jhr
Well-Known Member
Aaargh; another \"wot yot\" post
Let us suppose - purely theoretically you understand - that I am contemplating defecting from power to sail, having convinced my family that sailing in the Solent will be as idyllic and carefree as the Aegean.
I'd be interested to hear people's views on what I should be looking for. My needs/wants are as follows:
About 28 foot; accommodation for 4 (double cabin plus saloon bunks acceptable; two double cabins nice, but unlikely, I guess). We don't require huge luxury or neccessarily a floating caravan, but a step up from our current, very spartan mobo would be nice;
Reasonably modern (<5 years old); I don't have the skills to keep an ageing wreck in commission;
Masthead sloop rig;
Cruiser with reasonable performance, rather than racer;
Mostly coastal cruising (Solent/Southwest) but would want to feel confident enough to have a crack at Cherbourg, given reasonable weather;
Nice, reliable diesel to get you home.
What I don't want:
A catamaran. I know all the arguments but they don't do it for me, and Mrs jhr is unfazed by the boat leaning over;
Anything bigger than 28 feet. I just can't afford the running and mooring costs of anything larger;
Anything that won't steer going backwards. So that's Twisters off the list, then /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif.
I am unembarrassed by being seen in an AWB (after all, I'm currently a mobo owner) but also love the look of some of the modern trad boats like Cornish crabbers.
I am deliberately keeping budget out of it at the moment, because I want to look at all the options - still purely theoretically you understand - and then decide to what extent I would need to abase myself in front of my bank manager, were we to make the change.
TIA.
Let us suppose - purely theoretically you understand - that I am contemplating defecting from power to sail, having convinced my family that sailing in the Solent will be as idyllic and carefree as the Aegean.
I'd be interested to hear people's views on what I should be looking for. My needs/wants are as follows:
About 28 foot; accommodation for 4 (double cabin plus saloon bunks acceptable; two double cabins nice, but unlikely, I guess). We don't require huge luxury or neccessarily a floating caravan, but a step up from our current, very spartan mobo would be nice;
Reasonably modern (<5 years old); I don't have the skills to keep an ageing wreck in commission;
Masthead sloop rig;
Cruiser with reasonable performance, rather than racer;
Mostly coastal cruising (Solent/Southwest) but would want to feel confident enough to have a crack at Cherbourg, given reasonable weather;
Nice, reliable diesel to get you home.
What I don't want:
A catamaran. I know all the arguments but they don't do it for me, and Mrs jhr is unfazed by the boat leaning over;
Anything bigger than 28 feet. I just can't afford the running and mooring costs of anything larger;
Anything that won't steer going backwards. So that's Twisters off the list, then /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif.
I am unembarrassed by being seen in an AWB (after all, I'm currently a mobo owner) but also love the look of some of the modern trad boats like Cornish crabbers.
I am deliberately keeping budget out of it at the moment, because I want to look at all the options - still purely theoretically you understand - and then decide to what extent I would need to abase myself in front of my bank manager, were we to make the change.
TIA.
