Blue water and single handed liveaboard?

[gkaralus]

Hi , I am completely new to sailboats ( and a few years with 17" powerboat) I am thinking in purchasing a 23'' to 27'' sailboat to use it as a liveaboard first and then sail back to Venezuela, my home country( from Miami FL)This is not the question wich brand will be better, it''s more what qualities will be better. For example : full fixed keel? I supose yes
Any help will be apreciated
Thanks
Gilbert

[Jeff_H]

This is a question that involves a lot of subjective issues. For example some might answer that if you are going to sail a boat that small go for the maximum displacement so that you can carry the most amount of supplies and fluids. Someone else might argue that you should go with a simple boat with reasonable speed so that you are able to make reasonably quick passages and therefore not need as much tankage or storage.

The example you gave of keel type. Someone could argue go with a full length keel because it will track a little better and will have more area in a grounding. Someone else might argue that most tracking ability on a boat that size is actually dynamic rather than steady state, go with a centerboard boat so that you can balance your helm, get into shallower water and have better performance than a full keel boat. Still, someone else would argue that most boats that size really will not self steer anyway (except perhaps upwind) without some form of windvane or autopilot and that fin keel spade rudder boats work much better than the other two with vanes and autopilots and also offer better performance on all points of sail so make the best choice.

You can make the same arguements about rigs. You can argue that a cutter rig offers a lot of flexibility in it sail plan and therefore is a good choice. It would be easy for someone else to argue that these are way too small a boat for the extra complexity and weight aloft of a cutter and cutters this size are a real pain in the butt to single-hand since it is is so hard to drag the headsail past the jibstay and so would argue that a masthead sloop rig is the obviuos way to go. And still someone else would argue that a fractional rig is the ideal cruising rig. The jibs are smaller and easier to tack. Fractional rigs are easier to depower so the need to be reefed less. They can be sailed quite easily under a just the mainsail without a jib or under a reefed mainsail in a blow making a really handy self-tacking heavy air set up.

It is all about perception and what you are comfortable with.

Jeff

[gkaralus]

Thanks for the replay, I did the example of the keel thinking that the fixed keel was better for blue water because it''s weight (more seaworthy) and being fixed, one less thing I have to worry about , remember I plan to do the trip alone.

[Jeff_H]

Like I said these choices are about personal preferences and while, after 4 decades of single-handing, I would personally take a fin keel/ outboard spade rudder for a trip like you are proposing if I were going to single-hand in a boat that size, a well reasoned case can be made why each choice is right and each choice is wrong.

Jeff

[Keyne]

Note, I have not sailed in one of these but based on what you were looking for this sounded perfect:

Sam L. Morse Falmouth Cutter

22 feet long. Designed by the famous Lyle Hess, and primarily built by Sam L. Morse the famous builder of the Bristol Channell Cutter (Its bigger sister). Reportedly easy to single hand, great in light air and heavy weather. They are trailerable and have the same interior layout as the Pardey''s boat Seraffyn which they lived on for 11 years.

They are VERY pricey new but there are 3 used boats available on Yacthworld (search using "Falmouth" for two of the boats and the 3rd can be found with "Sam L Morse"

If you want to read about real stories in the Falmouth cutter check out the site below and read the archived owners letters... people have written in and travelled all over the world in these things.

http://homepage.mac.com/rwsailor/Menu4.html