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your favorite small cruising (blue water) boat

13K views 46 replies 17 participants last post by  sailing320 
#1 ·
Ok, I know this is a bit a of a redundant question but as the summer is coming to an end I seem to be seeing a lot of good looking deals starting to pop up and when I was back in NYC I heard at the marina a fair amount of boats going up for sail.

I went from being set on a Tartan to just having too many choices.

So I am just curious what everyones small, blue water cruiser is, it needs to be easily single handed and have the ability to sail the world comfortably and safely.

Personally, I sailed a westsail 32 and enjoyed it, the part that made me love it was the stability I felt at sail and just as importantly was the interior comfort, size, and finish.

So with that in mind, what woudl you recomend i start researching heavily and what would be similar interior wise?
 
#2 ·
If you liked the Westail, check out a SC31...same design but better engineered. They sail better and are lighter, but have slightly less interior room. There are 10+ for sale on yachworld. Of course, i am slightly biased having just poured my heart and soul into restoring mine. It floats but the work is only 1/2 done :)
 
#3 ·
Just be aware that the Southern Cross boats have a cored hull...with an Airex core. The Westsail 32 was solid glass IIRC. Both are very solid boats and have circumnavigated IIRC. Donna Lange just finished in an SC28.
 
#4 ·
i had my eye on a SC actually, the advantage i saw, and thsi is without doing much research yet, was the vast amount of very dedicated westsail groups and part suppliers.

What is everyones opinion on the cored hull? if it's in good shape is it a good thing?

anyoen knwo where i can get some godo interior pics of the SC?
 
#5 · (Edited)
Southern Crosses are pretty solid boats. Unless they damaged the hull or added a through-hulll improperly, they don't seem to have many hull core-related issues. IIRC, many had owner finished interiors, so the layout and quality of the interiors can vary quite a bit.

One thing I've seen that leads to problems on boats with cored-hulls is when someone attaches something to the interior surface, but doesn't pot the hole with thickened epoxy. If the attachment is down in the bilge, water can often get into the cored hull laminate via the screw hole. On one boat, don't believe it was an SC, there was a lot of "moisture" in the hull, and it turned out to be from a screw that was used to hold a bonding wire support in the bilge.
 
#7 ·
I really enjoy my PSC Orion. I have yet to do any blue water sailing in her though.
The boat is solid and small enough to singlehand, and its easier to finance the dream as everything is smaller and less expensive. What had finally sold me on the boats ability was the account of Brec Morgan, who solo circumnavigated his Orion out of Bloc Island. So, it can be done. The boat sails well, but it is initially a little tender. It doesn't take much to get her over to 15 degrees heel. However the boat will stay right there for some time. I've had up full sails beating in 20 to 25kt wind and the boat stayed heeled to 15-20 degrees.
It is a little small if you plan on having any good sized crew with you (wife, kids, dog)
 
#14 ·
The bats usually prefer the v-berth...it's quieter and darker... and they can sleep better there during the day. :D
 
#19 ·
maybe I can add to thsi thread, what is teh smallest boat that you would feel safe in crossing the ocean, or making very long passages, who knows, maybe an extended circumnav. i am talking smallest you would feel safe, not comfortable necessarily. (i've been living in studio apartments in Manhatten for years, now montreal, i have a big apartment adn it's too much)

I love the smaller PSC the mroe I look at it, acept the fact that there is no head on teh smallest of them, all be it probably too small to cross with.

Basically I want to have the most highquality, small package I can sense I can afford a high quality large boat.

I'd rather have a tank of a little boat that I can afford to do 100% and have the highest quality of everything.
 
#20 ·
maybe I can add to thsi thread, what is teh smallest boat that you would feel safe in crossing the ocean, or making very long passages, who knows, maybe an extended circumnav. i am talking smallest you would feel safe, not comfortable necessarily. (i've been living in studio apartments in Manhatten for years, now montreal, i have a big apartment adn it's too much)

I love the smaller PSC the mroe I look at it, acept the fact that there is no head on teh smallest of them, all be it probably too small to cross with.

Basically I want to have the most highquality, small package I can sense I can afford a high quality large boat.

I'd rather have a tank of a little boat that I can afford to do 100% and have the highest quality of everything.
People cross oceans on Flickas all the time. There are Flickas that have a head built in that is right to starboard as you go down the companionway. Flickas come in a few different flavors, some have outboards, some inboards. Some have a proper head, some a porta-potti, some where even ferro-cement. They might be a little small though, imagine 30 days in a minivan.
Danas are really nice boats, and they meet the head by the companionway requirement.
Here are a few:
http://www.yachtworld.com/boats/1742058/0
http://www.yachtworld.com/boats/1560588/0
 
#22 ·
What's small?

Mine feels small in the ocean or in Antigua... but very large when I am waxing the hull. Shiva's 36 LOA and fine for singlehanding, reasonably fast passage making and comfy to live on. To some she's small.. to others... she big. To me she is perfect.

jef
sv shiva
 
#26 ·
well at least it was just a dyslexic moment, i have been having dyslexic days (check previous posts lol :p )

Anyway, I am in love with the BABA's now but not the price.

I love the direction the recommendations have been going. What boats are similar to the BABA's and West sails, I'm most willing to shell out a bit more on a boat that is as nice as they look, mind you i haven't been in one in person. This will be my home for a good amount of time while i prepare for my trip and eventually go in the next few years.

