33 to 41 feet........here's goes nothing!!

What I notice most on larger boats is the distance to run from the cockpit to anywhere else. In particular the drinks cabinet...

Strangely the wettest boat I have crewed on was, IIRC, 65'. (May have been a bit less.) It just kept going at the same level regardless of the Channel chop.

I would strongly second the idea of getting any line ashore secured asap because once the current or wind starts to take a hand a human will be utterly underpowered.
 
Iliade said:
What I notice most on larger boats is the distance to run from the cockpit to anywhere else. In particular the drinks cabinet...

Strangely the wettest boat I have crewed on was, IIRC, 65'. (May have been a bit less.) It just kept going at the same level regardless of the Channel chop.

I would strongly second the idea of getting any line ashore secured asap because once the current or wind starts to take a hand a human will be utterly underpowered.
Click to expand...
Big boats are not affected as much as small boats, so more leisure time to do things like that.
If well fendered both sides, what is the problem?
 
Firstly congratulations on your new purchase. I made the jump to a 40, best advise I can give is fender up and go pontoon bashing, this time of the year most marinas have lots of empty births, practice, practice and more practice. half a day in an empty marina and you will be surprised how comfortable you will be.
 
Went from 35ft to 42ft two years ago. Tiller to twin wheels. Outside harbours/marinas almost everything works as you would expect it to. Sailing in open sea in decent conditions is as easy as it comes.
Restricted conditions. crosswind and other traffic complicate matters. Most of what you already know will work, BUT
Windage at low speeds can cause havoc. How many tons of boat do you need to stop promptly now?
As pointed out - if there is much wind while you are berthing, whoever gets the first shore cleat needs a Full turn round it immediately or you and they will lose the game rapidly. If ideally you have a midships cleat back to a aft-wards shore cleat then you have control again with your throttle and rudder - and a decent chance of getting other lines organised.
It takes practice. I still make mistakes. Not such big ones, but mistakes nonetheless.

You will enjoy making 7Kt passages in a decent sailing wind!
 
Having moved from 34 to 41 a few years ago I would say you have to better prepared in the longer heavy boat in marina environment but actual sailing is far easier. The 41 carries way more whereas a 34 can be stopped quite promptly. Clearly differences though depend on boats involved so say moving from a 34 AWB to a long keeled island packet would I guess present different challenges to moving say from a long keeled 34 to a modern production boat. It also must be remembered any crews will need time to adjust so what they did in past might not work for new boat so getting ready to berth with extra fenders etc might take more time. The best advice though is not to put a 41 in a scenario where you haven’t worked out an exit route. With a 34 you can man handle it about etc but forget it on a 41 really. There is a risk I guess of not thinking through exit routes if issues arise in berthing which would not be an issue on a 34 . Remember also extra length can make comms more difficult with crew as I guess no headsets and you lose visibility of bow more quickly assuming no bow camera for spotting buoys etc. Try to book marina in advance and if worried ask the Marina to help you out either by rib nudging in if no bow thruster or line taking etc And ask for simple berths to enter if poss. Enjoy extra space and just remember sails are much heavier if you want to take off or hoist. Clearly power winches ,self trackers and bowthusters etc help reduce stress though plus you don’t bounce on passage so much so can get rest below on longer passages but it does take longer to reef and furl than on a 34 .
 
Fenders are your friend - all round the boat so no stress - we have one across the anchor and two big balls at the stern so any mistakes are simply soft nudges. And if it’s a boat like most of the last 20 years that is designed with a step through stern and high topsides then don’t fight the design. Moor in reverse so the step back to the pontoon is at the same level and the wide stern is held in slow reverse against pontoon with fenders while you step off, drop a rope around the cleat at the stern then walk along the finger and take a midline to a mid finger cleat, then bow before putting engine into neutral.

Remember that you will get steerage way far quicker from a standstill if you go out forward and far easier to abandon an approach going from reverse to forward mostion. Coming in you have plenty of steerage anyway.

I don’t mention more sailing complexity as it will be such a great stable platform to work on but do remind crew that forces are far higher so safe winch work needed.
 
RupertW said:
Fenders are your friend - all round the boat so no stress - we have one across the anchor and two big balls at the stern so any mistakes are simply soft nudges. And if it’s a boat like most of the last 20 years that is designed with a step through stern and high topsides then don’t fight the design. Moor in reverse so the step back to the pontoon is at the same level and the wide stern is held in slow reverse against pontoon with fenders while you step off, drop a rope around the cleat at the stern then walk along the finger and take a midline to a mid finger cleat, then bow before putting engine into neutral.

Remember that you will get steerage way far quicker from a standstill if you go out forward and far easier to abandon an approach going from reverse to forward mostion. Coming in you have plenty of steerage anyway.

I don’t mention more sailing complexity as it will be such a great stable platform to work on but do remind crew that forces are far higher so safe winch work needed.
Click to expand...
That's a great point, this is definitely a boat to be docked stern to the pontoon. Plenty of reverse practise needed when I get her home.
 
