kunyang
Well-Known Member
have a look at my post on Scuttlebut, she's a but longer, but a great family boat
Dave
Dave
The best family coastal cruiser
- Thread starter stu9000
- Start date
stu9000
Well-Known Member
You may well be right. I'm treading a bit of a tightrope in that I want to ease my wI've and kids into the sailing thing but i can't jjustify a big spend without proving the scenario. Going too cheap would put them off. My wife has been sailing with me before kids. The kids have be canoeing and camping. Rain or shine they will
Love it.
Thing is, my Dad fitted out a Tucker design bilge keel caprice. 19 foot but all 5 I of us slept on board somehow (I was on the sole with legs in engine bay).
A Hirondelle is also close to my heart as a creek crawler (another of Dads boats). Great in light winds but I could not get her to point!
Trapper 500 looks good value, but not quite yet.
I'm v touched by the advice and support. I haunt cycling forums too and you guys are much more good natured.
stu9000
Well-Known Member
Thank you for the offer bit the westerly isn't for me. The Marconi Sc was interesting. The Blackwater is well placed, but I didn't really warm to the river. Seemed very windy with few bolt holes. Perhaps I have not looked hard enough so, when I'm in the water, will pop over to say Hi.
JumbleDuck
Well-Known Member
Charter, then. For your budget you'll get a couple of weeks a year for five years in something which has respectable room for five people.
[10753]
...
Here's a Kingfisher 20 for sale for 2.5k, even comes with a trailer. These are great little boats, regularly in the Atlantic Jester Challenge as well as sailed on the lakes in the lake district. Only last weekend saw 2 at East Head in Chichester Harbour dried out on the sand.
http://www.orfordsail.org.uk/kingfisher.htm
or this one with the possibility of a trailer
http://yachts.apolloduck.co.uk/boats.phtml?id=871
http://www.orfordsail.org.uk/kingfisher.htm
or this one with the possibility of a trailer
http://yachts.apolloduck.co.uk/boats.phtml?id=871
stu9000
Well-Known Member
I did think of that. But what works for us is long weekenders. I also love fixing up stuff and making it my own.
Big-Bang1
Well-Known Member
Leisure 23 or 23SL if you can find one for the right money. Choose between inboard diesel or outboard. Sail well for a dumpy bilge keeler, plenty of space for a family in the deep safe cockpit, lots of lockers and storage, standing head room (well, so long as your 6' or less) and we have slept on ours comfortably (3 children 5-10 years old, my wife and I plus a mental dog!). The 23SL looks quite modern for it's age and It has a 'big boat' feel to it.
HTH
HTH
aquaplane
Well-Known Member
We had a Westerly 25 that had 6 berths. 2 in a V berth in the front, two in the saloon and 2 stretcher berths that could be rigged over the saloon berths. It was VERY cosy but I have memories of 7 Venture scouts having grand sailing weekends aboard, (someone had to sleep on the floor).
You have discounted the Westerlys but you could fit a stretcher berth as a fifth berth to another design if there is enough headroom. The Nomad and Windrush would tick many boxes for you, it's a shame you don't want one.
You have discounted the Westerlys but you could fit a stretcher berth as a fifth berth to another design if there is enough headroom. The Nomad and Windrush would tick many boxes for you, it's a shame you don't want one.
JumbleDuck
Well-Known Member
I know what you mean. I'm afraid, though, that a comfortable five-berth shallow boat for £4k ish is going to be a bit hard to find, and compromises in any direction might spoil the long game of getting the family involved and keen. Do you know anyone who might be interested in going halves in something?
stu9000
Well-Known Member
Interesting boat. I bookmarked the read one after your last post and spent some time researching it.
Clearly a solid boat with a light forecabin and its own heads compartment. But the main cabin looked pretty closed in and while her strength would be welcome towing her might be a challenge.
Thanks though! Will keep it in mind.
S
stu9000
Well-Known Member
Sorry! I could not possibly share my toys! It makes a lot of sense on paper, but I just could not do it.
I will have to compromise though. And thats where it becomes a very personal decision.