So keep em coming!

also, what is the advantage, in your words and experience (i've read a ton) of the canoe sterns?
 
#25 ·
a friend of mine once said; "it is a sad frog that doesn't brag on his own pond"..that being said..
Sabre 30 MKIII:D
 
#30 ·
Canoe sterns may provide an added degree of seaworthiness in EXTREME conditions (parting large following seas), otherwise they are mostly an aesthetic preference. Personally, I like the look, although I don't own one. I prefer the way Bill Crealock has rendered the canoe sterns in the Pacific Seacraft line (34, 37, 40, 44), as compared to other designers' renditions. Bill's just look crisper/cleaner to me, and less droopy/puffy. A down-side to canoe sterns is that you get less internal volume from a given length boat than you would with a traditional transom.

So that no one labels me a sad frog, let me plug the Pacific Seacraft Crealock 31. Similar to it's larger canoe-sterned stable mates, the less well-known 31 has a traditional wine glass transom. If you are seeking a larger boat than the PSC Dana 24 or Orion 27, with a fin rather than full keel, it may be worth a look. Note that the PSC Crealock 31 is not to be confused with an earlier PSC model called the "Mariah 31" (although the Mariah may be something you'd want to look at too -- just be aware of the distinction.)
 
#31 ·
dinghy placement

Just out of curiosity, any suggestions on dinghy placement and storage on a canoe stern, i saw one with a inflatable on some sort of rig on the back, but ti was a very large canoe stern boat, not sure of the make.

it seems that the easiest place would be off the back leaving room on the deck. . .
 
#32 ·
AC...while davits are handy for storage in settled conditions most will tell you they have no place at sea. Dinks should be on deck or rolled up and stowed when passagemaking.
I would imagine that if you are looking at a canoe stern you are thinking about passages in open water. Davits can be useful in harbors and to mount solar panels (ask CD!!) but a dink on the stern can get pooped and rip the whole structure out and literally be life threatening in bad weather.

http://www.oceanmarinesystems.com/photos_sail_p2.html
http://www.edsonmarine.com/sailcatalog07/00062.htm
http://shop.sailnet.com/product_info.php/products_id/22223?search=1&keywords=davits
 
#33 ·
Davits can be useful in harbors and to mount solar panels (ask CD!!) but a dink on the stern can get pooped and rip the whole structure out and literally be life threatening in bad weather.
What about a cover or pulling it up on deck and then sliding it out onto the top of the davits like it was a roof rack (with the boat upside down) for passages? Just a question based on observation and "what if" thinking - I don't have any experiences with this.
 
#34 ·
ARB....It is the force of the water against the square footage of the dinghy that breaks things...not so much the weight and breaks things. Not a good idea but you will see many boats out there carrying dinghys on davits at sea.
I've also seen some really expensive repair jobs to ripped out decks!
 
#35 ·
Camaraderie explained it well. Most off-shore cruisers try to get the dinghy on deck or stowed below. Even on deck, though, the dinghy can be damaged by the force of water/waves. But it's much better there than in stern davits.

Some big boats can get away with it most of the time, but if you do a lot of off-shore passagemaking the odds will eventually catch up to you. That said, we sailed from Abaco to Beaufort NC with a big inflatable in davits without any difficulty. My friend, the boat's owner, was comfortable with this arrangement, but I confess it caused me a great deal of apprehension (further heightened when I learned after departure that the dinghy in davits was also our liferaft for the voyage!)

If you are only coastal cruising/daysailing, you can get away with davits pretty much all the time and they are very handy to have. I don't think there are any special problems with using davits on canoe sterns -- I've certainly seen them often enough.
 
#37 ·
Camaraderie explained it well. Most off-shore cruisers try to get the dinghy on deck or stowed below. Even on deck, though, the dinghy can be damaged by the force of water/waves. But it's much better there than in stern davits.

Some big boats can get away with it most of the time, but if you do a lot of off-shore passagemaking the odds will eventually catch up to you. That said, we sailed from Abaco to Beaufort NC with a big inflatable in davits without any difficulty. My friend, the boat's owner, was comfortable with this arrangement, but I confess it caused me a great deal of apprehension (further heightened when I learned after departure that the dinghy in davits was also our liferaft for the voyage!)

If you are only coastal cruising/daysailing, you can get away with davits pretty much all the time and they are very handy to have. I don't think there are any special problems with using davits on canoe sterns -- I've certainly seen them often enough.
What a nightmare that could be - sinking because the stern was torn up when your lifeboat was ripped away!

Thanks for the education, guys; I will try to file this one away in some of the few remaining good brain cells so maybe I will remember it when the time comes.
 
#36 ·
we have a Hans Christian 33, solid fiberglass 1" 1/4 on deck (no coring), for a 33 she is very roomy (queen pullman and in the head a seperate sit down shower) and has a ton of storage space, she weighs in at 18,500 un-loaded ours is about 20,000. she may not be fast unless it is blowing. but for saftey I 'll take her anywhere...well no polar caps :) ok I am partical. :)

Cape Dory's, Fuji 35, Baba, Dana, and a lot also depends on how you have her outfitted too.
Have fun searching and climbing around many "homes" you will know when you find her.
we took so long and climbed around on so many boats our broker quit on us, but a year later we found her. and he lost out on his commission :)
 
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