What 8 metre boat is for me?

[Refueler]

I always think 28 feet is the worse size, big enough to incur all the costs of a larger boat but without the utility.

A boat that size is pretty much full just with weekend cruising stuff never mind extended trips to sunny shores. Where are the stand up paddle boards going?

So many good boats around 32' well within budget. Just buy this and get going, recent engine and sails plus electronics autopilot and a wind vane. Copius storage in the aft cabin. A proper little ship.

Westerly Discus for sale UK, Westerly boats for sale, Westerly used boat sales, Westerly Sailing Yachts For Sale Westerly Discus - Apollo Duck

Always liked Westerlys

 

[Baggywrinkle]

Wow, I know that 27 footers were a bit slower than modern / bigger boats, but a “night sail” from Tobermory to Coll. That’s a short hop in time for lunch generally

I was a kid at the time, and for a hyperactive kid, the 18 nautical miles @ 4,5 knots seemed like a lifetime. I guess it was only a 4 hour sail plus faffing around at both ends rather than a proper night sail ... but it was exciting creeping into the anchorage on Coll with just a spinning depth sounder and paper charts. Had to drop both sails too and make them fast with sail-ties before I would be dispatched to the bow to manually lower the anchor. Afterwards I'd sneak into the dimly lit saloon, trying not to wake my 2 younger siblings, and crawl into a sleeping bag - shivering. A proper adventure!!!

Fast forward to the current boat, and it's a floating, floodlit, apartment with every electronic gizmo known to man - the trip would take less than 3 hours, the sails and the anchor would be controlled by pressing buttons, we have a real-time graph of the bottom and know where we are to within a few metres. After anchoring, we'd retire downstairs for a nightcap with heating and cold drinks, while anyone already in bed would be tucked up in a private cabin on a big double bed. How times have changed.

 

[dansaskip]

I always think 28 feet is the worse size, big enough to incur all the costs of a larger boat but without the utility.

A boat that size is pretty much full just with weekend cruising stuff never mind extended trips to sunny shores. Where are the stand up paddle boards going?

Perhaps there speaks someone who has never had a 28ft boat?
Just about all the costs apart from electronics will be cheaper than for a 32ft boat, berthing, running rigging, standing rigging, sails, antifouling, lifting out standing ashore etc.
Funny how on my boat I had room for 5 sails in addition to 3 in use, spare anchors, fenders, warps, inflatable dinghy, folding bicycle, food and water for over a month, spare parts for engine, winches, pumps, stove, heads, rigging, tools, clothes oh and yes a SUP to although admittedly an inflatable one. You know I just don't know how I managed

 

[Baggywrinkle]

Back in the 70s/80s 28ft was a family cruiser .... all the families we cruised with were in boats ranging from 24-30 ft .... anything over 40ft was a superyacht .... reserved for the very well heeled. Princess Anne had a Rustler 36 in Ardfern if I remember rightly and a Princess 32 was as big as a house (I was a kid at the time though).

Today we have too much clutter.

... back then a 28ft boat without GPS was considered a capable world cruiser by pretty much all the sailing friends my parents knew, and Moodys had a reputation as floating caravans - I thought this was just envy though

 

[Refueler]

I can remember as a kid - the BBQ party at Fareham Sailing Club when a member bought a Centaur ... first boat over 25ft ...... boat was moored to the old army pontoon and all invited to go and have a look .....
We had a Snapdragon 23 Lift keel at the time and we cruised Solent 3 - 4 people .... and that Centaur was WOW !

Before the Snappie we had a Hilyard 19 ..... Mum, Dad and I sailed that girl all over the Solent. When Dad bought the Snappie ... it was in a harbour in East Anglia .. him and another thought nothing of sailing her round to Solent ...

 

[Refueler]

Perhaps there speaks someone who has never had a 28ft boat?
Just about all the costs apart from electronics will be cheaper than for a 32ft boat, berthing, running rigging, standing rigging, sails, antifouling, lifting out standing ashore etc.
Funny how on my boat I had room for 5 sails in addition to 3 in use, spare anchors, fenders, warps, inflatable dinghy, folding bicycle, food and water for over a month, spare parts for engine, winches, pumps, stove, heads, rigging, tools, clothes oh and yes a SUP to although admittedly an inflatable one. You know I just don't know how I managed

I had a measuring event with my 25ft Sunrider .... I had been paying 26ft rates in Langstone and one day I realised the error..... boat was independently measured and declared under 26ft ... immediate significant drop in fees.

