25ft v 34ft Pro's and Con's

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25ft v 34ft Pro\'s and Con\'s

Please could those with experience of both these size boats let me know their views on the pro's and con's of 25ft er and a 34ft er.

The boat will be used every weekend by two adults and 1 child.

I have heard people saying they had most fun in a smaller boat they once owned, but I would like to make a list of the top ten good and bad points of each, with the experience on here that shouldn't be too hard.

Thanks.
 
Re: 25ft v 34ft Pro\'s and Con\'s

Don't know about 34ft, but can outline the difference between a 24t and 29ft:

S24:
- Bounces off the pontoon when you mess up docking.
- Single engine. If it fails, you're stuffed.
- A bit light.
- Not too much effort to clean.
- You laugh at the fuel refill bill.
- You get squashed by larger waves.
- People in bigger boats ignore you.

S28:
- Would demolish the pontoon if you mess up docking (actually easier to dock, once you get the hang of it, due to momentum and two outdrives).
- Twin engines. If one fails, you're partially stuffed, plus twice the costs, twice as much chance of some sort of failure.
- A bit heavy.
- Acres of fibreglass to clean.
- You cry at the fuel refill bill.
- You get to squash some waves.
- People in bigger boats talk to you.

dv.
 
Re: 25ft v 34ft Pro\'s and Con\'s

[ QUOTE ]
People in bigger boats talk to you.

[/ QUOTE ]


People in bigger boats that come from smaller boats, will always talk to someone that can handle a smaller boat well
 
Re: 25ft v 34ft Pro\'s and Con\'s

The scary thing is that the conversation is frequently along the lines of "I used to have one of those", i.e. a 28 or similar was their "starter boat". To me, that's about as big as it's going to get.

dv.
 
Re: 25ft v 34ft Pro\'s and Con\'s

i used to post frequently on what I had got up to on my 21'er


Not many posts to keep hlb happy though, so don't bother now. The sub 28' contingent need a bit of spin hereabouts
 
Re: 25ft v 34ft Pro\'s and Con\'s

I went from Hardy 24 (single outdrive) to Nimbus 33 (Twin outdrive)

I can’t say driving the bigger twin is any easier, not with outdrives, but not harder either once I’d been out a couple of times. Both had/have a bow thrusters which helps plenty. I did get pretty good with the hardy though and I’ve only had Nimbus 6 months.

I would think that if you are spending time on a boat the bigger the better, within reason, providing you are happy to carry extra costs mention above, which can add up to a lot, especially if you clock up the mileage as you do.

I’ve have found the bigger boat has more ‘systems & stuff’ to go wrong. Nothing ever went wrong on the hardy.

With the Nimbus me & SWMBO can cruise in relative comfort. We didn’t try cruising or overnighting with the Hardy. Just a glorified fishing boat really albeit a very sturdy one.

Personally I’d go bigger if you’re not counting the cost.

Petrolia
 
Re: 25ft v 34ft Pro\'s and Con\'s

[ QUOTE ]



I have heard people saying they had most fun in a smaller boat they once owned,
Thanks.

[/ QUOTE ]
The reason most people make this comment is because both they and their children were young when the had their first boat. Everything was fresh, exciting and fun. Later in life when you are a boring old fart (like me), kids grown up, know every harbour and creek from here to eternity then the magic goes. Your boat knows its own way to everywhere, mooring alongside whilst being blown off is something that you do without a second's thought and wonder why others have trouble. Sure! you still do boating, its in your blood but looking back you realise what great fun it was.
 
Re: 25ft v 34ft Pro\'s and Con\'s

The trick is to get the balance just right for you.On the plus side you will go further in a bigger boat if exploring is what you want to do but are also limited a bit because boat has got to start out from same base most of time.
However small boat is ideal for jump in and whizz out on lots of local trips and all the time outings,mebbe couple of hours in evening type of thing.Apart from funding( mooring fees/antifouling marathons) the down side of getting a too big boat is the mental effort of getting the thing under way after initial ownership glee has faded.
Still firmly of opinion that if you are happy to handle a boat of that size alone then it will get used.
Most folks seem to settle on 30-40ish feet and suspect there are good reasons why this is so.
 
Re: 25ft v 34ft Pro\'s and Con\'s

Very true, and I wonder how long it will be until I have 'done' the East Coast, e.g. you can only spend so much time cruising the Medway.

