suffolklass
Well-Known Member
I’m in hypothetical planning land at the moment but I’d be interested to know what people would do in my situation!
Having moved to Yorkshire from Suffolk, I’m suffering from being a bit far from any decent cruising grounds. Nearest yacht sailing is the Lake District just over an hour away, I’m very dubious about the west coast of Cumbria, Firth of Clyde lovely but probably about 3.5-4hrs away, not sure if there’s anything nearer that's enjoyable and not too scary.
Currently we’re a family of 4 (2 adults 2 young children) but wouldn’t discount family size increasing a bit in the future! At the moment we own a small dinghy but we do prefer bigger boats and I'd love to introduce my kids to cruising. If we lived somewhere close to some good coastal sailing I think we’d be saving up for something like a Westerly Centaur on a swinging mooring, I am a proper potterer in a boat, no interest in going fast, just enjoy cruising around and discovering new places! We like the idea of a boat we could stay on for up to a week or maybe even longer with the kids. We’re used to camping on land but dinghy camping feels like it might be a step too far...
It would take a few years and a higher salary to get us a bigger boat anyway, so we’re looking at a fair bit down the line. So it’s all a bit hypothetical, but I’d be interested in people’s ideas of what they would do with, say, the money you could spend on a Westerly Centaur.
As far as I can tell there are 3 main options:
a) Buy a seaworthy open boat such as a Drascombe Lugger, be able to trail it wherever but accept that you’re virtually never going to stay on board (or at least not for more than a night). Advantages are the cost-effectiveness (no mooring/crane fees!) and ability to go anywhere, but then I’d be sad if my kids never got to sleep on board, that’s the thing I enjoyed most when I was younger.
b) Buy a mid-size trailable yacht, keep it mostly in the Lake District, but occasionally tow it somewhere coastal such as the Clyde or Suffolk. Advantages are that you get some flexibility, but then I wonder if realistically we’d comfortably enjoy longer cruises, and I’d be a bit worried about the size of car we’d need to tow it! Feels like the most versatile option but possibly the worst of all worlds.
c) Go for a full-size yacht such as a Westerly Centaur, keep it on Windermere, but then occasionally get it transported somewhere else for a whole season (e.g. the Clyde). Advantages are you’d get to have the whole staying on board experience, cruises would be nice and comfortable, but would we want to cruise for a week or two on Windermere or is that a bit too limiting? And if we put it somewhere else we wouldn’t necessarily use it that much (plus cost of transportation).
d) Some combination of the above depending on age of children – obviously boats can be bought and sold as necessary!
What option would you go for? Or is there one I’ve missed (or a fantastic area of coastal sailing within a couple of hours of the Dales, if so do share...)?
Sorry for the long post, I’d be intrigued to hear your thoughts!
Having moved to Yorkshire from Suffolk, I’m suffering from being a bit far from any decent cruising grounds. Nearest yacht sailing is the Lake District just over an hour away, I’m very dubious about the west coast of Cumbria, Firth of Clyde lovely but probably about 3.5-4hrs away, not sure if there’s anything nearer that's enjoyable and not too scary.
Currently we’re a family of 4 (2 adults 2 young children) but wouldn’t discount family size increasing a bit in the future! At the moment we own a small dinghy but we do prefer bigger boats and I'd love to introduce my kids to cruising. If we lived somewhere close to some good coastal sailing I think we’d be saving up for something like a Westerly Centaur on a swinging mooring, I am a proper potterer in a boat, no interest in going fast, just enjoy cruising around and discovering new places! We like the idea of a boat we could stay on for up to a week or maybe even longer with the kids. We’re used to camping on land but dinghy camping feels like it might be a step too far...
It would take a few years and a higher salary to get us a bigger boat anyway, so we’re looking at a fair bit down the line. So it’s all a bit hypothetical, but I’d be interested in people’s ideas of what they would do with, say, the money you could spend on a Westerly Centaur.
As far as I can tell there are 3 main options:
a) Buy a seaworthy open boat such as a Drascombe Lugger, be able to trail it wherever but accept that you’re virtually never going to stay on board (or at least not for more than a night). Advantages are the cost-effectiveness (no mooring/crane fees!) and ability to go anywhere, but then I’d be sad if my kids never got to sleep on board, that’s the thing I enjoyed most when I was younger.
b) Buy a mid-size trailable yacht, keep it mostly in the Lake District, but occasionally tow it somewhere coastal such as the Clyde or Suffolk. Advantages are that you get some flexibility, but then I wonder if realistically we’d comfortably enjoy longer cruises, and I’d be a bit worried about the size of car we’d need to tow it! Feels like the most versatile option but possibly the worst of all worlds.
c) Go for a full-size yacht such as a Westerly Centaur, keep it on Windermere, but then occasionally get it transported somewhere else for a whole season (e.g. the Clyde). Advantages are you’d get to have the whole staying on board experience, cruises would be nice and comfortable, but would we want to cruise for a week or two on Windermere or is that a bit too limiting? And if we put it somewhere else we wouldn’t necessarily use it that much (plus cost of transportation).
d) Some combination of the above depending on age of children – obviously boats can be bought and sold as necessary!
What option would you go for? Or is there one I’ve missed (or a fantastic area of coastal sailing within a couple of hours of the Dales, if so do share...)?
Sorry for the long post, I’d be intrigued to hear your thoughts!
