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.

an awesome shoal draft design...

Offhand, I really do think that real (3' or under) shoal draft makes all kinds of sense for anyone looking for a VolksCruiser. Having a boat that can anchor in places others fear to tread or navigate, that's also beachable if needed, and ocean capable is really a no-brainer.

For instance, take a look at the Beachcomer 25...

Drawing only 1' 3" with the board up this Walter Scott design is what shoal draft is all about. As it happens Scott also designed the Irwin 10/4 which is my favorite Irwin and another possible VolksCruiser candidate that is well worth checking out.

The Beachcomer has what I like to think of as a civilized interior layout as it provides everything needful in a manner that is both comfortable and practical. 

The cat ketch rig is a great rig with little to go wrong and much to recommend it. I'm still astonished that we we're still sailing Bermudan sloops when there are so many clearly superior rigs we could be using.

The downside of a 25-foot boat is mostly about stuff or, in truth, the inability to carry a lot of stuff you really don't need. That being the case, it's a great design for someone of a minimalist bent but not so much for those who don't quite understand the advantage of less.

There's quite a bit more information over at Catketch.com website for the Beachomer 25 you might want to peruse.

 

a plastic water bottle and a boat...

The other day I found myself listening to someone going on about their stainless steel bespoke water bottle as a must have for the cruising sailor. I was not impressed.

The argument that an expensive water bottle is good for the environment is somewhat dubious in that its fabrication requires energy which is, more often not, provided by fossil fuels so not exactly as green as we'd like. Worse in fact, because do you really think someone who requires a designer water bottle is going to drink water from the tap?

Some years ago at a charter yacht show the organizers provided show attendees with "green" reusable plastic water bottles because there had been some complaints about using single serve water bottles. Of course, I found the fact that they were filling the reusable water bottles from single use disposable water bottles sorta/kinda defeated the whole purpose of the exercise.

I'll add another point regarding the bespoke designer stainless steel water bottles and say that the person hyping them had an affiliate link so was making money on any that were sold. It's just another link in the chain selling you stuff you don't need for a profit.

My choice of water bottle is reused soft drink bottles. I've mostly kicked my soft drink habit but still, from time to time, have a bottle of ginger ale. Being loathe to throw plastic away to go into landfill for like forever, I'll save it and reuse it as a water bottle. Aboard "So It Goes" we keep a dozen or so water bottle of this ilk and they're a much more green solution then that bespoke designer stainless steel water bottle.

They're also, for all practical purposes... free.

Which, sorta/kinda brings me around to an interesting but somewhat stupid sailboat design you might want to check out. It's the Sterne 25 and it's built of eco-friendly materials like bamboo, basalt, jute, linen, and plant sourced resins all of which I think is a goodly thing.

It's a cool boat for sure and as a test bed for greener materials it certainly makes sense. The downside, for me at least, is that in a world with thousands and thousands of excellent already built sailboats going for near giveaway prices,

 why are we still building new boats?

That CAL 27 or Chrysler 26 (for example) going for cheap are most certainly a greener solution than most eco-friendly designs coming down the pike with the added advantage of being a whole lot more affordable. 

One issue with greenish materials is they've recently become a hip commodity and as a result materials known for being readily available and cheap are, all of a sudden, all kinds of expensive and difficult to get. For the last few months I've been trying to find a good source for jute (AKA burlap) to use for a dinghy build I wanted to do. The idea of replacing fiberglass with burlap was very attractive until it became hip and now is selling for more than fiberglass. Made worse by the fact that I'd need to buy a bolt of cloth rather than a few meters. The sad fact is that building green has been co-opted by consumerism and folks wanting to make a profit don't give a shit about the environment.

The real bedrock way to be green in this messy world is to use less rather than more and whenever possible, reuse, repair, and recycle.

That might make a great t-shirt as well...

OK, I'll admit it...

I've got a bad case of bowsprit envy! While perusing the Craigslist I saw a fifty foot Bugeye going for $16.5K.

Now, I'll be the first to acknowledge that I can't really afford to cruise on a fifty-foot vessel no matter how much it's a work of art and sexy as hell. Adding in the fact that the sparred length is a whopping 65' and that's just going to make haul-outs, marina visits, and incidental cruising expenses a lot more than I can afford.

But, still, the prod on "So It Goes" at two feet compared the the magnificent bowsprit on the Bugeye makes me feel just that little bit embarrassed.

So it goes...

A plethora of Columbia 26 Mk 2...

