!

gaston said:

In my current search for a larger boat I'm now asking myself at what size dose a boat become too big to be handled on my own ? At present the Cunard is very manageable to take out on my own where as other boats on the marina are never taken out because the owners need a crew. I have been aboard some of these 40 foot + boats and don't know why a crew is need is it just the owners don't have confidence in themselves or am I just to overly confident and not yet found myself in a position where I need help .

Who here go out on there own ?? and what are the must have for single cruising my No1 so far is walk around deck

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I think the most important thing is to identify what you want to use your boat for. You say you want a bigger boat, but why? What specifically do you want/need that requires a larger boat?

I think I would start there, because what most of us are looking for are features and performance, not length (at least that is what my wife has been telling me for years).

Once you know what you are looking for, then you can see what size boats offer you want you want. Then you look at those boats and see if you feel they can be single-handed by you.

I single-hand my 40 foot sailboat. It frankly can be a challenge under certain docking conditions with just a single engine and no thruster.

Dave

gaston said:

I have been aboard some of these 40 foot + boats and don't know why a crew is need is it just the owners don't have confidence in themselves (yes!) or am I just to overly confident and not yet found myself in a position where I need help .

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I single handed my 32 Gourmet cruiser about 90% of the time. It had a bow thruster and easy access to the dock which made it very simple to helm alone. My present boat is helmed from the fly bridge which (at 74 years old) makes it a little harder to single hand. I can do it but going down the ladder takes more time than I like. A friend of mine has a 65 RPH which he often single hands.

I did a lot of reading a couple years ago before I built my Duck. If you sit down at truly read insurance polices you can find some odd rules.

At some point the larger you get the harder it is to find docks and a lot harder to find a travel lift when traveling. We were looking to buy a cat before we decided to build our duck.

With my family being a live aboard it's not often that I’m out on my own. If the tides, current, and wind are somewhat calm I don't care about docking with out a dock hand. If the weather is not all that good than I want a dock hand, but have done it with out one before. If I’m not at a dock I know well I want a deck hand or a dock hand no matter what the weather unless it's a simple end of the dock parking job.

My Duck is 48' and steel. I have factory bow, stern hydraulic thruster, and a walk around deck. If I planed on doing more single handed docking I would have a rope windlass on the bow or midship that was remote controlled that I would use for docking.

choppywater said:

My Duck is 48' and steel. I have factory bow, stern hydraulic thruster, and a walk around deck. If I planed on doing more single handed docking I would have a rope windlass on the bow or midship that was remote controlled that I would use for docking.

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IRRC your Duck also has doors on both sides of the PH? I think that would be a huge requirement for me.

Being that I am completely ignorant I will ask, how would you use a windlass to help with the docking?

Dave

I have single handed our boat only once and that made me realize it's too big to handle comfortably by myself. The issue is getting down to the deck/dock to handle lines.


Another thing that nobody has mentioned is, I prefer to have my wife on board for company. Boating solo is OK (I've had many boats where I could do that) but I've always preferred to have my wife or friends along to enjoy the ride.

Here's what I have found so far with my Krogen 54.

There's good news and bad news. And they're the same thing. At this size and weight (85000lb loaded) no one is going to manhandle the boat. As the skipper you have to put her where she needs to be for a safe docking. At that point you could just as easily step off and tie her down as could a deck hand (this assumes you have pilot house doors or equivalent that provide easy access.) Even though I had crew on my trip from Ketchikan to San Francisco, there wasn't a single docking where I couldn't have handle the lines by myself. That doesn't mean there never will be, but I'll deal with that somehow when the day comes!

I have a passageway on the starboard side and not on port side. I typically only dock on the starboard side. Though I have found that the only line I need to make secure is the midship line, which I can do on either side. After that I can take my time with bow, stern, spring lines etc.

All that having been said, I would rather anchor most of the time. For me that is a big part boating. I recognize that my boat isn't really one for going marina hopping. My usage includes multi day trips and Pacific coastal waters as well as bays and rivers.

As for why to get a larger boat? For me it was because I wanted to live aboard and have as much space as I could reasonably manage. So far I have been very happy with my choice.

Richard
Stillwater
KK54 #5

GFC said:

I have single handed our boat only once and that made me realize it's too big to handle comfortably by myself. The issue is getting down to the deck/dock to handle lines.


Another thing that nobody has mentioned is, I prefer to have my wife on board for company. Boating solo is OK (I've had many boats where I could do that) but I've always preferred to have my wife or friends along to enjoy the ride.

