I tend to agree with Jeff's post, and want to emphasize particulalry his last statement about Fatty. I recall from reading quite a few of his articles (Fatty's) a recurring theme to the effect that his boat was not particulalry suited for what he was doing, but it was the boat he had and he simply made due. Not all of us could pull off what Fatty has done and frankly, if you're in the fortunate position to make another boat choice, why would you try to?
We had a similar discussion a few weeks ago about attributes of blue-water/off-shore capable boats. You might want to peruse it if you haven't already (here:
http://www.sailnet.com/forums/sailboat-design-construction/38002-coastal-v-bluewater-cruiser-your-thoughts.html ), then come back here with more questions if you have them.