how size is an interesting thing...

My recent post on the Beachcomer 25 produced some emails of the "A 25-foot boat is too small to cruise or live on" variety and a fair bit of outrage.

I get that. A 25-foot sailboat is, after all a small boat. That said, in my own defense, I'll point out that not all 25-foot boats are created equal.

 

Take the Harlé designed Sangria for instance. It's a 25-foot boat with many transatlantic voyages and Atlantic circles to its credit. It's seaworthy, comfortable, and a reasonable solution for their needs. I'll be the first to admit it's not a boat for everyone nor should it be.

Compared to the Sangria the Beachcomer 25 has a much more comfortable interior design and compared to the Sangria's 3,968 pound displacement its 5,300 displacement translates to a kiss more comfort and better weight carrying. The other 25-foot boat mentioned in the post, the Irwin10/4, with its beam of 10'4" and displacement of 7,000 pounds makes for a very big 25-foot boat.

The bottom line is I'd happily set off across the Atlantic in the Sangria, Beachcomer, or the Irwin 10/4 as they'd all get me where I wanted to go in a manner I was comfortable with.

Which boat would I choose if I had a choice? They're all good designs but, as much as I like the Sangria, I'd choose either the Beachcomer or the 10/4 simply based on their shallower draft. For me the length does not mean as much as the rig, draft, and overall fitness to do whatever I want it to.

income streams and chicken shit in the cockpit...

I just saw that there was a boat currently selling eggs in St Thomas and thought it was kind of cool if only as a source of non refrigerated eggs. Combine that with the high cost of eggs from the local super market and it starts making real sense. Though, to be honest, I'm not sure having a half dozen or so chickens is doable on a 34-foot boat. 

Just another income stream to add to the list of possibilities.

One of the big issues with VolksCruising budgets is that the expenses of cruising are a lot like a death from a thousand cuts. A dollar here, twenty there, and and some pocket change adds up to a real budget killer by the end of the month.

Most of us think in terms of a single income source and too often that source is whatever you have in the bank. For most of us,that amounts to a rather too-finite number and it's amazing how quickly all those little expenses nibble away at it. We're all pretty good at budgeting the big numbers but in my experience it's the incidentals  that give me those WTF moments at the end of the month.

So yeah, selling eggs, busking, refrigeration work, rigging, or selling sailboat fishing kits all make sense as small income low profile side hustles. Which together might just be enough to keep you cruising.

I'm pretty sure I'll get someone writing me to mansplain that everybody knows sailboats and cruising is an expensive endeavor that small side hustles can't fund the operating costs of a a proper cruiser and its crew so if you don't have deep enough pockets you should just stay home. Sure, I'll grant that it's good advice for cruising and sailboats in the consumerist modus operandi but it's a tried and true method where VolksCruisers are concerned.

More on the hurricane plan...

As someone who's managed to survive three category 5 storms at anchor with minimal damage, I'll be the first person to say that the only safe/sane way to deal with a major storm is to be somewhere else when it's happening. Which has a lot to do with always having at least a sketchy plan to make tracks and, if the odds catch up and I wind up losing the boat, to buy a cheap boat elsewhere..

So what sort of boat and where would I look?

During "H" season I keep my eye on a variety of areas. The PNW, Hawaii, Maryland, and France are the places where I know the boat markets and am reasonably certain that I can sort out a boat with minimal bother. They are also places I happen to like and face it, after losing your boat and most of one's earthly possessions, why would I want to go to some red state armpit?

OK, maybe Louisiana because the food and a lot of good people can really make a big difference.

Anyway, about those boats...

I know for a fact that I can live quite comfortably on a 27-foot boat and there are always a lot of them for sale and it's no longer a popular size (too small for most and too big to trailer easily). It's the sweet spot in the affordable cruising boat size range.

These days, everyone considers a 27-foot boat too small but back in the 70/80/90's there were a lot more people doing serious cruising in them than there were in fifty-footers which people keep telling me is the bare minimum for voyaging.

The other day when I was looking at possible boats in France, I counted 39 Sangrias and 19 Fantasias for sale. They were mostly in the less than $5K price bracket which I could board after a flight to Paris and a train ride to get me there.

In Hawaii, there were a couple of Catalina 27s, and a CAL 27 under $5k that would do the trick. Admittedly, while Hawaii is even more expensive than the USVI, it's still a very good place to start out from. I might add that it's been years since I've had a proper spam musubi.

The PNW has a lot of boats for sale in the under $5K zone. As someone who no longer drives, the physical hassle of getting around to sort stuff out except by bike, becomes somewhat problematic.

I'm pretty sure that you could fly just about anywhere and find an affordably priced, 27-foot boat in good condition. They seem to be everywhere and most folk don't want them as they're too expensive to keep in a marina berth. Since marinas continue to gouge and be restrictive, there will be more and more on the market at low prices.