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Ditto.

I can single hand our boat, but I wouldn't want to. For me, the best part of boating is sharing it with family and friends.

Drake said:

Ditto.

I can single hand our boat, but I wouldn't want to. For me, the best part of boating is sharing it with family and friends.

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For me the best part is getting away from all the family and friends. A nice anchor spot with no one around is the best.

"A nice anchor spot with no one around is the best."

A $,2500 25 ft Bayliner will do that with ease.

FF said:

"A nice anchor spot with no one around is the best."

A $,2500 25 ft Bayliner will do that with ease.

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Yes, a Tracker Jon boat will work too. What's your point?

The biggest boat I even single handed was 80'. But not on a regular basis by any means.

On a boat with bow thruster, stern thruster and a wireless remote control, you could single had a 150 footer or more.

But it's not about single handling t when everything goes smoothly. It's when things go wrong and you can't be in two places at once that even a 35' boat can be to much to handle alone.

ssobol said:

Yes, a Tracker Jon boat will work too. What's your point?

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Probably to match the boat to the mission. Everyone on the internet says they do but the people I meet on the docks complain that they didn't.

dhays said:

IRRC your Duck also has doors on both sides of the PH? I think that would be a huge requirement for me.

Being that I am completely ignorant I will ask, how would you use a windlass to help with the docking?

Dave

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You could toss the anchor onto the dock and reel the boat over to it?

I have had no issues single handed with our 47 boat over the past 9 seasons and I often bring it to the dock by myself. Access to each side and easily handled lines make it fairly easy - choose wisely and have fun boating.

Capt.Bill11 said:

The biggest boat I even single handed was 80'. But not on a regular basis by any means.

On a boat with bow thruster, stern thruster and a wireless remote control, you could single had a 150 footer or more.

But it's not about single handling t when everything goes smoothly. It's when things go wrong and you can't be in two places at once that even a 35' boat can be to much to handle alone.

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Capt Bill alludes to another factor too. if to you single handing is just docking and anchoring then, like Bill, a 100'+ is possible. Even joysticks available incorporating the thrusters and remotes to make it easy. However, to me there are all the other factors. When things go wrong. Even when things go right. You have an ER you need to check. You have routine maintenance. Just washing the boat down at the end of a day of cruising. All the other aspects of managing the boat. So, I'd say consider it all and ask how large a boat can you manage before it becomes a job instead of pleasure? To me, the shift starts around 50' and as you get larger, little by little you have more work to do and less time to enjoy. By the time you hit 75' you better have a crew. Well, by default, you do have one, but it is you. You're captain, engineer, deck hand, stew and chef. Suddenly the owner or pleasure boater got booted out of the equation.

Even if you are not a solo cruiser, I recommend understanding, and practicing, what would be involved in operating a given boat on your own without the help of crew. Stuff happens out there.

dhays said:

Being that I am completely ignorant I will ask, how would you use a windlass to help with the docking?

Dave

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I occasionally use the capstan on my vertical windlass to suck the bow into the dock when the wind is working against me.

Britannia said:

So far I have been very happy with my choice

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I'd be ecstatic if I could have your choice! (One of my favorite boats...)

So far nobody has mentioned that 50 or sometimes 40' is a size limit at some marinas and moorings. So its not always just the incremental cost, but above a certain size might limit your slip or mooring options.

Ken

A lot to consider and after a lot of sole searching a 35 to 37' Nordic Tug type boat is what we are now looking for we have ditched the thoughts of a 42'/45' and also decided a fly bridge is no longer a must have item. This extra 7 foot isn't much of a step up from 30' but for the 2 of us 95% of the time that's all we need . Maybe a few more comforts and a little younger than our 2003 . My greatest problem to purchasing here in Australia is there is so little on the market to chose from and so much rubbish to sort through .As I see it from what I have my heart set on to what available is going to be yet another compromise .


My must have list is diesel shaft drive, walk around deck, No aft cabin, large rear deck direct off cabin no steps, single engine, 360 deg view from helm and inside seating .







Maybe I should just add 7' to my present boat ? and give it a new paint job and carpet

kchace said:

So far nobody has mentioned that 50 or sometimes 40' is a size limit at some marinas and moorings. So its not always just the incremental cost, but above a certain size might limit your slip or mooring options.

Ken

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Definitely an important consideration for some, however, you then get into all the variations of what is a 50' boat? Some marinas allow for a 3' fudge factor and then there is the marina that uses the LWL and the other that uses the LOA (including the swim step and anchor pulpit).