Re: New boat ideas wanted

On 2008-01-18 11:40:33 -0500, druid <capn_druid@xxxxxxxxx> said:

On Jan 17, 6:28 am, "Roger Long" <stri...@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:


What would your modest size dream vessel be? If I can come up with the right idea, it might even get designed and built right here before your eyes.


Hmmm... looking at the responses here, I seem to be unique in my definition of "modest". 40ft?? 60ft???

How about a nice, 28 to 30 ft motorsailor (or at least: a sailboat one can motor). These days, theo only reasonable 28ft sailboats you can buy are 30 years old. Sure, several companies like Hunter and Catalina still MAKE boats under 30 ft, but they're basically stripped-down 33-footers, and it shows.

Look at the enclosed heads in these things: the doorway is SO narrow I can barely squeeze in WITHOUT my heavy-weather gear on!

How about a nice, relatively fast, sturdy 28ft sailboat with a 20hp diesel inboard. DESIGNED to be 28-ft, for a couple or at most a family of 4 (2 adults, 2 kids).

You've just described Xan-à-Deux (below, in my sig).

The more we explore alternatives, the more we realize that Xan is exactly what we need and want for what we're doing and what we expect to do in the foreseeable future.

We would LOVE some larger boats we've visited, but we just don't want to pay that price for relatively minor improvements.

That said, Xan isn't quite large enough for 12/24/7 cruising for even us as a friendly couple. At most, she's appropriate for short 3-6 month trips away from the dock.

And while you're at it: I kinda like the walk-through transom, but geez-louise - most new sailboats have asses the size of Texas! Face it: you can't have a REASONABLE sized aft cabin in a sub-30-ft boat, so don't try. Get back to a usable-sized forecabin, main salon that sleeps 2 or so, and maybe a quarterberth. And a decent galley! Yes, this can all be done in a sub-30-ft boat: just look at most of them from the '70s.

And guess what: they motor pretty well, too!

Xan gets 30 mpg in economy power mode. Under sail, that of course improves.

Personally, the major fault of MOST production boats is not allowing the "V" berth to be reasonable for real, randy adults. Most "V"s at best work for stowing young kids. Xan's "V" was one of the primary reasons we bought her.

Lacking a useable "V", most boats try (badly) to put a master cabin in further aft, which puts it in exactly a wrong place for real cruisers.

--
Jere Lull
Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD
Xan's pages: http://web.mac.com/jerelull/iWeb/Xan/
Our BVI trips & tips: http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/

.

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