Perusing the Hawaii Craigslist I noticed there seemed to be an abundance (four!) of one of my favorite boats the Bill Tripp designed Columbia 26 Mk 2. Which, as it happens, is the little sister of the Columbia 50. 

Very little sister

Now, a lot of people think a 26-foot boat is far too small to live or cruise on. Then again, when I was living on a CAL 20 there were a couple of 26-footers that I both lusted for and considered palatial. One of them being the Columbia 26 and the other was the Lyle Hess designed Balboa 26 either of which I considered both seaworthy enough to head out for Hawaii or down to Baja to go on an extended surfin' safari. For the record, I also considered the CAL 20 just as seaworthy albeit it did constrain the surfboard quiver quite a bit.

Later, when I decided to build a Bolger Jessie Cooper while living in Paris I had no qualms about a couple cruising or living aboard a 25.5 foot boat sailboat but we lived and cruised it quite successfully for four years. Better yet it allowed us to live at a prestige address next to a film studio for just about $60 a month (including electricity and water). 

Fact is, the only reason we decided to build a bigger version of the Jessie Cooper was not about comfort but the need to carry enough boat-building tools, film equipment, and space for a dedicated office to run a business. If we only wanted to live aboard and cruise the 25.5-foot boat would have been just fine.

The situation with the plethora of Columbia 26 Mk 2s for sale, which all seem to be close to turn key is pretty awesome. So awesome in fact that you could pretty safely just fly to Hawaii with cash in hand knowing that you could find one at a reasonable price that would be a lot cheaper than a condo or hotel. Hell, a long vacation cruising a Columbia 26 around the Hawaiian Islands would just about pay for itself compared to doing the hotel/condo ting.

Something you might want to think about...

a siren call from afar...

 I've always had a love/lust attraction to Bill Tripp's Columbia 50...

What's not to like? It's salty, sexy, and has that awesome flush deck. Obviously it's too much boat for a couple on a budget but there is currently one for sale in Hawaii with an asking price of $35K that has me coming up with all sorts of compromises and justifications to make it a smart decision.

I mean, seriously, a boat as sexy as this going for $0.92 a pound is some kind of deal. Factor in the fact that the asking price is seldom, if ever, the sold price, we're talking about a such a deal situation.

The problem is I can do the math and no matter how much I try to fudge the figures, it winds up being a problematic situation with no good outcome.

Compared to a CAL 34, which in the same general condition would cost around $8K with a cost per pound of $0.83, it still seems cost competitive.

Well, until you do the real world math.

A friend we met in Los Palmas while we were waiting to cross the Atlantic who had a Gulfstar 50 told me many times that buying and cruising on their Gulfstar 50 was a big mistake. They'd had a Gulfstar 37 which he considered a nearly perfect boat but for the circumnavigation his thoughts were that bigger was better and the added room would allow family members to visit along the way.

Not only was the Gulfstar 50 bigger it cost a lot more on every front. More work to keep it up, more money for bottom jobs, marinas, and fuel with the kicker being it was also more work to sail it which sapped a lot of the enjoyment they had in sailing. Lastly, they found that family seldom visited and when they did, they preferred to stay in a hotel or resort.

I get that and over the years I've seen the same situation play out time and time again. Still the elusive siren call of the Columbia 50 still whispers in my ear...

back to basics...

Back when I was building a catamaran in France just about everyone I knew (and many I did not) shared their opinions that catamarans were a death trap. Yachting Monthly, PBO, Sail, and Cruising World were all running articles and editorials telling me that cats were just not the sort of boat any sane person would want to take cruising.

Today, most of the advice I get is that monohulls are history and that I Need (yes with a capital "N") to cruise on a cat because all the cool kids are on catamarans now.

Different times and fashions...

Which brings me around to the thing I like about boats and cruising is the freedom to do your own thing in spite of the prevailing fashion and its related pressure to conform. In short, it's the freedom to do your research, homework, and fulfill inner desires to come up with what works for you within the realm of what's possible.

Now, while I'm more focused on long term sustainability and affordable boats, I have no issue with folks who cruise on a $750,000.00 catamaran and the lifestyle it entails. That being the case, I'll point out that there's not a whole lot that I find interesting or useful that I can take away from someone cruising within that envelope.

On the other hand, I can learn a lot from a couple cruising full time on a Westerly Centaur with a limited budget. Which is not to say I'm advising you to cruise on a Centaur but simply that you get to choose what sort of boat best fits you rather than what the current fashion or fad decrees is the right or best way to go.