Cruising a 27-foot boat, on the other hand, makes a lot of sense as you can anchor just about anywhere you'd care to go. In the rare exception when you might have to spend a night in a marina, you can afford to since it's a helluva lot cheaper than the fifty footer that the cruising press keeps saying you need.

Lastly, for me at least, the 27 footer would be a temporary solution as I'd either build or buy something a kiss bigger once I'd got back on my feet after losing my boat and most all of my stuff. More than likely the boat I'd build would be a 30ish foot scow or a sharpie. But that's another story entirely...

How low can you go?

Sure, I know that there's a helluva lot of peer pressure to adhere to consumerist dogma but, just for a moment think about what you can afford rather than what you think others will opine on what you need to spend to be accepted.

I see a lot of folks selling the idea that "price is no object" but buying boats that are a fraction of the cost and pretending they're following the party line.

Know something?

They get away with it because most everyone is doing the same thing and no one's going to bust them because most everyone is part of the con.

The sordid truth is that most boat folk, by their very nature, have their asses firmly planted in the cheap seats. The problem only arises when they're not honest about it.

Worse is when they use the cost of stuff as a means of letting you know how much every-damn-fucking-thing-on-their-boat cost in a misguided ruse to impress you. As someone who has sold a lot of marine gear to these wankers I'll let you know that, more often than not, they lie about what they paid for those winches or top-of-the-line electronics.

Maybe it's just me but there's something pretty off when it reaches that point.

Know what impresses me? When someone comes up with a way of doing things that involves common sense and thought to make the whole sailing off into the sunset more comfortable, affordable and sustainable. On the other hand some guy bragging that he spent lots of money to impress me or as a put down just hits the pity note.

The other day when I mentioned that I was building yet another Tortoise someone pointed out that He'd spent $12K on his dinghy but if I can only afford a two sheet dinghy maybe I shouldn't bother until I could afford something better.

Yeah, it sorta/kinda pissed me off. Still, the Tortoise makes more sense for me than a 12-foot RIB with a 25HP outboard and it would be real dumb in a world where gas costs $5.50 to have such a beast.

Over on Boat Bits today I mentioned a Newport 28MK2 that's selling for $2.5K and appears to be in pretty good shape. Researching the design a bit more the Newport appears to be one of those designs that seems to have a pretty good price and is firmly in the "good bang for the buck" price niche. Plus it would make a very good cruising boat. What's not to like?

The important thing to keep in mind is that hardly anyone cares what sort of boat you cruise in. No one who isn't an asshole is going to ask you what it costs and, as long as the boat is shipshape, you'll still be invited to potlucks and suchlike (if that's your thing).

So, how low can you go?

purge...

I'll be the first to admit that I've got too much stuff aboard "So It Goes" and we're just about to get into a serious purge of what's not earning it's keep. 

For starters, the two Mirage drives that have been taking up room in my port cockpit locker really need to go. The plan was to use them in a dinghy but I've yet to find a dinghy I like that would work with the Mirage drive. That said, it seemed like a good idea at the time.

The there's some tools I simply don't use anymore, clothes, and the dreaded "What the hell is this for?" stuff that I'm sure was part of a cunning plan at one time but whose use has long ago fallen into the memory hole.

Hell, I even have a couple of ten year old Harken winches that have never been installed or used just taking up space in my aft dinette seat...

Then there's the old rope. I mean, seriously, where did all this rope come from?

You get the idea.

about displacement...

The big issue with a lot of possible VolksCruisers is that there a bit challenged where displacement is concerned. Here's an example...

One of my favorite small cruising boats is the Balboa 26 designed by Lyle Hess. It's small, shoal draft, seaworthy and has a considerable amount of room/livability for its size. The problem is that while you can shoehorn all the needful stuff into a boat with a displacement of 3,600 pounds it's just not designed to carry the needful stuff's weight. A fact which will adversely affect the boats performance. It's a displacement issue.

Now, here's another Hess design that might look familiar...

 

Hess's 26-foot Falmouth Cutter is a whole different story. While it's the same size in terms of length it's on a whole different playing field with a displacement of 12,000 pounds. Fact is, the amount of ballast in the Falmouth Cutter (3,708 pounds) is greater than the entire displacement of the Balboa 26 (3,600 pounds).  Suffice to say that the Falmouth Cutter will happily carry all your needful stuff.

The downside, and yes there's always a downside, is that the cost of a boat is mostly based on its weight/displacement which is why the boat cost differential is so great between the two boats.

Since I'm on a roll, here's another Hess design, the Balboa 27/8.2, that you might want to check out. As it's a foot longer than the Balboa 26, a few inches beamier with 1300 pounds more displacement which makes it a much better VolksCruiser choice than the Balboa 26 when all things are added up. 