Ive been doing a lot of thinking about the "long game", helped by you good people. I need to prove that the kids love it (they will) and its worth spending real money on a bigger boat, club membership, mooring etc.
A smaller trailable boat might not have a separate Heads compartment or much elbow room, but I can drop it in the water in a range of locations while we work out where we want to base ourselves, and with a cockpit tent, will hopefully not make us all too crazy. There will be times (probably bashing into a head wind) when I wish for something heavier, deeper and bigger. But that will, hopefully, come in due course.
I would quite like to try lifting keels too. Most of my experience is with bilge keelers. Would I be right in assuming they point slightly better? Or is that too much of a generalization.
JumbleDuck
Well-Known Member
Well, if cockpit tents are your thing ... People I know recently bought an old Drascombe Longboat Cruiser and love it. The small cabin just has one berth plus room for a toilet and stores, but being a Drascombe you can sleep about a dozen in the cockpit. It's a bit scruffy, but built like a tank, Definitely within your budget; Churchouse Boats have one at Pin Mill for £4,000 ...
stu9000
Well-Known Member
I had another look and found this post. Shows what can be done.
http://westerly25.blogspot.co.uk/2009/04/launch-day.html
But the blog stated the crane weight was 4 tonnes!
And a lifting keel is easier to get off the slip way than twin fin.
Am keeping an open mind though. The stretcher berth idea is a great one! Ive seen that work very well as a kid in caravans.
Laurie
Well-Known Member
Blackwater and its environs is RIDDLED with bolt holes...love it!!
Laurie
Well-Known Member
Laurie
Well-Known Member
I put a cockpit tent on my J27 and have done so again on the Feeling. Worth the weight in gold.................a good one on the J22 would be fabulous.
stu9000
Well-Known Member
Yes. Ive come full circle from my first post. I started off looking at Drascombes. Good resale value. Nice community. Easy to launch. I like the sail configuration. The Longboat Cruiser has the cuddy to get out of spray/wind/rain if needed. Nice lines. There is a lot to like. I would personally be in heaven. But I worried that I would be the only one in heaven.
But... as I was asking at the start of this thread, you can get a lot of boat for 4k. Im quite torn between a minimal approach which is easy towing and gets you on the water fast, or getting a boat with more cabin comfort but which brings with it more work/complications/weight/cost.
I know we live in emancipated times but I have two daughters who, while they love camping and adventure, are more averse to mud/wet/damp than I was at that age. Don't get me wrong, they are up for the adventure.
That said, I would relish doing up an old Longboat. I could add some value and move onto bigger things.
But having read endlessly about Westerley 25s, Kingfisher 20s, Anderson 22s, Jaguar 22s, Seal 22s, Trident 24s, Corribee 21s, the Evolution 19, Islander 23, Drascombe Longboat and Coaster, Leisure 20, Sunray 21 etc. etc. etc...
...well, 4k seems to get you a lot of boat. If I can reign myself in and get something with some comfort but is still trailable, and maybe add a bit of value over the winter, it could be a stepping stone to bigger things.
I nearly said "bigger and better" but my Dad had a Hunter 30 on the Blackwater for a year or two and we never really got on with it. Too race orientated? Maybe not the right place to base ourselves. But I think part of it was it was just more work to maintain. Am I harking back to my youth, rose tinted glasses of my time on the Deben mucking about in a Caprice 19, or is there something to be said for keeping it simple?
stu9000
Well-Known Member
Thats good to know.
I was in a bigger boat and just did Haybridge, Bradwell and Tollsbury. Usually bashing through a gale with green water over the bow.
To be fair, I think it will always be exposed water but perhaps we were unlucky with the weather.
I will certainly be back to have another look.
stu9000
Well-Known Member
I think I could make one!
It may sound a bit cheap but I was playing around with white polytarp to prototype sails for my 18 ft Canoe.
Worked quite well and from 10 feet away you would not know it was tarp (at least for a season).
Once the design was proven I could make it up with proper materials.
With a boat full of kids a big cockpit tent is essential, especially on those rainy bank holiday weekends.
Laurie
Well-Known Member
Aaagh Bisto.........where is more lovely on the east coast than the Deben . Visit most summers.......
