Tartan 27

[c172guy]

We are sufffering greatly without a sailboat!!! Our plans are to go cruising after my wife retires in spring 2004. We have limited funds and abilities. Most of our experience is with smaller boats of 30'' or less. But the major problem is money. At lunch today I told my wife that I''d rather be anchored in Antiqua wishing we had a bigger boat than tied to the dock in Mobile wishing we were in Antiqua!!! Anyone with experience cruising in smaller boats please speak up!!! Can a couple be happy cruising on a 27'' Tartan??? Can we do without refrigeration and air conditioning??? Does a stove get used much while cruising??? Will a handheld GPS do the trick or do we need a lap top computer and electronic charts???
We don''t want to be miserable in a small cramped boat but when you are anchored do you spend much time on the boat or are you snorkling or on the beach...in a bar??? Our experience to date is mostly weekends and a week at a time now and then. During the week we seem happy fishing,swimming and reading. Does that get old in a few weeks?? We don''t want to live-aboard we want to go cruising for a year or two. We envision sailing a day or two a week going to interesting places then moving again. The only time we plan to stay anchored for long is waiting for weather. The main cruising areas being the east coast, gulf coast and Bahamas. We have agreed that we want a tough boat that we can afford and can handle well at sea. I really like the Tartan''s shallow draft which seems perfect for the Bahamas and Chesapeak.
Tom

[WHOOSH]

Tom, you pose two basic questions. The answer to the first - can you and your wife be happy, comfortable and satisfied with a boat the size (and cost) of a Tartan 27 - can not be found on this BB, as I''m sure you are aware. All the things you mention - e.g. small spaces and limited speed but also less cost and shallower draft - are compromises only you two can speak to. Our second cruise, as a family of three, was on a 20'' sloop...so don''t ask us if it is possible to find joy in going small, as we did.

Your second question - what about a Tartan 27? - reminds me of HUGELIG, a later model 27 (the one with the raised deck and therefore increased interior volume), which at the moment is anchored 15 NM outside Cartegna, Columbia. It was sailed there by a good friend from Florida, with many stops along the way. But a few years earlier, he sailed it to the Med and, when the kitty was low, ended up living aboard on the Black Sea and teaching English in Turkey for 3 years. Then he returned to the U.S. via the traditional trade wind route. The boat has not suffered from this use and is in great shape, altho'' a few things have been changed along the way (new rig, new engine, etc.). Russ single-hands now, so he has a few fancy autopilot/wind vane things...but otherwise the boat is simple and a pleasure to be aboard, down below or in the cockpit. Room for two? Only you can sort that one out...

Good luck with the mulling...

Jack

[tanzer]

I''m just a summer vacation cruiser, but I found that issues like ventilation, shelter from the sun and comfortable seats and berths are more important than boat size.

I think an economy cruiser makes sense. You just need to know which ones are "seaworthy" and which ones aren''t. Usually you can find a neglected boat like a Tartan 27 or Pearson Triton or ... for very little money. There are big differences between the older style keels and the newer fin keels, I like the newer, faster fin keel style, but the older full keel will work too. I would suggest that you find a boat that lets you add an outboard bracket, so you can pull the old inboard out of the boat. If you don''t have much room, you need that space for storage and you won''t want a stinky oily motor in your living area anyway. Under 30 feet an outboard will work fine, as long as you are committed to sailing as the main source of propulsion. I pulled my old inboard and sold it, then scrubbed the bilge and painted it, and my boat no longer has oily drippings in the bilge, it is clean. A solar panel provides enough electric for lights, music, autopilot, and depth sounder. I use a 6hp Tohatsu on an outboard bracket on my 28 foot Tanzer, it has got me out of channel mouths where I had to run through the 6'' bar breakers into the wind to get out to sailing water. Another good boat is the Tartan 30, which is faster and a very different boat than the 27. Take a look here:

http://cruisenews.net/boattypes.html

and do some research on your own. If you look at a lot of the logbooks, it seems that people go cruising for a couple of years then burn out or change their minds, or run out of money. So if you set your self up for a couple of years of sailing and leave the future beyond that up in the air and you should be OK.

You definitely need a decent stove. If you don''t have much room, get a one burner gimballed propane cartridge stove that hangs on a bulkhead, it is safer than an ungimballed stove and will be enough for 90% of your needs. The stove linked below was used in a Pearson Triton (Atom) which circumnavigated twice:

http://cruisenews.net/images/AtomGalley2.jpg

Air conditioning? no way, don''t waste your time unless you have $$ to burn, use an awning and a wind catcher. Refrigeration would be nice but its not essential and its a luxury if you can afford it. A depth sounder, compass, handheld GPS, a pencil and a paper chart are all you need for coastal cruising navigation tools. Add a plastic sextant and tables for offshore. A handheld vhf will be enough as well, the modern handhelds are very high quality. Get a good anchor, a Delta or Bruce or CQR.

I''ve gone on long enough. The most important thing you need is time to enjoy yourself.

[Stede]

C172guy--here is a good link that is right in line with what you want to do, and what you want to do it with. Good luck!

http://srd.yahoo.com/S=2766679:WS1/R=1/K=Destiny+Calls/SS=2016746/H=0/T=1041391881/F=e9c1b82b2f1ff87445f16867cbecb3a6/*http://www3.sympatico.ca/destinycalls/