 

When looking for and comparing boats it's important to factor in the displacement to the mix especially with boats in the 30-foot and under variety. My experience tells me that the Goldielocks zone for displacement on a cruising sailboat for a couple is going to be somewhere between 7,000 and 12,000 pounds. For a quick reference our CAL 34 has a displacement of 9,500 pounds and works just fine.

Next up we'll finish my check list and what I may have left out...

the comfort factor...

It's funny how many times I've heard the term 'comfort' when folks explain to me why they need a boat bigger than they need and more expensive than they can afford. 

“Too many people spend money they haven’t earned to buy things they don’t want to impress people they don’t like.” —Will Rogers

Now, don't get me wrong, but comfort is a very important part of choosing a boat to cruise in and one would be stupid to choose a craft that did not offer a needful level of comfort. The problem arises when the definition of comfort is tied to cost, size and the ability to carry a lot of stuff rather than actual needs.

My needs for comfort on a boat are pretty simple...

• A comfortable bed,
• A workable galley.
• A dining area large enough to feed four in comfort.
• A couple of places to sit and read.
• A place where I can play guitar.
  

Luckily for me a great number of boats meet those requirements quite easily in the thirty four foot and under zone. More importantly, I know from experience that a bigger or more expensive boat would not make living on a boat any more comfortable than a suitable 28-footer.

Sure, a bigger boat might have an extra head and a couple more beds but how does that add to my comfort?

I saw this the other day and it makes all kinds of sense.

The best place to start is working out just what your real comfort requirements are. A comfort audit if you will.

size matters...

A very long time ago we were rafted up in Honfleur and got invited to have tea and cookies on a Westerly Tiger. It's a nice memory of a half-dozen people chatting about boats inside a very nice, small boat.

As it happens, I saw a Westerly Tiger for sale up in Seattle for $1K and a lot of my positive reaction to the boat is related to that one evening of drinking tea, eating biscuits, and pleasant conversation.

I mention this because most people feel a 25-foot boat is far too small for any sort of cruising and should be just for day-sailing and the occasional weekend at anchor. I'll even go along with them and suggest that if carrying around a lot of  'stuff' is an important part of your cruising style, then a 25-foot boat is not going to work for you.

On the other hand, if you're on a budget, a 25-footer is going to cost you a whole lot less to buy, cruise, and maintain than a bigger boat.

Size matters.

One of the reasons you see so many nice boats selling for not a lot of money is the simple fact that marina and associated costs are nuts in most places. So they go on the market because the outgoing costs are greater than the value of owning a boat they only use once in a while. A situation so bad, in fact, that far too often it makes more sense to give away a boat to stop the associated hemorrhage of money.

The problem, of course, is that cruising boats of any size are not a great vehicle to sit in a marina and run up bills. They're designed to cruise.

While it's going to cost you money to cruise, you won't have the monthly slip rent taking a huge bite out of your budget. For the most part, you'll be able to anchor, and while more and more destinations are starting to charge for anchoring, the beauty of cruising is that it's surprisingly easy to sail to places that don't. 

Maintaining a smaller boat is a lot less expensive. Looking at the cost of haul-outs and bottom paint it does not take a math genius to figure out that a couple of weeks on the hard is going to be a lot less painful than a bigger boat. Our CAL34 reminds me of that fact every time I even think about the current costs involved.

There are a lot of 25-30-foot boats that will fulfill the sleeps two, feeds four, and drinks six checklist of what you need in a small cruising boat, just like the Westerly Tiger, providing you are not addicted to carrying around copious amounts of stuff you seldom use.

Worth thinking about...

Simple to the max...

While not a sailboat, there's a lot to be said for this exercise in simplicity...

Anyone come across a Vespa powered sailboat?

Stuff you need to know...

Lectronic Latitude has a better than most article on the Anchor-out situation in Sausalito which is well worth reading.

The fact is that the spinoff from situations like this have a nasty habit of affecting all of us on boats in surprising ways so best to keep abreast of what's going on.

A cruising boat worth thinking about...

 

There's a Beneteau 235 for sale here that caught my attention and got me thinking about what a great little cruising boat it would make.

Now as far as French production boats go, I've never been a huge fan of the Beneteau boats preferring the Jeanneau designs back in the pre-conglomerate days. I expect that's mainly because of the designs of Philippe Harlé like the Sangria, Fantasia, and Tonic.

As far as the Beneteau 235 is concerned it fills the same design niche as the Tonic.

Now, I don't know about you, but the idea of a Tonic or a Bendy 235 as a cruising boat makes a whole lot of sense and inspires dreams of unfettered freedom.

Sure, they're small but small equals a low price, minimal cruising expenses, and small problems. 

That said a small boat is not for everyone.

Back when I was considering buying a Tonic for serious cruising my life was pared down to just the essentials and that's a given where cruising in a small boat is concerned.

These days, where anything smaller than a forty-foot boat is considered small, what is considered essential is a very different thing and people do love having a lot of stuff.

