Smallest boat you could spend a week on

[jakew009]

… without it being unbearable after a few days?

No kids so just a couple.

Let’s say it’s based in the med so you could guarantee good weather.

30’?
36’?

Something like a Prestige 32’ / 36’ fly looks a pretty good contender.

Has anyone ever spent any length of time on anything smaller?

 

[sarabande]

Wayfarers are renowned for their friendly configuration...

Ah, a mobo..... Depends what facilities you think are essential. Aircon ? Tender ? Single/twin screw ? Double berth ? Separate cabins ? Shower/deck shower ?

List a few more essentials and that will help suggestions.

 

[Megaboat]

We spent over a week at a time on our 21ft cuddy then upgraded to the luxury of a 25ft Sealine.

 

[julians]

Going to very much depend on your expectations and what you're used to, I reckon I could do a week on a 30 footer,but some people wouldn't be happy with less than 60 foot.

I've done a couple of days ona 25 foot boat, I reckon I could do longer,but Mrs j wouldn't .I reckon if you're happy in a tent for a week you could manage with a 25 foot boat.

 

[ST840]

We frequently spend 4-5 days on our 28ft Starfisher. That's 2 adults, an 11 year old and a dog! No problem.

 

[The Q]

We have spent a week on a Lysander 17ft . Others as couples have spent more than that touring the Hebrides..

 

[DavidJ]

Just on my way out to our Sealine S37
Fine for a couple of weeks for the two of us.
A couple of days for visitors but that’s the same as at home

 

[Portofino]

Wayfarers are renowned for their friendly configuration...

Ah, a mobo..... Depends what facilities you think are essential. Aircon ? Tender ? Single/twin screw ? Double berth ? Separate cabins ? Shower/deck shower ?

List a few more essentials and that will help suggestions.

Spent weeks a family of 4 ( two cabins ) on this .Portofino 35 , actually 37 .

But i was well specced with a geny ,airco and tender . Plenty of refrigeration etc .
3.54 M beam so as well as anchoring off you could normally find a berth in the Med .

Geny + airco adds to the versatility along with a tender .
Went all over in it .Corsica, Elba , Pisa , Monaco Portofino, Porquerolles .Marseille, Calanques , St Tropez bay and much more .
So as well as comfortable to live on it needs to be able to tour the big islands if Med based .

I think they did the Porto 46 first as a new line of “ off shore cruisers “ to replace the Camargue 46 , then shrunk it keeping all the goodies to as low as they could go and keep the comfort/ specc to 37 ft .They later did a bigger 53 , nearer 60 ft .

The longest stint was 3 weeks .

 

[Elessar]

… without it being unbearable after a few days?

No kids so just a couple.

Let’s say it’s based in the med so you could guarantee good weather.

30’?
36’?

Something like a Prestige 32’ / 36’ fly looks a pretty good contender.

Has anyone ever spent any length of time on anything smaller?

Did France and the Channel Islands on my 28ft Bayliner. Two of us.
Only restriction was the amount of wine we could bring back.

 

[BruceK]

Family of 4 plus dog and cat living quite happily on 36 foot and wouldnt move back into our old 6 bedroomed house if you paid us. Just need the internet to work, for work, and life as a water gypsy is just peachy.

 

[dpb]

This is very subjective but we (a couple) would regularly spent 2 weeks on our 24 foot sportscruiser. And now we are 2 months into a 6 month stint in the med on a 32 ft flybridge. So far happier than expected!

 

[Mr Googler]

Family of 4 plus dog and cat living quite happily on 36 foot and wouldnt move back into our old 6 bedroomed house if you paid us. Just need the internet to work, for work, and life as a water gypsy is just peachy.

Yeah…..till winter ???

 

[john_morris_uk]

Surely it depends entirely on the couple. (Young and in a new relationship, the surroundings and limited space don’t seem to matter as much. )

 

[Fire99]

I had a Shetland Black Prince 23ft with the canopy over the cockpit and a week would be perfectly doable. Comfortable double at the bow. Nice seating area opposite a fully fitted galley and the heads had a built in shower. The cockpit area had seating for a good few and a decent sized table to sit around which could be removed and stored. Great little boat for up to about a week or maybe longer if you were using marinas.

 

[ontheplane]

Mum, Dad, myself and my Sister used to spend a week or 2 on board a Buckingham 20 when I was a kid, did 3 weeks on the broads with her - lovely.

But what people call “essential” now weren’t even thought of then! Internet? What was that...

 

[Momac]

In our slightly younger days we spent up to a fortnight on a Sealine S23 (in the UK).
But I doubt the chief officer would tolerate that now. Lack of storage was the main issue.

Our present F33 is very comfortable for holidays and has the luxury of a spare cabin that accommodates the majority of our clothes for the fortnight. The upgrade to a 33 transformed our boating experience.

 

[colhel]

I find the longer we stay on board, the better we adapt to the space. Our present boat is a smudge over 30ft and after 2 weeks on board last year with the majority of meals cooked on board, we had a serious discussion as to whether we could live aboard. Not to say I'm never envious of others with far more space and facilities, but at the same token, deep down, they're not ever so slightly envious of us ?

 

[ashtead]

You might try chartering a small boat for a week. You could as a couple live on an old Shetland with an outboard if desperate enough. Might be better to set a budget and how much you want to spend on berthing,fuel servicing etc. we are Moored up just now next to an axopar -I’m sure you can spend a week on it but would it be anyones choice ?

 

[Fire99]

It does depend on perspective (and a bit of 'progress'). If you watch videos from Tom Cunliffe or the like and their early boating experiences, having a non-leaking bucket for a toilet appeared a luxuary. I remember a Princess 45 in the 80's being a monster of a boat where as only this morning there is a repeat ad for Nick Burnham's review of a recent F45 (47ft) that runs with a headline of being a '(relatively) SMALL boat'!!
If you enjoy camping in a tent rather than needing a 40ft motorhome as a 'basic requirement', then translating that to boats a well laid out boat in the 20's ft would be fine. I think Nick Burnham's own boat is (unless he's changed it) a Jeanneau leader 805 which is only25ft-7inches overall and that looks doable for a week, for a sensible couple..

If you add kids, overnight guests or attempt longer stays onboard then to have any degree of comfort (or sanity) the size starts to step up. My 23ft Shetland was perfect for just 2 people for a week but now I spend extended time onboard and want to do more on the boat (work, study, entertain), now even a 50 odd foot Trader gets filled up pretty quickly.

 

[colhel]

,

It does depend on perspective (and a bit of 'progress'). If you watch videos from Tom Cunliffe or the like and their early boating experiences, having a non-leaking bucket for a toilet appeared a luxuary. I remember a Princess 45 in the 80's being a monster of a boat where as only

Reminds me of this old holiday snap from about1971.
That's me climbing all over the side deck my Gran, Mum, and two brothers and my Dad with the camera on one of my Grandparents hire boats.