Which, considering the whole peer pressure and keeping up with the Joneses aspect of things, is not always an easy road to follow these days. Still it's not impossible to sort out a course through the noise with a bit of study and critical thinking based on what makes sense for you and your situation.

Next up, a reading list and a homework assignment.

another design in the same vein...

Yann Quenet's Skrowl 900 is something of a TARDIS when it comes to the most livability and comfort in a minimal envelope (just under 30-feet) shoal draft world cruiser.

Pretty much everything I want in my next boat.
 

an interesting boat...

Certainly not the same old same.

There's more info on the boat on the Oddity blog and Yachting Monthly that's worth checking out.

A couple of odd ducks...

Here's an interesting design I've long admired...

The Clipper Marine 32 is a Bill Crealock design that I've always liked in spite of the fact that I most detest center cockpit designs. The shoal draft version only draws 3 foot six inches and it has an transom hung rudder that could easily be adapted to trim tab self-steering.

The good news is that as it's a bit of an odd duck if you come across a Clipper 32 chances are the price will reflect that. The last one I saw for sale was going for $4K in good shape.

Another similar design is the O'Day 32 which is quite a nice boat though, in my personal opinion, a bit more cluttered design but still worth taking a look at if you see one for sale in your neck of the woods.

The real big difference between the two is that the Clipper 32 only has a beam of eight-feet while the O'Day is 10.5-feet and has over twice the displacement as the Clipper..
 

A sweet ride...

I saw a Kirie Elite for sale in Edmonds Washington  state going for a silly price ($1.2K).

I have something of a sweet spot for this particular design as I saw it at a Paris boat show and it just felt like it would be a great boat. It was quite roomy for its size, had a huge aft double, and it was no slouch in terms of speed.

It was everything I liked in the Harlé Tonic design but expanded out to a 30-foot envelope. Sadly, it was also more expensive than I could afford at the time.

Now at a reasonable price with a diesel engine that works "OK" it just might be one of the better VolksCruiser deals going.

an almost cunning plan...

There's a J-29 up in the frozen north that I've been thinking about quite a bit. For those unacquainted with the design it looks something like this...

It, like most of it's J-Boat brethren, is a boat designed and built to be competitive so you may be wondering why the hell am I looking at it?

Well, you might say, I have a sorta/kinda cunning plan for a boat of this ilk.

For starters there's not much of an interior so it would be very easy to do a new performance cruising interior and as long as we're installing a neat little galley we might take the opportunity to do a new mast step while we're at it.

A new VolksCruiserish rig spelled junk or lug would make for a neat testbed and as there are quite a few J-29s about it owned by folks who'd enjoy sailing against a J-29 with a different (some might call it freakish) rig it would be an awesome educational endeavor and I'd enjoy it.

As the boat in question is selling for not very much I'd expect to be able to the needful mods and suchlike to keep the finished boat a kiss less than $10.5K.

The only issue that keeps me from jumping on a plane cash in hand to get is the fact that the J-29 has almost six feet of draft and that's not going to work for my cruising plans.

So it does go.

That said if draft is not a deal breaker for you the J-29 is a pretty great candidate for a performance VolksCruiser and you might want to keep an eye out for a good deal on one.

 

Charles Morgan is no longer with us...

Yesterday I heard that Charlie Morgan was no longer with us and it got me thinking about some of his designs. 

While there's something about the look of his Out Island series that sorta/kinda rubbed me the wrong way there's no denying that they are prime candidates for VolksCruising. Just take a look at the Out Island 33...

Way overbuilt with moderate shoal draft as befits a boat designed to go into charter it's a lot of boat in a smallish envelope. As they made a lot of them they can be found for a reasonable price and since they were built like a tank they're mostly in pretty good shape.

Two other Out Islands with great VolksCruiser potential are the Out Island 28 and Out Island 30 that are both well worth taking a look at.

Charles Morgan designed a lot of sailboats boats as well and his body of work is as impressive as you can get so well worth a study.
 

great boat in a great location...

Here's a boat I've always liked.

It's the Chris Craft Pawnee and it is a very cool little cruising boat. Sadly they only built them for a year so did not make a lot of the excellent Sparkman & Stephens design.  

As it happens there's one for sale in Hawaii if anyone's interested.

A boat I was once looking for...

Every once in a while I'll see a Bristol 26  (aka Sailstar 26) for sale for a good price and it gets me thinking. Back when I was in Paris looking for a boat to buy. The sailboat in my head that I was looking for was a European facsimile of the Halsey Herreshoff Bristol 26.