For me. the real beauty of a small design like the 235 is that there is simply no room for anything that is surplus to requirements. The idea of not having to contend with dragging stuff you don't need or use actually qualifies as something akin to a luxury.

Which is not to say it would be an easy transition for most. I'm in the middle of a never-ending struggle  to cull all the various stuff that seems to accumulate and just takes up room but never gets used. So I'm well aware how difficult it can be.

The attraction of a little boat like the 235 or Tonic, for me at least, has everything to do with jettisoning all the stuff I don't need and getting back to a simpler and more focused life. Which, when you think about t is why most of us decided to sail away in the first place.

I often do a mental exercise where I work out how I'd cruise a given boat where I use an Atlantic circle as an example. While doing an Atlantic circle on a 235 is not on everyone's with list it would be an excellent way to sort out just what you'd actually need after you've done your Wordle for the day.

Now, If only I can bring myself to throw away that bent stanchion I can't find a use for...

on budgets and boat bucks...

Good Old Boat has an article on the subject of Boat Bucks and it got me thinking...

I suspect that if you read VolksCruiser you’re on a tight budget or looking for ways to make cruising more affordable or maybe you’re just slumming.

It occurred to me that the biggest problem of the VolksCruiser gig is that most folks can’t even say what sort of budget they’re on. Admitting that stuff is too expensive because someone might think less of you is a real problem.

It’s not always easy to embrace one’s place in a social order where what’s in your wallet has more value than the sort of person you are. It sucks.

Having a couple of boat blogs, I get an amazing amount of unsolicited advice. About 99% of said advice is people telling me the answer to my problems is to throw money at them. For instance, I have watermaker that works very well. It’s made thousands of trouble-free gallons of water, but I still get emails telling me I’d be better off with a more expensive system.

When I lost our mast, I received many emails. They said either go out and buy a new mast or just get a new boat. I did not have $20K to buy a new mast, rig and sails. If I could not afford a new rig, where was I going to come up with the $750K that a new catamaran would have cost? People were telling me that the only new boat to get was a frelling condomaran. Talk about peer pressure.

I also get emails from people cowed by peer pressure. Since they cannot afford to buy a new cat, they tell me how they’ll put off their dream of cruising until they can afford to do it right. 

What the fuck is that all about?

Doing it right for some might mean doing it at a certain budget and if they can’t do it that way, it’s not worth doing. That’s nuts. Doing it right means getting it done at an acceptable level of comfort, safety, and within an affordable budget.

To steal a line from Dickens, we’re living in the worst and best of times for cruising. Technology is a wonderful thing and if you can escape the consumerism trap there are many advantages you can take advantage of. Being stuck in a consumerist world where anything old has no value, you can pay pennies on the dollar for the gear you lusted after just a year ago.

Today, with a little homework, a bit of sweat equity, and some scrounging, you can outfit a boat for a fraction of the money that the boat bucks crowd can. Even better yet, refitting a classic plastic design with the added tool of affordable tech makes for a boat better than it was new.

The problem is not that you can’t afford to cruise, it’s about trying to cruise on an unrealistic budgetary framework. Admit your budget is what it is. Use your brain power to find a sustainable solution to making it work in a manner you can afford and be proud of.

and in the "it doesn't sink" department...

Back when I was living in France one of the designs that I seriously considered was the ETAP 23 for use as a minimal envelope blue water cruiser. 

For starters, it's a nice little sailboat. All of the ETAP sailboats had a very nice look partly because of their excellent use of graphics and just the fact that they were all just pretty nice designs.Throw in the fact that they were pretty good in the performance department it's easy to see why they quickly became somewhat hip.

The other reason they were attractive was the fact the ETAPs were unsinkable. Of course, ETAP was not the first builder of boats to come out with sailboats that would not sink but they were the first to my knowledge that was integral to the design. All of the others seemed to be more of an afterthought of the "Let's see how many foam bricks we can cram into the boat?" sort of thing.

That said, the downside of the ETAP unsinkable designs was that it seriously impacted the stowage in a big way. To the point that I really wanted the ETAP 20 there was just no way I could stow enough cruising gear, provisions, and needful tools to sail back to the US OF A with. Hence my fixating on the ETAP 23.

As it happens, Bateaux Magazine on their website has an excellent two part article (part 1 and part two) on fixing up an ETAP 23 or any other small sailboat design for a transatlantic voyage that is well worth your time. Even if you don't read French and have to resort to the hassle of google translate.

What it costs and empowerment from a surprising source....

In my RSS inbox today there was another “is the cruising life for you” themed podcast. Which apparently answers all your needful questions like “What’s it all going to cost?”.

The thing is, I don’t feel the need to check out the podcast in question because it will just be a regurgitation of the same old same.

On the “what’s it going to cost” front, I recently concluded that the oft-given answer of “whatever you have” is the worst answer ever. We should center the question not on what it costs, but more on what you are willing to spend.

