I am generally in agreement with the thought that there advantages to keeping your systems simple, but I also think there has to be a balance.
This month I read a piece in
Cruising World about a couple that is cruising the world in an Beneteau Oceanis 345 (I may have the model number wrong but it was an Oceanis of 34 or 35 feet). That caught my eye right away, as it may be a good coastal cruiser but seemed like a highly questionable choice for blue water cruising.
But then they really got my attention by saying that they found the systems too complicated, removed the engine for more storage, and opted for a sextant over a
GPS. The magazine did not offer any counterpoint, although we may eventually see some letters to the editor.
Did anyone else see this? Are these sound judgments or are they simply Luddites?