sail or power

Bilbo0 · #1 (**permalink**) 09-03-2002

I was hoping to get advice regarding the best boat style for liveaboarding. I''m partial to sail, but my wife is more interested in the perceived safety/comfort of a power vessel. We are looking for something in the fixer-upper sense, inexpensive but capable of restoration (I can fix anything, and I''ve already done this with our present sailing vessel). My dream is to be as free as possible and I''m concerned about being tied down by the cost of fuel; one skipper I recently spoke to told me his rig costs 50 bucks an hour to run.
There are a lot of wooden fishing vessels for sale up here pretty reasonably priced, though I haven''t a clue what they cost to run. I notice that many people are converting these to pleasure craft and they seem to offer much more space than any sailing vessel of the same length. What are the advantages/disadvantages between power and sail as liveaboards, especially for older vessels? I want to travel as far and wide as possible, with as lowest cost as possible, with the factors of safety and comfort taken into account.

GordMay · #2 (**permalink**) 12-27-2002

If you want to be forever fixing-up - go for an old wooden power boat. If you''d like to take a day off, every month or so, - get an old wooden sailboat.
Cruising & Living-Aboard are opposite sides of the same coin.
When my wife & I lived-aboard our C&C29, we had a domestic fridge in the cockpit, a window-type air conditioner in the fore-hatch, (Two) Televisions on cable, a microwave/convection oven, & etc. Obviously, we didn''t day-sail much.
When we cruised, we had gas & diesel cans on deck, and provisions everywhere else.
We never saw our bootsripe!
A word on boat size. "Stuff accumulates to fill the space alloted". You can cruise as well on a small sailboat (as we have) as you can on a larger power boat. What you can never regain, is the TIME it takes to accumulate stuff, and the space to store it.
Best regards,
Gord@Boatpro.zzn.com

peterpan2k · #3 (**permalink**) 12-29-2002

Hi
I have a 1969 37'' Fairliner. Aft birth, V-birth, 2 heads, one with a shower that''s seperate. Got plenty of room for stuff. Loaded it with 250 gals of gas and secured a BMW 750 M/C to the aft deck. Headed for Mexico from L.A.. Got all the way to SanDiego before we found out that there is no Gasoline south of the Tortuga Islands. I get 1 mile to the gal at 1800 RPM. It''s 450 miles from the Tortuga''s to Cabo. Needless to say if we had sails it wouldn''t have been a problem.
Jim

tracymckee · #4 (**permalink**) 04-18-2003

Sailing from Corpus Christi Texas to Fortaleza Brazil.

I''m new to sailing, in fact, I have never sailed before, and I''m afraid of deep water as well. I would like to begin preparing to sail from Corpus Christi Texas to Fortaleza Brazil. My plan is to buy a sail boat, live in it and learn to sail and navigate. It sounds like a stretch, but I have a pilots license and I also SCUBA dive. I am looking to keep it simple.

Is there anyone who could point me in a good direction in terms of preparation, and the type of boat / Equipment that I will need?

thefantasea · #5 (**permalink**) 04-19-2003

"Is there anyone who could point me in a good direction in terms of preparation, and the type of boat / Equipment that I will need?"

If you spend the hours necessary to read each of the several thousand posts you find on this site you will develop a good understanding of what you will need to know, to have, and to do in order to accomplish the task you have set before yourself. Others who have done and are preparing to do what you propose have graciously shared their joys, sorrows, aches, pains, problems, solutions, and shortcomings so that the rest of us may benefit from their experiences. A wise person avoids learning the hard way; instead adapting to his own circumstances the lessons learned by others the hard way.

Good luck on your quest. Be diligent, thorough, and patient.

joub · #6 (**permalink**) 04-21-2003

>> I''m partial to sail, but my wife is more interested in the perceived safety/comfort of a power vessel. <<

If you are looking for a sea going condo, a sailboat of a given length will not have as much interor space as a power boat of the same length.

Typically, the cabin of a power boat will be much more spacious and more like a home than the sailboat with (typically) a narrow companionway ladder and cozy cabin.

IF you want to sail, you will give up the space for the joy of sailing! Who wants to listen to an engine all day, and pound from wave to wave?

Fairwinds,
Jim