The universal thinking on cruising and boat costs treats the average cruiser or boatbuilder as being clueless, stupid, and unable to live on any kind of budget of their own making. While a lot of boat folk and cruisers I’ve come across match that description, it is not the majority.

Now folks of scant means (spelled lower income) have a significant advantage, as they know it’s a hard world, people have to make do, and living on a budget is a fact of life.The choice between buying a $1,200 CAL 34 that needs a bit of work or a $69,000 Pacific Seacraft that also needs some work, our scant resource guy/gal understands what they can afford and fits their budget.

A lot of the email I get asks me about what I think of certain sailboats and whether they should get one type of boat or another. Whenever I get this sort of question, the first thing I ask is what their disposable income is and what sort of boat/cruising budget they envision for themselves. Sadly, some find the basic idea of being on a budget something of an insult, as only poor people have to live on budgets.

The simple fact is that everyone’s on a budget, whether they know it or not.

Off-hand, I find the idea of living within a budget both needful and empowering. I know what I can afford, and it keeps me away from adverse monetary surprises.

Take that $1200 CAL 34 for instance, It needs a little work, but if I were going to buy it, I’d make sure I have enough set aside for the boat, a full-on refit, and all the other expenses involved in turning it into a cruising boat.

I’ve lost track of the number of well-off folks who have bought a boat and then complained about the surprises they come across in the rehab that added thousands of dollars and weeks/months/years to their project. Turning it into just another hole in the water you throw money into.

Since the less well-off have the advantage of both knowing what their budget is and how to get by. They know surprises are part of the game and have budgeted or sorted out workarounds. They get on with the job at hand.

Of course, for budgets to work, you have to be honest with yourself and realize the difference between what you can afford and what you can’t. A lot of folks I know have a genuine issue on this front. As a result, they find themselves far too often with a project or lifestyle beyond their means.

Armed with a bit of homework and choosing a project within your budget and skills makes all the difference. A budget done right empowers you and makes achieving your goals a lot easier. Knowing what you can and cannot afford in the long term is a great asset rather than something that cramps your style or inhibits your freedom. It is the key factor that defines the difference between success and failure where cruising and boat projects are concerned.

a 26-foot project I'd be all over...

“One of the very best boats ever designed. I based a good part of my design work around the Haida 26. I love that boat.”... Robert Perry

Robery Perry sure knows what he's talking about.

For a variety of reasons I monitor sailboats for sale in a few places and a 26-foot Haida in Washington State popped up on my radar today.

The thing is, back when I was living on a CAL 20, I lusted  for a flush deck Haida 26 that was for sale in the marina which had seduced me with the siren song of go-anywhere possibilities. In other words it was a pretty awesome boat.

The boat was everything my Cal 20 was but bigger and tough in a way that made the idea of sailing off to Hawaii and Japan a much more sensible proposition. However, as a starving film student it was just outside my budget.

Still, It's one of those boats I've always wanted and wonder how things would have turned out if I'd been able to scrape the needful purchase money together.

So, seeing a Haida for sale on Craig's List for only $750 really caught my attention and had me (for a few moments at least) considering buying a plane ticket to Seattle. Hey, it would be nice to have a Pied à l'Eau in the San Juans...

Sure it's a fixer upper and that's not a bad thing. Back in the days I was living on a Cal 20 in Sausalito I spent hours and hours working out how I'd fix up the Haida I was so enamoured with. The fact is that the Haida 26 is a very simple boat and at 26-feet there is actually very little to replace or fix so the cost of fixing it up would be fairly minor if you were doing the work yourself. 

Even having to buy an outboard for it I can't see it taking more than $1500 to put things right.

I recently saw a nice Haida going for $8900 so the fixer-upper VolksCruiser route makes a whole lot of sense if you're able to do it right.

Sadly, it's the wrong coast and time for me and a project for someone else in Washington State who I hope knows what a wonderful boat it is.

On that "Just use less" mantra...

Way back when, Jimmy Carter pointed out that it might make sense to turn your thermostat down a few degrees and wear a sweater as a means to save on fossil fuels.

Which, as it happens, was a very simple and elegant answer to a difficult problem of the then current oil shortage.

Just use less.

Of course, Americans as a group wanted nothing to do with such a solution and the political output of the whole "Wear a sweater" was, at best, negative and just the sort of political grist that found Ronald Reagan as the next President of the US of A.

Which has exactly what to do with cruising and VolksCruisers?

Well, for me at least, Jimmy Carter's advice to use less, struck a chord with me and has been one of my favorite mantras where most things are concerned. Which, admittedly, does not fly well in the face of the current consumerist mindset of most folks on boats where the answer to most questions is to go bigger and spend large.

For example, the other day I was reading about a boat's new electrical system which was powerful enough to run a a village. When I costed out the huge solar array, 16K genset and gargantuan bank of lithium batteries, I came up with a sum that I could cruise lavishly on for the next few decades. Now, while I admittedly found the cost to be appalling, my main reaction to the electrical system was that it was over-complicated and had so many potential failure points that could seriously ruin their day/week/year that it was just a power failure waiting to happen.