That what have I done feeling!
When aged 14, I sold my cadet and brought an old Merlin Rocket, my thought was, "what have I done!" But I went on to trade up to newer Merlins until I started winning racing, and sailing Merlin was just great fun.
After I graduated and a moved to Scotland I bought a Wayfarer and started cruising around the North of Scotland. On my first offshore cruise around Orkney, I had that "what Have I done feeling", my wife an I cruised the Wayfare for 13 years and enjoyed most of it.
We then traded up to a Jaguar 21, my first sail out of Stonehaven, gave me "that what have I done feeling", it seemed massive after the Wayfarer.
When I got to 50 I could afford to buy a bigger boat, this time a Parker 275, and again, sailing it up from Boston in April, I got the same old "what have I done feeling" much bigger loads, I really needed to use the sheet winches, but we soon got use to it and sailed it up and down the East Coast of Scotland and England for many years.
The next boat was a Dufour 40, quite a leap from the Parker, I sailed it up the west coast from Plymouth to Scotland and rounding Lands End, I got the same old "what have I done feeling" as we set course for Millford Haven, the Dufour proved to be fast and sea kindly boat.
Then when I fully retired I swapped the Dufour for a Southerly 46RS, a much heavier boat than the Dufour, and very comfortable to live on during the summer. As I sailed the Southerly west along the North Coast of Scotland single handed in April in a 25 knots plus ENE wind and had to gybe around Cape Wrath to go south, I got that familiar feeling of "what Have I done"
So from a cadet to a 16 ton Southerly, I've always been very apprehensive , but alway got over it quite quickly.
Now aged 73 , I'm quite happy sailing the Southerly single handed, although I am quite careful about taking on more than I can cope with.
My advice would be, go for it, if you don't push you'll finnish up sitting in an armchair, wishing you had.
 
Last edited:
Ian_Edwards said:
That what have I done feeling!
When aged 14, I sold my cadet and brought an old Merlin Rocket, my thought was, "what have I done!" But I went on to trade up to newer Merlins until I started winning racing, and sailing Merlin was just great fun.
After I graduated and a moved to Scotland I bought a Wayfarer and started cruising around the North of Scotland. On my first offshore cruise around Orkney, I had that "what Have I done feeling", my wife an I cruised the Wayfare for 13 years and enjoyed most of it.
We then traded up to a Jaguar 21, my first sail out of Stonehaven, gave me "that what have I done feeling", it seemed massive after the Wayfarer.
When I got to 50 I could afford to buy a bigger boat, this time a Parker 275, and again, sailing it up from Boston in April, I got the same old "what have I done feeling" much bigger loads, I really needed to use the sheet winches, but we soon got use to it and sailed it up and down the East Coast of Scotland and England for many years.
The next boat was a Dufour 40, quite a leap from the Parker, I sailed it up the west coast from Plymouth to Scotland and rounding Lands End, I got the same old "what have I done feeling" as we set course for Millford Haven, the Dufour proved to be fast and sea kindly boat.
Then when I fully retired I swapped the Dufour for a Southerly 46RS, a much heavier boat than the Dufour, and very comfortable to live on during the summer. As I sailed the Southerly west along the North Coast of Scotland single handed in April in a 25 knots plus ENE wind and had to gybe around Cape Wrath to go south, I got that familiar feeling of "what Have I done"
So from a cadet to a 16 ton Southerly, I've always been very apprehensive , but alway got over it quite quickly.
Now aged 73 , I'm quite happy sailing the Southerly single handed, although I am quite careful about taking on more than I can cope with.
My advice would be, go for it, if you don't push you'll finnish up sitting in an armchair, wishing you had.
Click to expand...

That is a wonderful story, thanks so much Ian. I’ve done it now, the deposit is paid. I am so happy with my decision, there will be no regrets, just fantastic experiences to be had.

Keep being an inspiration please!
James
 
scotty123 said:
Big boats are not affected as much as small boats, so more leisure time to do things like that.
If well fendered both sides, what is the problem?
Click to expand...
(Apologies for the drift (sic) but answering a direct question.)
My cross-current pier mooring is a pita. When single handed I cannot get a line on during a good ebb because I can't get the stern in fast enough and the bow is too far away. Hence I have to allow her to settle on the unoccupied downstream pier (I need to get a fender board for that side of the boat as the piles are intermittent) and then winch her upstream to her own berth. I cannot haul her across by hand and I'm 90kg of moderately fit bloke; My previous 26 footer was a breeze to moor in comparison. With a deck hand on the bows it is a whole different kettle of fish.

Granted, when there was a boat in the other mooring it was much easier, but complicated by having to come in at great speed in order to reduce the angle of approach such that there was width enough for the boat.

No reversing in, partly because the boat is a pig in astern, but more so because the rudder would hit the putty.

The easiest way is to wait until the tide has fallen enough then charge into the mud, but if I hit too far away from the pier the heel on drying out can be scary. The old boat had bilge keels to no tipping issues and much less lateral resistance.


As for mooring larger boats, the best advice I heard was from an ex-roughneck: "Don't put yer hands anywhere you wouldn't put your p$%^k."

Finally, James, congratulations on your best day of boat ownership! :0)
 
steve yates said:
Why have I never thought of this? What a great idea!
Click to expand...
As discussed above, it has its drawbacks and is not a panacea. You also have to be careful that the first time you have to stop in a hurry you won't inadvertently give it more aft wellie because you are facing the control the wrong way.
 
James W said:
In all likelihood, I'm going to pull the trigger on a 41 footer tomorrow. It's going to be a big step up from my Westerly Storm, but I'm excited and the family are going to love it!!

That said, I'll be the one sailing it most of the time and it's a far bigger boat, no matter how you look at it. It does have furling main and jib though, which helps. Can anyone offer any helpful hints and tips to making that step up? Berthing shouldn't too much of an issue, as my home port has space to make a few mistakes.....but there's no point having a bigger boat and being scared of it, so it would be great to hear your thoughts and experiences.

Thanks!

James
Click to expand...
You will love it. Apart from the obvious difference in length, which is not that much but be aware until its automatic.
I have often driven a friends 56, mine a 38 now a 35, and it is a pleasure to handle, just do not let it intimidate you.
 
I think that good centre cleats are most helpful when getting used to docking a longer boat once you get a centre line on you can't swing much and it gives you time . Practice holding in on a spring when docking and leaving dock , it takes all the drama out of it ! Good luck with the boat,
Kinsale 373
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top