It's a good design and packs a lot of living space into a small envelope.

 

As it happens there's a Bristol 26 which appears to be in reasonable shape in Annapolis going for $2.5K which is the current street price for a Bristol 26 in reasonable shape. that I find more than a little interesting. Certainly worth checking out.

and in the "Because not everyone wants to build a fifty-foot catamaran" department...

An important point, the sort of project we need more of, and P-22 is no longer with us...

Tad Roberts (one of my favorite designers) currently has a catamaran review in the new Wooden Boat Magazine which you might want to check out. It certainly got my attention.

The cat in question is Mike Waller's 880 catamaran and it certainly helps fill a niche that needs filling.

Listening to Xenio Rubinos

So it goes...

a boat someone might want to take a look at...

 One of my favorite CAL Lapworth designs is the CAL T2-27 one of the CAL 27 variations.

I've written about the design before.

Anyway, I mention this because there's a T2 for sale that I've been keeping my eye on and the price just went from 1.5K  to $1000.

Well worth a look if you happen to be in the neighborhood.

How many guitars can you fit on a 27-foot sailboat...

 Sadly, it's a simple answer...

Not enough.

Which, for me at least, is the big downside of every 27-foot boat you're likely to come across in that they just don't have a lot of space or weight carrying ability.

Which is not to say you can't live and cruise on a 27-foot sailboat but with a finite space you'll have to make some serious life changes to make it work.

Now while I use guitars as an example, the needful stuff is more about things like water, provisions, and the various tools one needs to live your life in a way that does not equate with a prison sentence.

Where most people get it wrong with small boats is assuming they can just keep adding stuff with no regard to the fact that boats have a waterline for a very good reason. Adding a couple of inches to the waterline every couple of years is just stupid as well as being plain bad seamanship.

If your boat is designed to draw five feet then that's what it should draw. 

When I think about it, you could really do a lot worse in choosing that as a mantra.

Anyway, living and cruising on a small boat successfully requires one to adapt to living within the constraints of your chosen vessel and embracing its finite nature. Which, considering we live in a hardcore consumerist society, is never going to be an easy task. Since the answer to all problems is to "buy more stuff" you're not likely to get much help in the "How do I do what's needed using less" zone.

That being the case, you'll have to get creative and realize that most of the time you'll be swimming upstream without a whole lot of atta-boys from fellow cruisers. Which I'll add is actually a bonus as it gets rid of the whole "Keeping up with the Jones's" element in the equation and makes a lot of decisions easier.

Next up is we'll take a look on how to sort out that finite space in a way that makes some sense...

Did someone say "Bilge Keels"?

 Worth checking out if you're in Washington State...

some lug nut thoughts...

First of all If you have a boat with a working Bermuda rig keep in mind that it seldom makes sense to do a new rig (Lug, Junk,Crab Claw, or whatever). Remember the "Don't fix it if it's not broken" rule.

Now, if on the other hand, the CAL 29 you're thinking of getting has no sails, the rigging is shot, and your mast has seen better days a change to a simpler rig just might make a lot of sense.

With me so far?

OK, here's what you need to know about lug rigs...

For starters there are three main types of lug sails which are the Dipping lug, Standing lug, and the Balanced lug. While all three are excellent rigs I'm of the considered opinion that the Balanced lug makes the most sense for a cruising boat.

So, what do I like about this Bolger Balanced lug rig?

1. It's simple. All you need is a mast, sail, a halyard, a sheet, and a few blocks. The mast is free standing and requires no rigging or associated hardware.
2. Being a square sail the center of effort is lower than in a Bermuda rig which results in less heeling forces.
3. It's a powerful sail for not a lot of money.
4. The balanced lug rig is self-vanging which makes for docile handling.

What's not to like? 

Well for starters, if you want an affordable free standing mast and the associated boom/yard you'll have to build it yourself. That said, the cost of said mast and spars is a lot less than an aluminum stick and associated wire/hardware needed for the Bermuda rig. Better yet the learning curve for mast building is not so difficult and a rather enjoyable pursuit. Still it is a rather daunting project for a lot of folks.

The Balanced lug rig, while being fairly evolved, could certainly use a bit of improvement to bring it into the current century. Most of which is already in use readily available with a bit of thought and research.

Over the years my thinking about sailing across oceans with a cat rigged boat have evolved somewhat as has my thought process in terms of building free standing spars but we'll get into that in some depth next time.