Perhaps I need to slow down because I have also done a lot on the South Coast, Poole, Weymouth, Solent, all of these places have been explored from launching in the Hamble or Poole. We want a bigger boat to have more comfort on board and to extend our cruising range to explore, but that has to be balanced with our present ability to put it on a trailer and take it anywhere accessable by car, would this capability keep the candle going a bit longer before the same old places start to get boring?

dv, thanks for the list, exactly what I wanted and interesting, what exactly do you get with two engines rather than one, except a spare engine if one goes wrong? (and lets face it most that goes wrong is a fuel problem and if you are drawing the fuel for both from only one tank, then both could fail if that is the problem). I see double service bills and maintenance and not a lot else apart from the fact that a larger boat would need the power.

Thanks for the responses.
 
Re: 25ft v 34ft Pro\'s and Con\'s

We went up only 5 feet from 25 to 30 and the difference is material as far as comfort and handling is concerned.

Handles easier, but not outdrives, single skeg protected shaft & a bit of a keel makes it keep where you put it more when berthing instead of blowing about.

Clearly more room inside & outside so more money for berth.

Clearly costs increase overall

You will probably use it more so you do get better value if you amortise the cost per use.

You can go more places provided you have the depth but then you can go almost anywhere with smaller & a towing vehicle.

Single -V- twin is another debate, my preference is for a well maintained single shaft with protected prop especially in East coast net & pot Maze (I keep expecting to se a Minator any minute), but O/D is easier to clear. Every time I see a twin shaft boat out of the water I think "Jeez, those look vulnerable"

Probably most important from reading your previous posts is you can get more shiny stuff on a bigger one.

The above probably only serves to confuse further but they are my observations.
 
Re: 25ft v 34ft Pro\'s and Con\'s

Pete,

There are some manufacturers that only do single engine instalation, even on a 32ft boat (Aquador). Having temporarily dropped from a 29ft twin to a 23ft single I quickly see the advantages of much lower berthing costs, fuel costs and less electronics to go wrong. Also do not need shorepower as use twin diesel hob so no need for microwave which gives us a lot more freedom. Also when going anywhere with berths we do not worry as 23ft/25ft will always fit in so no need to hurry to beat the rush. Of course servicing is very cheap as well with only one stinkpot.

Down side is physical size, less space in the cabin (cockpit size as long as adequate is not an issue) size of heads smaller, no fixed double berths etc. It is pros and cons. I have only shrunk the boat by 6ft but it is invigorating. Obviously I will be going larger again but it has made me rethink what I want. Why go for a Z34 when an aquador 28c does it all and is a lot cheaper to run! With the deep V hull and hard top cockpit it will take a hell of a lot of grief and fit a bowthruster and you get slow speed monouverability as well. Got to say I have realised ther are alternatives to going much bigger with twins in.....and if we lose red I will not worry half as much!

Paul
 
Re: 25ft v 34ft Pro\'s and Con\'s

Maybe we want too much, two seperate cabins (Z34 has that) decent indoor seating for foul weather (Z34 has limited due to 2 cabins, sociable and protected (from wind whilst on long cruises) cockpit (Z34 has the size but shallow and windy, plus white covers are revolting).

The red issue will be interesting, will the low power boats become popular, will big engines be hard to sell?

The cockpit in my 25ft er is not too bad, I think I would just like 2 cabins so you can just shut the door and none of that farting about making up beds and having to store the stuff!
 
Re: 25ft v 34ft Pro\'s and Con\'s

We passed you on Saturday at Marlow, but you must have been up the town blowing the froth off a couple.

Your flag was looking very clean. I must get a new one.
 
Re: 25ft v 34ft Pro\'s and Con\'s

[ QUOTE ]

Not many posts to keep hlb happy though, so don't bother now. The sub 28' contingent need a bit of spin hereabouts

[/ QUOTE ]

I have a 21 footer and I spit in the eyes of 28 footers and above.

Actually, the owner of a 30 footer once spoke to me - I cried. Well, it was an emotional moment.
 