 

[johnalison]

Perhaps there speaks someone who has never had a 28ft boat?
Just about all the costs apart from electronics will be cheaper than for a 32ft boat, berthing, running rigging, standing rigging, sails, antifouling, lifting out standing ashore etc.
Funny how on my boat I had room for 5 sails in addition to 3 in use, spare anchors, fenders, warps, inflatable dinghy, folding bicycle, food and water for over a month, spare parts for engine, winches, pumps, stove, heads, rigging, tools, clothes oh and yes a SUP to although admittedly an inflatable one. You know I just don't know how I managed

We bought a Sadler 29 at about the same time as our closest sailing friends bought a 32. Although the 32 was better able to cope with heavy weather sailing, in other ways it was much less handy, and everything on board seemed to involve more effort and cost. Much of the extra length was in the 32’s narrow stern, so the extra accommodation was chiefly in the beam. The saloons were broadly similar though the 32 had a proper galley. The forepeak in the 29 was actually better and had near standing room. For the sailing we did at the time, weekends and a 2-3 wk summer cruise, our 29, actually 28’ 6”ish was the better option.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

We bought a Sadler 29 at about the same time as our closest sailing friends bought a 32. Although the 32 was better able to cope with heavy weather sailing, in other ways it was much less handy, and everything on board seemed to involve more effort and cost. Much of the extra length was in the 32’s narrow stern, so the extra accommodation was chiefly in the beam. The saloons were broadly similar though the 32 had a proper galley. The forepeak in the 29 was actually better and had near standing room. For the sailing we did at the time, weekends and a 2-3 wk summer cruise, our 29, actually 28’ 6”ish was the better option.

Theres one just down the pontoon from us. A fine cruising boat for 2 I’d have thought. I have never sailed one, but they seem to go at least as well as one could expect.

 

[ridgy]

Perhaps there speaks someone who has never had a 28ft boat?
Just about all the costs apart from electronics will be cheaper than for a 32ft boat, berthing, running rigging, standing rigging, sails, antifouling, lifting out standing ashore etc.
Funny how on my boat I had room for 5 sails in addition to 3 in use, spare anchors, fenders, warps, inflatable dinghy, folding bicycle, food and water for over a month, spare parts for engine, winches, pumps, stove, heads, rigging, tools, clothes oh and yes a SUP to although admittedly an inflatable one. You know I just don't know how I managed

I've had boats at 22, 29, and now 32 feet. Plus friends with everything in between and bigger.

Of course those items will be a bit more expensive but not by much especially amortised over the item lifetime. In the context of a couple giving up work for an extended period, living at anchor in the Caribbean, the extra cost is neither here nor there compared to the extra utility and comfort. In any case if you buy well, the previous owner has already paid most of it for you. I'm sure you did shoehorn all that stuff in however the OP want to go long distance cruising and there are various more suitable boats and better equipped well within budget. There is no practical difference in sailing 28 feet or 32 feet.

 

[steveeasy]

Well lots of suggestions. All will provide lots of fun. A Twister with a wooden top will look fabulous and enough room for Two but no gin palace. Pretty simple to maintain and built well. Your learn everything with one of these. Good headroom.

Good platform to start from and when you upgrade to a lump of GRP, your realise just how nice they are too the eye.
Despite what most people think, size is not everything.

Steveeasy

 

[obmij]

Hey Andy,

Like others on here I would strongly advise that you do not get a project boat in any shape or form. I have lost count of the amount of commercial sailors who have their own, never to be completed project on the side. On the surface it makes sense - you're competent, experienced and at ease with boat systems and of course all labour is for free as it is you doing the work. It rarely works out that way. If I want to piss off a deckhand I ask them how their boat is getting on..

I would say that for your purposes and budget, even planning to replace sails and rigging at the outset is not a good use of cash. You wont get it back. If you buy where this isn't required you will save money even if you spend more initially. Also - how much do you value your time? You've mentioned you are doing this before you start a family. Don't waste that time in a boatyard..

Where are you planning on sailing? If in the UK then buy here of course but if you're planning to head down to the Med then buy there. You will get a newer and more appropriate boat for less money. As a quick example there is a Bene 331 for sale in Greece for 30K. Well equipped, newish sails and seacocks and apparently ready to sail away. Bigger than you are planning for but if you are living onboard then it's really not that big at all. Also easy to sell when your time out is finished.

Plenty of others out there like it.

Have a blast whatever you do.

 

[Refueler]

It always gets me that people jump on this "replace sails .. rigging ... engine etc" .... when a little bit of chat with seller can be valuable in this ... sitting with beer each - chats about where and when did you sail the boat to ... in conversation form - not interrogation - so often reveals so much.

If the seller has been comfortable crossing Channel, doing distance - then odds on gear is good for a while .. then you can decide later if you want to start replacing .. especially that older small to medium boats were often overengineered on stays etc.

BUT avoid project boats .... too many laying around after dreams of what they could be abandoned ...