Apparently, the reason behind the huge electrical upgrade was they'd kept bolting on more and more appliances/systems to the mix. Since they felt the need to expand and since they were adding power they might as well add on some more electron guzzling systems while they were at it which resulted in a death spiral as far as common sense was concerned.

Just maybe, at some point they could have just said to themselves...

"It's a boat so maybe we should simplify things a little and not set it up like a house on the grid. Yeah, maybe we could use a bit less."

Right now, adding a heater to "So It Goes" is currently on my "I really should do this" project list and it's easy to be seduced to the dark side of just throw money at it consumerism. While I'll admit that a central heating system is appealing but, then again, it's expensive as well as requiring an uptick in electrical consumption.Which would require another solar panel (or two) and a bigger battery bank and since we only have a 34-foot boat becomes somewhat problematic in the grand theme of things.

On the other hand, a small used solid fuel heater is fairly cheap as are a couple of sweaters and a I've already got some good sleeping bags for those extra chilly nights. So it would seem that I'll be taking President Carter's advice as it makes the most sense.

regarding a very long voyage in a pretty small boat...

I read recently how Keith Leitzke has returned from another cruise to nowhere in particular and it got me thinking about a few things...

The first being how that Bill Lapworth's CAL 20 is still a great minimal cruising design in spite of the fact that it was never really designed to be one.

While I'm sure the Cal 20 would not be everyone's choice for a long sea voyage apparently Keith Leitzke thought it was just the thing for a four month or longer blue water voyage.

The fact that the Cal  20 has more than proven its blue water bona-fides with numerous trans-pacific voyages to its credit just goes to show that seaworthiness is not dependent on cost or size.

Of course, doing extreme blue water voyages in small boats means that one has to get creative to the Nth degree where space and loading is concerned. Seriously, just how do you store four months or more of provisions, water, and other needful gear?

Just thinking about how to store 120 gallons of water on a Cal 20, for starters, kinda makes my brain hurt! Throw in the provisions of even the most stoic menu for four+ months and you're talking about some genius creative use of space...

Well that or getting into TARDIS territory.

The important thing to keep in mind is that, obviously, it's been done so it's possible and knowing something is possible means all you have to do is figure it out because impossible is no longer an option.

Just sayin'

An interview with Sailing Blowin' in the Wind...

I've gotten to the point that when someone writes me and says to check out a new YouTube channel I pretty much prepare for the worst. So, when a friend dropped me a line a while back and said I should really check out "Sailing Blowin' in the Wind" I wasn't exactly filled with enthusiasm. Face it, most of what passes for Sailing & Cruising content more than proves that Sturgeon's Law was actually overly optimistic.

Armed with the fact that I could always just turn off the computer if things became too dire, I followed the link and watched the first episode fully expecting it to be just another "Look at us we're wonderful" selfie-fest.

Nope, it was different. It was actually interesting and far from being the same old same. Better yet, I actually enjoyed it. OK, I'll admit to being a hard audience where film and video is concerned especially where sailing, boat building, and cruising content are concerned, but the main thing is that Sailing Blowin' in the Wind actually caught my interest and eighteen episode later I'm still watching. Need I say more?

I won't go into what actually transpires on the Sailing Blowin' in the Wind channel because you'll do better watching it it from the start. So I'll just say that Anna Key and Tom Break live on a 28-foot sailboat without an engine with their two boys, Roo and Zibby, and their two girls, Mia and Xani.

Obviously not the same old same cruising story. 

 

Now let's get to the interview...

Why not get to the important stuff first and deal with the elephant in the room. So, just how many ukuleles or musical instruments do you have aboard Blowin' in the Wind?


We've been caught red-handed—we’re already going to start sounding like very bad minimalists! Until this summer we had four soprano ukuleles, one each for the three older kids and one for Anna. Since then, we've been gifted a concert ukulele and a "guitalele," which is a six-stringed instrument rather like a very small guitar. We also bought some bongo drums, and Anna has hopes of acquiring a small steel-tongue drum and a baritone ukulele down the road, maybe after some of the kids are grown and take some of their instruments with them. (;  It's getting a little out of control here, but the music has become a bigger part of our life than we expected, especially since it has become such a vital part of our video-making.


Six people on a 28-foot boat?


It's a lot of people in a small space, but in our defense there were berths for six adults when we moved aboard. When we got started looking for boats, we listened to what people around us were saying and kept our eyes out for something in that 35-40' range, but we quickly realized that those larger boats rarely had more beds: there was just more space (a bigger galley or nav station) and a bigger price tag. We ultimately decided that the extra amenities weren't worth the extra cost (costs that would keep adding dollars per foot every time we pulled onto a dock, got the bottom cleaned, etc.)