Re: 25ft v 34ft Pro\'s and Con\'s

I agree with byron. People only say that small boats are more fun because they started with a small boat and everything was a big adventure then but a small boat is no fun whatsoever in any kind of a sea
You have to work out what your future boating is going to be like. Are you going to be doing longer cruises and spending many nights on board because that really determines the size of boat you need. For a 2 week cruise, you're going to need storage space for clothes and provisions and lounging space for the inevitable 2-3 days when bad weather keeps you in harbour. IMHO a 25 footer is too small for this kind of cruising. Then you have to consider the seakindliness of a bigger boat. A Channel crossing in a 25 footer in a F4 could be very uncomfortable even scary for your family but in a 35 footer, you would'nt think too much about it
There's no question that a bigger boat expands your horizons in terms of where you can go and how much time you can spend on it but you have to decide whether you have the time and will to do that kind of boating
Btw I would'nt even think about the fuel issue. The amount of money you lose chopping and changing your boats is far more significant that the extra fuel usage of a bigger boat /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif. In any case, if red diesel goes, a 35 footer will still be considered a desirable and economical boat by peeps trading down from 40-50 footers
 
Re: 25ft v 34ft Pro\'s and Con\'s

Pete,

As you know I only have experience of 25ft and smaller! At the moment I'm in no rush to go for something bigger, There is nowhere I won't go in a 25fter that I would go in a 34, however, I also enjoy watersports like wakeboarding, skiing and playing about in the ring, which as you get bigger you loose the ability to do (so I've been told!)

Yes its a bit of a pain having to move stuff around but withb a little planing and thinking about what you need on board its not that bad!!!

The other aspect is of course is getting a 25fter to the med for a 2 week holiday is going to be a bit of hassle and a bit pricy, but nothing compared to trying to transport a 34fter out there!!

Charlie
 
Re: 25ft v 34ft Pro\'s and Con\'s

Pete

We changed from a 24'single to a 37' twin outdrives, half the length again but twice as much fun. The benefits are:

- the confidence you get from two engines/drives and better seakeeping (I've lost an engine twice, once from fouling and once from overheating. The fouling was mid way from Guernsey to Portrieux, but we were able to make Jersey on one engine)

- You go much further afield, 'cos of the above, so your cruising grounds are much wider

- You go out in F4/5 when you would stay in harbour in a 24'. In fact most 24' boats bounce around even in slight conditions.

- You don't get claustrophobic if spending a few days on board, especially when trapped somewhere by bad weather

- more space for living in, and for storing toys to play with (ringos, canoes, fold up bikes etc.)

- You can store a full size tender with outboard on the davits, no inflating/deflating

- More suitable for inviting friends along on overnight trips, cos of the seperate cabins

- still small enough that you can get into every marina, anchorage and harbour

The downsides are only really cost in my opinion. They have a bit more windage, but the twin engines more than makes up for it in low speed handling. I don't think a 34' boat falls into the "too much hard work to get out to sea" category, think that may apply over 50 feet, but actually only applies if you don't feel confident helming your boat.

We loved our 24' boat and had loads of fun on it, but if budget allows you can have a lot more adventures in a twin engined larger boat, all IMO of course
 
Re: 25ft v 34ft Pro\'s and Con\'s

>I see double service bills and maintenance and not a lot else apart from the fact that a larger boat would need the power.

You've pretty much hit the nail on the head, there. If I had ordered an S29 (new) it would have been with a big single. As we decided that we needed to eat as well as boat, the end result was an S28 (secondhand), and they only came with twins, so twins it was.

Main upside with twins is that you can do some very tight turns in the marina if you need to plus some redundancy of systems, given that they both feed off the same tank. Sods law says that if you lose an engine, though, it'll be the one driving the power steering...

dv.
 
Re: 25ft v 34ft Pro\'s and Con\'s

I've trailered a 23 footer and had it dry berthed. We now have a BMB 32 Sport (effectively 34 footer).

Your point about dashing around is a good one. Boating for us isn't just about exploring, a lot of it is anchoring somehwere picturesque with friends, letting the kids potter and not feeling obliged to do domestic jobs at home or dial into work to see if a project is progressing OK. You may find that once you've checked out various places you settle on an area where you can meet easily with people you know and where you like the scenery/facilities.

At that point the "caravan/motorhome" element comes in and comfort/convenience/sociability play their hand, all of which will draw you to a larger boat. Far less time spent playing Solitaire with food, clothes, toys.

You'll probably find too that you will go places in weather conditions and at each end of the season that you wouldn't consider appropriate on your current boat. The size difference on a 34 really does make for a more comfortable and secure passage.

34 ft works ideally for us and that's with potentially restless 9 & 12 year olds aboard. Get your hooning fun from a dinghy and big HP outboard.
 
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