Saturday, April 4, 2015

So, what kind of VolksCruiser do you want?

OK, color me curious...

I know what I want in a VolksCruiser but I'm a little hazy as to just how the idea manifests itself in your imaginations.

Listening...

9 comments:

  1. Something small and cheap.

    I'm thinking 22' O'Day or even Catalina. It must have a swing keel for the skinny water here in Florida. And also would be trailerable.

    I could do the great loop and on a good day sail over to the islands.

    And as it's just me there would be plenty of room. Oh I'm 69 if that equates to your survey.

    Wade in NW Florida

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  2. Bob, I thought you'd never ask! 8) But seriously...

    I would love to see a select few lines of fiberglass hulls, each in a range of quantum size leaps (up to, say, 40ft? though smaller is beautifler). These would be CHEAPLY available as bare hulls. Maybe with a multi-decadal layer of antifouling copper/epoxy laid in, and provision for a metal shoe.

    Several standard layouts and rigs could be designed around these hulls, similar to Bill Garden's 'standard' conversions for Bristol Bay Gillnetter hulls (once widely available on the cheap).

    Around these hulls I'd like to see a community of DIY builder/owners, pro builders (to complete to any desired level), chandlers (to supply outfit with suites of simple, robust gear), and sail-maker/riggers (to provide standard rigs of various types, or custom). All this organized in co-ops, where possible.

    Where possible, a baseline of coordinated, standard outfit would allow production runs to remain accessibly priced (not that one couldn't go goldplate the things if they so chose).

    My personal dream team hull archetypes would be a Bolger ROMP, Monroe PRESTO or Hoyt FREEDOM 44 type holding down the shoal end; a Hess RENEGADE or Atkin INGRID type holding down deep, heavy-weights; and a long, skinny hull that could be configured as catamaran, trimaran or proa.

    Or, if speaking strictly one-off DIY, I think Bolger's ADVANCED SHARPIES, Benford or MacNaughton Dories, and Wharram TIKIs (catamarans) are hard to beat for maximum bang-for-buck. In one or another configuration, they'll do pretty much whatever is wanted in a cruiser.

    But you know... sometimes I wonder if it's really the cruiser we're lacking, these days, or the Volk?

    Dave Z

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  3. George Buehler put this thought in my head, think of it as the nautical equivalent of an RV drinks 6, eats 4 sleeps 2 sort of a slightly bigger Loose Moose II, build it yourself Think MDO

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    1. As it happens, drink six/feed four/sleep two was part of the design brief when we asked Phil Bolger when we had him design LM2.

      That said, you could do the drink six/feed four/sleep two thang quite easily in a boat a lot smaller. Certainly no reason to go bigger than Loose Moose 2...

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    2. It's wider and a foot longer

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    3. Well... Wider is not always a goodly thing in a sharpie and a foot longer is a lot of added expense.

      That said, what boat are we actually talking about?

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  4. I've taken an alternative approach, taking a cue from the hermit crab. I have a small collection of good "stuff" that I take with me from boat to boat as my situation or locations change. Everywhere in the world I go there are countless almost-retired hulls waiting shoreside for me to move in, and they are generally of a type that suits well the local waters. It is easier, and less expensive, to pack my kit in a crate and ship it across an ocean than it is to forever keep a boat that has passage-making capability that is only occasionally used to advantage.

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    1. There's a lot to be said for this approach...

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  5. Wow... open invitation to trot out the wish list.

    Relocatable global apartment-audio studio. Few electronics and able to continue on without GPS and spare parts once the grid slams down due to collapse, three masted chinese lug rig and no wind vane gear at all (a la Colvins junks), aluminum and well insulated, interior steering station because tropical sun roasts my yankee hide quite easily, lots of room on deck, a nice dory tender that sails too, transom hung rudder, awesome ventilation and bug protection, good pointer due to no engine at all, boarding ladder for skin divers suitable to a old guy or gal, able to dry out upright on twin keels so the bottom paint won't be ground off, relatively shoal draft (3.0 max), good double bunk and a sea berth, a nice solid fuel heater easily welded up, and, if we're really talking post collapse funsies, a small cargo hold for trading. Maybe build it of steel if the build site is next to one of the mexican ship breaking operations and someone there can sell some black market, after hours steel at a steal of a price. Make it a Bolger box and you're golden. These are a few of my favorite things.....

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