[Jim H]

Originally Posted by copacabana

JimH, what about that lovely Rival you've bought? It seems like an excellent choice for cruising. It's well-made, sturdy and best of, already yours. If I may ask, what set you to thinking the Rival isn't right for your plans?
Regards,
Mark

Hi, Mark

If it were just my wife and I, the Rival 34 could be a viable option if we traveled light. It's easy to forget how narrow and small 1970s boats can be, and with our two growing kids the concept of doing several years on the boat is almost comical. I believe a woman circumnavigated alone on a Rival, but even it was a 36, which is significantly larger than our 34. I'd trust it off shore.

Now, if there was no choice, we might install a water-maker and buy freeze-dried food and do other crazy things to limit size and weight, but it might make the trip more of an adventure than wanted and distract from other things we'd like to achieve. Still, the boat is already well prepped (windvane, radar, new engine, epoxy bottom, newer sails and rigging, etc.)...

Anyway, we'll have her for at least two more summers, and that's a long time to think things through. I'm happy not to have a 38-47 footer right now, since we really don't need it for Channel trips of 1-2 weeks. If we do move up, many families over here would opt for something like a 41 foot Westerly Oceanlord (as mentioned earlier) or a larger Moody, but I wouldn't do that before considering other options.