As we circled back around to what we really cared about—nimbleness and ability to be single-handed, affordability, and sturdiness—it became very clear that we would do much better with a smaller boat than a bigger one. And even if it meant being close together, we could actually be together instead of leaning on a full-time job for years to pay off the boat. When we stepped onto Blowin' in the Wind, we thought she was a 30, not a 28—the designer made great use of every foot, and we fell in love with her right away.


I get that. Having built and cruised various boats which don't pass the "group think" of what a cruising boat is supposed to be, the whole "You're going to cruise in that?" gets old real fast. Obviously you're not just doing a different boat, you're also doing things differently to make Blowin' in the Wind more livable and cruise-worthy. How is that going?


Some things are going great and some things are a struggle. The interior space that we opened up when we took out the engine is fantastic. It's created a great flow of space and the kids have lots of places that they can hide and play and make messes and create elaborate battles or creations with the few toys we have on board. And since we closed up all of the thru-hulls, Anna has been able to sleep through the night without ever waking up with dreams that the boat is sinking. We don't really miss fancy things like the water heater, electric water pumps, or the other gadgets that we've gotten rid of because those are just things that we  don't have to be stressed anymore about not knowing how to fix.


Most of the changes we've made have caused very little extra hassle. It's taken some time to get used to the rhythm of managing the composting head and of taking the sink buckets out to dump them instead of using the standard pump-out system and draining water through the thru-hulls, but we don't mind that work and have adapted to it really well. And the daily maintenance work replaces the big repairs in which you're knee deep in leaky head hoses, which it's easy to overlook when things are working. In general, every time we take out a system and replace it with a simpler version, life gets a little bit harder but a little bit better. Those little additions of time do add up, and when we press toward some of our more extreme goals, like producing no trash, things can get overwhelming. But for the most part things are going remarkably well. We're becoming increasingly comfortable in our increasingly unique boat.


How's the yuloh working out?


The yuloh, and lack of engine generally, has been one of the biggest challenges. On our shakedown journey everything was going swimmingly until we got caught in a surprising current, lost sail power, and couldn't get the yuloh out fast enough to get around a tight corner. That shook us somewhat, and has led us to re-think some things. My home-made yuloh is very heavy, so we're going to try a smaller sculling oar that's easier to deploy but that can still push us, and we're going to trade out the wheel for a tiller so that there's less congestion in the aft area of the cockpit, and we'll see where we are at that point. Lots of people are telling us that we should attach an outboard or at least have one for the dinghy to tow us through tight spots. We're considering that option going forward, though I really would prefer to keep things as simple as possible so that I don't have something (that I can't fix) break at just the moment I'm counting on it.


Nothing improves one's sailing skills more than simply not having an engine. Do you have a drifter?


That's right. And I would add that nothing improves your awareness of your environment, either. When you're relying on an engine, it's really easy to be blissfully unaware of what the tides and currents are doing, and what the weather might do should you get delayed, and while it ends up being no problem for most people most of the time, I'm glad for the need to be aware. It's making me a better sailor already—though I'm starting from being a total novice, so that's not saying much. No, we don't have a drifter, but our boat does very well under our 150% genoa, even in very light winds.


That said, in the meantime, you might want to consider kedging as another needful tool in your engineless quiver.


Kedging was ultimately how we got off the dock we got caught on during our shakedown, and it's a really critical tool for us. We keep a light "lunch anchor" on hand in the cockpit as a brake and I've got a second heavy anchor there as well so that they're ready to hand if we need them.


You've mentioned the Pardeys but do you have any other influences in your quest for a simpler nautical lifestyle? Annie Hill, Jerome Fitzgerald for instance?


We hadn’t heard of Annie Hill or Jerome Fitzgerald, but thanks for the tip! As for other influences, we're big idea people, and so a lot of what we bring to sailing comes from thinkers of the past, folks like Diogenes, Simone Weil, St. Francis of Assisi. One really critical nautical influence is a family that calls themselves the Coconuts, who have been sailing an engineless sailboat with four kids for years now. Drake Paragon made a lovely 5-part documentary about them, and they've been a great encouragement to us largely because they've show that sailing with a family and without an engine is possible. We figure that if they can make it across the Atlantic, we should be able to make it to the Caribbean.


Another practical influence for us is Helen and Scott Nearing, authors of The Good Life, who bought a farm and committed themselves to working only half days half of the year supporting themselves so that they would have time to read, think and write. We really respect the way that they were able to make that a priority and stick to it. A big reason we sought out this life, and that we try to keep it simple, is to carve out time in our days for artistic work and for contemplation (both for us and for our kids). I don't think that we can underestimate the damage that lack of that kind of time is doing to our society, generally, and so it's a priority for us and something we want to protect for our whole family.


How would you define your current cruising plans?


