Is the 28foot sloop, forty year old, big and safe enough for ofshore cruising

[asteroscop]

Hi All:

Is the 28foot sloop, forty year old, G.R.P Construction big and safe enough for ofshore cruising.

Some people think that the 28-foot is too small with too little free board and internal space to cruize offshore and be confortable and safe to live abroad.

I'm direct to this size due of budget reason.

Brgds, KR

[dana-tenacity]

Lots of people have cruised offshore on 28' boats or less. The Vancouver 27 springs to mind, some of Lyle Hess' boats ( not my choice but no doubting theyt have been there), H28's. Length is less important than strength and goos design, and the most important thing is what's between the sailors ears.

[sneuman]

i sailed a 28ft GRP, low-freeboard sloop straight through a full-on typhoon in the South China Sea and I'm typing this right now. What does that tell you?

[dana-tenacity]

Can you tell I was typing in the dark?

[little boat]

donnalange.com

[TaoJones]

. . . check out Atom Voyages | Voyaging Around the World on the Sailboat Atom with James and Mei

James Baldwin, the sailor whose website that is, sailed his 28' Pearson Triton around the world twice, the second time after removing its Atomic 4 to increase the vessel's stowage capacity.

TaoJones

[geoffpetersson]

Go for it Mate

Donna Lange, Pat Henry, Tristan Jones, The Pardeys. I would suggest you read the Pardeys books to start.
OTOH, are you tallking single handed, or a couple? I still believe a 28 footer is the ideal size for even a couple to cruise, if you intend to make allot of sea miles. Cheap to maintain, easy to sail, but, if you intend to do coastal stuff, and spend lots of time on the hook in the carrib, or Mexico, with family on board, I would go with something a bit bigger.
Keep in mind, you can cruise cheap on a bigger boat, but when you get into weather, with a short handed crew, more boat is not necessarily better.
sneuman's experience would likely not have had the same result on a 40 foot boat.

[Inthewind]

For offshore cruising in a 28 footer, no problem. Before crossing oceans, I would get used to the boat in extreme weather conditions and build the confidence in yourself and the vessel. People have sailed across oceans in much less.

[Gulfcoastbreeze]

Whoaa...yes, it can be done, and has been done. But as dana-tenacity said, the skipper is the most important factor! I once read a piece by a crewmember aboard a 72' Nordhavn trawler headed across the pacific who said, "noboody in their right mind would consider crossing the Pacific in a boat so small as this". That was a purpose-built passagemaker with 12+ feet of freeboard!

GCB

[rtbates]

There's a Cape Dory 25D cruising the Pacific. Singlehanded. Just remember that the length of the vessel is NOT what makes a vessel sea worthy or not. Nor is the amount of interior space or the size of the berths. Read John Vigor's book "20 Small Sailboats to Take You Anywhere".
Amazon.com: Twenty Small Sailboats to Take You Anywhere: Books: John Vigor

[Sailormann]

i sailed a 28ft GRP, low-freeboard sloop straight through a full-on typhoon in the South China Sea and I'm typing this right now. What does that tell you?

...tells me that it's time you invest in a weatherfax !

[sneuman]

ah, but weatherfax wouldn't have made a difference. the low that turned into a typhoon looked like any other until it was too late!

[Terra Nova]

Originally Posted by asteroscop

Hi All:

Is the 28foot sloop, forty year old, G.R.P Construction big and safe enough for ofshore cruising.

Some people think that the 28-foot is too small with too little free board and internal space to cruize offshore and be confortable and safe to live abroad.

I'm direct to this size due of budget reason.

Brgds, KR

Yo,

If you are talking about a boat in the same class as Lyle Hess' 28' Bristol Channel Cutter, no problem.

best, andy

[venturing seagull]

Hi ..... It seems that most agree that size is not as important as experience! I agree!

In the UK a 27 footer was for years considered to be the ideal size of cruising boat .... for a family. Down here in the Caribbean there are several boats of this size cruising quiet happily, although the families tend to go for the 36' + nowadays.

You will find sail handling sooooo much easier on a 27'er than a 36'. Of course it costs much less to look after too. I suggest that cost is proportional to Length squared ..... and so's the weight of the sails. You should also be able to handle the anchor by hand, even in 35 knots - I can do it on a 36 footer too, but not without a lot of grunting.

Be careful in your choice of design. There's a lot of boats only really capable of inshore and coastal service at that length (there's a fair few at 40' too that I wouldn't want to do a trans-Atlantic in either). I'm not that well informed on USA boats ..... but in the UK Nicholson's, She's and Contessa's would be my preference at this size ..... but some are getting a little long in the tooth now.

The problem with lighter boats is that they can get stopped by short choppy seas. They have to take a lot of punishment ... and so does the crew. Displacement is important for a comfortable ride.

Having said the above, I single-hand most of the time and a 50 footer wouldn't bother me too much ...... until I take her into a marina!

Good hunting!