Why do some people need such big boats?

In a word...

Stuff.

A link you need...

PBO (AKA Practical Boat Owner) has been a great resource for me since I first started reading the magazine in 1980. While, these days, I feel their subscription rates are now akin to piracy but their website still has excellent content.

For example, this simple how to rehab a sailboat article is just what most folks considering an inexpensive boat that needs work should read.

You're still here?

a good example of less being more...

 Here's an interesting rig on Reuel Parker's Terrapin 30.

What really appeals to me is not so much what it has but what it doesn't have.

For starters, it's a three stay rig made possible by a low center of effort. A low powerful rig requires less ballast which is no bad thing as it reduces heel.

A rig like this requires very little in the way of expensive hardware. The fact that a simple rig is also going to be a lot cheaper to build and maintain is just icing on the cake.

The wood tabernacled mast is owner buildable and serviceable plus, in the days of $500 mast stepping, the tabernacle will easily pay for itself from the get-go.

If I found myself with a CAL 29 or reasonable facsimile without a rig or a rig needing serious investment/repair I'd seriously consider doing a similar rig. Sure, you'll scandalize some folks in the process but the rig will work just fine and there's not much prettier than a gaff rig sailing into the sunset.

a boat worth checking out...

Hunter has something of a bad reputation that, for the most part, is undeserved. Which is not to say that there were not some boats with issues but from where I sit all boats have issues.

Hunters were all made to a price point as all boats are. Building and selling boats has always been about selling boats and Hunter was very good at marketing to various budget niches and, as such, there are a lot of used Hunters on the market for not a lot of money.

Sometimes an iffy reputation is no bad thing.

Take the Hunter 28.5 for example...

It's a reasonable cruiser for a couple. It doesn't cost a lot when compared to boats of a similar age or performance with a very livable interior due to it's 10.5 foot beam and the designers KISS design brief.

Lot to be said for simple.

adaptive response...

The biggest obstacle for someone intending to sail away and live on a sustainable boat is not about money, hurricanes, pirates, or restrictive legalities it's group think. Or, to put it another way, following the herd.

Now, herd mentality exists in all pursuits and walks of life and it's just part of the matrix we find ourselves in. As it happens, escaping the herd used to be the primary reason most people became cruisers. Read just about any cruising book from the sixties or seventies and it quickly become apparent that cruising was not a group sort of endeavor.

Of course, times change. We find ourselves in a world where there are enough people cruising that folks on boats are now an assemblage of various herds and something of a bastion of group think. Depending on which group you subscribe to, there are implied guidelines of how one cruises, what sort of boat is acceptable, and most importantly, what is unacceptable. Gone are the days when people sailed away to escape the herd but now go to sea to join the herd.

Obviously, folks of a VolksCruiserish bent don't quite fit in to the various popular herds and mindsets.Which, considering the alternative is actually non-problematic if not advantageous for those who don't quite fit into whatever herd/group think on offer.

Setting out on your own without the herds safety net forces us to adapt and adaptation is a good thing. My biggest issue with group think situations is that they often result in stasis when the group does not come to a clear consensus on what to do.

You know, like when there's a hurricane comings and everyone's talking about what to do and no one is doing what they need to do. Sadly, a situation I see with every storm that comes through.

Meanwhile, some folks not wired to the hive mind are already in the mangroves putting out anchors and preparing or sailing their boats somewhere the hurricane won't be.

Not being part of the herd allows you to make decisions and adapt to a given situation in a timely manner which is often the difference between surviving and not surviving.

I see some big changes coming soon and, I suspect, most cruising herds will have big problems adapting in spite of the fact that we all know they're coming. Charles Darwin made a good point when he said...

"It's not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change"

I couldn't say it better myself...

Everything you need to know about VolksCruising and cruising culture.

a PNW Haida 26...

I've mentioned before that one of my favorite small boats for cruising is the Haida 26. For those in the PNW there's another one currently for sale that you might want to take a look at...

a rumour in it's own time...

I came across an ad on Craigslist for a Newport 30 that made me wonder why Newport boats have fallen out of favor.

As I recall, the Gary Mull designed Newport 30 was a pretty nice boat. A bit more beam than most at the time with a simple but very comfortable interior. Fact of the matter is, that most Gary Mull designs are well worth keeping and eye out for.

Might want to add some to your search list.

a blast from the past...

Here's something from Boat Bits in 2011...

I've been looking at the boats for sale on Craig's list recently... It helps if you use Search Tempest  which allows you to search all of Craig's list rather than just one at a time... Anyway, there are a lot of good boats for cheap and cheap is no bad thing!

Of course, the boat market seldom has any real rhyme or reason and I have always believed that boat pricing is more often pulled out of a hat on a whim rather than something arrived at through much thought on a boat's real value, but when you think about it, this is an advantage as at least half the time folks are selling boats for far below their value.

For instance, there are currently a couple of Irwin 28's on Craig's List (one in NC and the other in California) going for $2500 and $4800... The Irwin 28 is an excellent and highly underrated shoal draft pocket cruiser and more than capable of crossing oceans in the pursuit of taking you wherever you want to go. Sure, it is a little boat but little boats don't cost a lot to keep going and a small boat has petite problems... There are lots of boats like this on Craig's List including a bakers dozen of CAL 34's  (sister ships to "So It Goes") ranging from $2600 to $20,000...

So many boats, so little time...

In this economy, what people are asking for a boat and what you have to pay (providing you have cash) are not quite the same thing, so it stands to reason you can get these boats for even less, maybe even a LOT less.

Then again, you could always wait till your ship comes in, win the lottery, take advantage of the email in your inbox from Nigeria, or have a rich aunt pass away and leave you her fortune so you can buy that new/hip/expensive boat the editors of Cruising World are all drooling about. Then again maybe your luck with such things is better than mine.

Go now, or maybe never... The choice is up to you.