Equivocally. Tom's just back from a trip to the Bahamas where he got some open water experience and some sailing time in around the islands, and we're all really excited to get moving in some direction, but we're not exactly sure what direction that's going to be at the moment. Hurricane season is creeping up on us, and while we have some desire to make tracks for the Luperon in the Dominican Republic before the worst of hurricane season hits, that's seeming like a long journey on a short timeframe right now. So we'll either make the leap, hide out in Florida somewhere, or head north until next season.


Beyond the short term we really want to sail the Caribbean. We want to spend good chunks of time in both Spanish and French speaking countries to get language intensives for the whole family. It's kind of amazing just how much of world history winds its way through those islands—how many cultures have met, clashed, and melded in wildly different ways from island to island, so we're excited to explore the islands and learn from them about different ways to live. Anna especially has desires to visit Chile and the boys want to surf in Hawaii, and I would love to hike the Camino de Santiago in Europe. Those points on the map seem really far away right now, but who knows what the future will bring.


Do you have a target budget?


Our target is the federal poverty level for our family, which in 2020 was $35,610, or just about $3000 a month. That's pretty attainable for us while underway, in general. It's actually pretty important to us to be able to live at the poverty line. We want to use as few resources as possible, and not spending money is the easiest way to do that. Beyond that, though, the poverty line ought to be an attainable goal for everyone, and I think we would feel bad living a lifestyle that isn't, at least in principle, open to everyone.


The target is of course a target, and we've had varying degrees of success hitting it. Some of the things that have gotten in the way are boat-related things: boat work is expensive and can crash a budget pretty quickly. Tom worked a full-time job for a couple of years that increased our income and allowed us to do work on the boat that would have been a stretch on the poverty-line budget.  


Since then, Tom left the full-time job and we continue to work the budget from both ends: trying to reduce our spending to get it under the poverty line, and to increase our income to get it over the poverty line. We're getting closer, but we're not yet "in the black," and therefore continue to switch between travel and focus on our artistic work and periods when we do work to re-fill the "cruising kitty."


Any ideas or cunning plans you're currently working on?


Well, we’re artists, so we’re full of ideas. We both really love an aphorism by the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, “What good is a book that doesn’t lead you beyond all books?” So we’re trying to make a YouTube channel that leads us beyond all YouTube channels, that might even lead us…outside. It’s our most cunning plan yet. We are, however, still in need of a cunning plan to get out of the next inlet…

On keeping up/coexisting with the Joneses...

It's been pointed out to me on many occasions that the whole concept of VolksCruisers puts some folks at a real disadvantage in the social context of cruising. Many have even suggested/demanded that I should come up with some, shall we say "cunning", ways to make a VolksCruiser more socially acceptable.

Seriously?

I can only go by what has been my personal experience but I've never seen any real issues experienced by folks on smaller than average sustainable cruising boats. Sure, within the cruising community, there's no shortage of cliques, posses, and assholes that you might find yourself in an anchorage with but they don't seem to have a thing against folks of the VolksCruiser persuasion.

Some time ago I had a very enlightening dialog with someone who wondered why so many low budget cruisers seemed to shun various social invitations to hang out with them at potlucks and dinners ashore.When I pointed out that the folks she was inviting may not have been on the same sort of budget that they were on she thought about it for a bit and then said...

"I just thought they didn't like us."

Face it, if there is one universal trait that all humans share is that we're, to some extent or another, insecure. Being invited to a group function where you don't know anyone can be stressful and if you throw in the fact that by doing so it might disrupt your budget in a big way the easiest way to deal with it is simply to find an excuse not to go.

Of course, the person giving the invitation may take the decline of the invitation personally which can lead to something akin to friction. Which has zero to do with what sort of boat you might have but it does have a lot to do with general human interaction.

Most people on bigger and more expensive cruising boats tend to be a bit tone-deaf where money is concerned and often assume everyone tends to be on their level. I've often had advice that I should add "inexpensive" gear to my boat which is far from inexpensive. In fact, just a couple of days ago, a reader of Boat Bits wanted my opinion of the Colligo ELHF and was surprised when I pointed out that it looked excellent but was way beyond what I'm willing to pay for but that a less expensive DIY clone is very much on my project list.

Which also might be a good time to point out  that a lot of upscale cruisers are living way beyond their means but hiding the fact because, being a bit insecure like all of us, tend to hide their budget concerns as they're afraid that people will think less of them.

On the subjects of cliques and posses being a problem for VolksCruisers you have to realize that it's not about VolksCruisers, at all and cliques and posses are, by their very nature, unwelcoming to all outsiders.

The bottom line is really that everyone is too worried about what everyone else thinks of them to be anti-VolksCruiser in any kind of systematic way.

On the other hand, where the marine trades are concerned, it is a whole different kettle of rotten fish which we'll talk about later in the week...

A new YouTube channel you might want to check out...

A family of six on an engineless Ericson 28.

 Most certainly a channel I'll be following.