Wife loves boats but hates sailing

Sticky Fingers

Sticky Fingers

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We bought a new yacht last year, my toy for sure but we’d enjoyed lots of sailing holidays. The reality now dawns is after that my lovely wife loves the whole boating thing but hates actually sailing so we’re thinking of swapping to power.

Question is, what. Will have to be used I can’t afford a new one that meets my needs. About 40-45’. Budget is max 200k. Coastal UK and cross channel usage. Space and comfort for two, outdoor lounging space, plus occasional guests the priority. Probably not full displacement so a semi D maybe like the Elling E3.

Ideas and commiserations welcome, thank you.
 
As an ex owner of a Trader 42 I can confirm that it is a great boat for a couple. The aft cabin is enormous and unlike the Elling the saloon is high in the boat with great outside views. Super sea boat that will not let you down. Cummins engines are reliable and efficient and all will have most of the add ons that many others regard as optional extras. Might be a bit of a step to find one advertised within your budget but real selling prices are a different matter.
 
IDAMAY said:
As an ex owner of a Trader 42 I can confirm that it is a great boat for a couple. The aft cabin is enormous and unlike the Elling the saloon is high in the boat with great outside views. Super sea boat that will not let you down. Cummins engines are reliable and efficient and all will have most of the add ons that many others regard as optional extras. Might be a bit of a step to find one advertised within your budget but real selling prices are a different matter.
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I was thinking of Ocean Star in my response Richard. Lovely couple boat as you say and built very well I believe....
 
Graham,

I would take your Bavaria back to the dealer and see what he can do as a trade against a power boat probably from Bavaria that they will have on their books as a stock boat. Last year we went from sail to power and now have a Bavaria 37 HT that we love.

Truth tell my wife stuck out sailing for me, but finally said enough is enough.

With Southampton and Cannes boat shows just around the corner, someone will be doing a deal/trade.
 
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I d pin down why she hates sailing...is a pretty slow mobo much of an improvement? Main point IMHO of a POWER boat is that you don't spend hours and hours in a small space at sea,but get to your destination, and enjoy.
Not for all I know, but given your situation I think I would like to be a bit more sure,second purchase!
Solent to Yarmouth in a slow boat... a few hours.. Solent to CIs in a fast boat... a few hours....not sure what your wife is looking for !
 
how far do you typically want to go annually (mileage), how fast do you want to get there?
how long is Mrs Scala happy out at sea and staying on board?

If it was up to me I would buy a 50' Halberg Rassey and be halfway to Hawaii by now.
Mrs A is happy for @ 3 - 4 hours cruising as long as the shops are open when we arrive, and no more than 4 nights in a row aboard.
I keep mentioning Fleming but its not happening, despite red soled shoes- any suggestions short of divorce?
 
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Scala said:
We bought a new yacht last year, my toy for sure but we’d enjoyed lots of sailing holidays. The reality now dawns is after that my lovely wife loves the whole boating thing but hates actually sailing so we’re thinking of swapping to power.

Question is, what. Will have to be used I can’t afford a new one that meets my needs. About 40-45’. Budget is max 200k. Coastal UK and cross channel usage. Space and comfort for two, outdoor lounging space, plus occasional guests the priority. Probably not full displacement so a semi D maybe like the Elling E3.

Ideas and commiserations welcome, thank you.
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Cheaper to change wife.
 
To answer the various questions, she hates heeling. Being at the mercy of wind. Having lots of string . Going the wrong way to go somewhere. Deep draft. Constantly adjusting things, not that she does any of that stuff...!

That said she's fine with taking time to get places.

We've done 60 mile passages, and 10 mile ones, both ok.

The ask is about the predictability of power, I think.
 
Nigelpickin said:
Not mine, I’ve spent a fortune in upgrades and enhancements - I sometimes sit in the marina looking at newer models but the cost to change would be huge and the current one knows exactly how I like my tea ;)
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FPMSL, that made me laugh. :eek::D;):encouragement::cool:
 
Other "requirements" are emerging...

Not wants... a project at all. Has to be retail perfect. Not a cat. Not a flybridge.


Wants... bit of style. Easy to park, haha like any boat.... .Big cockpit or open seating area. Island berth. 2 bathrooms. Stable at sea so no rock and roll Nelson hulls etc.
 
Pretty much all D and SD boats will roll in beam seas unless fitted with stabilisers. Very few, if any, boats around the 40 foot mark will have stabilisers as OE and retrofit is likely to break your budget pretty quickly. We part solved the problem with the Trader 42 by upping the speed in beam conditions. This gave extra dynamic stability at the cost of greatly increased fuel consumption. Anywhere near max speed the fuel consumption instrumentation got quite frightening!

We finally solved the problem by changing to the Trader 54 you see in the avatar. She is fitted with ABT Trac stabilisers and they are amazingly effective and mean we cruise around 8 kts almost all the time at reasonable fuel consumption levels and with no heel and almost never roll.
 
gjgm said:
I d pin down why she hates sailing...is a pretty slow mobo much of an improvement? Main point IMHO of a POWER boat is that you don't spend hours and hours in a small space at sea,but get to your destination, and enjoy.
Not for all I know, but given your situation I think I would like to be a bit more sure,second purchase!
Solent to Yarmouth in a slow boat... a few hours.. Solent to CIs in a fast boat... a few hours....not sure what your wife is looking for !
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+1

Also depends on your cruising area. A mobo underway in any kind of sea is gives nowhere near as comfy a ride as a yacht under sail. She might suffer a degree of sea sickness below in a mobo rolling and pitching on all three axis instead of the stability canvas gives to the gentler motion of a yacht. Not a problem for mobo in very settled weather but a in one way a yacht gives a much wider weather window for passage making and refuelling obviously less of an issue (i.e. there will be conditions you'd be happy to make a passage under sail that you might not wish to undertake on a mobo). If you do go mobo you need on occasion to be able to cruise on the plane to make the passage motion more comfy for pax
 
Interestingly SWMBO bucks the trend on here. Having sold our mobo last year and having done a bit of sailing on charters over the years she is really quite keen on a yacht.... in the Med. Actually wants to do more on passage and thinks that a mobo is getting a bit boring despite shorter passage times. She actually enjoys sailing!

That said, this is probably something down the road when we retire and can spend time in the Med so in the meantime we have, today, agreed a deal on a sports cruiser! :)
 
Scala said:
Other "requirements" are emerging...

Not wants... a project at all. Has to be retail perfect. Not a cat. Not a flybridge.


Wants... bit of style. Easy to park, haha like any boat.... .Big cockpit or open seating area. Island berth. 2 bathrooms. Stable at sea so no rock and roll Nelson hulls etc.
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Sounds like you are going to end up with a sports cruiser. Go to SIBS or Cannes and look at the 12-14m range from all the big builders and you will be surprised with the amount of space and luxury you will get.

We went from a 10m sail boat to a 12 m sports cruiser and have so much more usable space it is still amazing.

Happy to discuss via the phone if you want some more on the path we followed.
 
're passage making..I am not sure it doesn't even out...a mobo can wait for suitable conditions as the passage takes less time and a yacht is rather more stuck with it.
A faster mobo also opens your options more in one way...You can be in the West county in some hours for example.
Personally, coastal passages are ok, open sea is deadly dull IMHO..15 hours of that to get anywhere?Not for me!
 
We are doing SIBS for sure. I get the point about passage speeds especially for a planing boat, and we’ve no interest in long legs, so that’s ok I think. Sports cruiser may be better options than semi D if the accommodation is there, we’ll take a good look at some examples I think.
 
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