Is there such a thing as too much?

[Hoodsail]

Personally, that would be a yes....you have more on the 40 footer than i have in my house (covet the wine cooler tho)....but good news is as you load on more and more equipment you lower your water line and maybe increasing your overall hull speed...with all of this "stuff" you will truly be a displacement vessel.

[wrwakefield]

Forget for a minute that you are discussing what is on someone's boat, and ask yourself the same questions about your home...

What would you be willing to do without in your full time abode? City water and power? Dishwasher? Clothes washer/dryer? [Surely laundromats are readily accessible...] Refrigerator/freezer [sans icemaker?] Pressurized water? Hot water? Etc... [I'm ignoring personal choices for counter top materials, etc...]

The things we may take for granted in our homes may also be taken for granted by some in their floating homes... And that is all relative... Some boaters feel that pressure water is unnecessary. Likewise for hot water... I think we just come to terms with what we have available... [I know I have on the 5 boats I've owned over the years...]

I suspect some of the items listed in the original post [icemaker, wine cooler, trash compactor, etc.] are likely readily available [i.e., relatively cheap] counter top/under counter consumer products, so I discount them in this discussion.

RE: Requiring more maintenance? You bet; more working parts means proportional increases in repair/ maintenance time and cost. But how much really? How often have you had to work on the dishwasher in your home? Refrigerator? Washer/dryer? Trash compactor? [If often, then it is probably time for a new unit or a different brand... Like everything else in our consumer society...]

What is too much on a boat is an individual question. Much may depend upon whether the boat is a full time abode, a weekend retreat, a charter business [or floating B&B] or?

Our boat is our full time home, and it takes us everywhere we go. None of our appliances keep us at the dock nor require extraneous maintainance. To the contrary; they allow us to leave the dock [and 'civilization'] for considerable periods of time while accommodating our preferred lifestyle...

Our goal is to visit remote areas for as long as possible between stops in populated areas for services and supplies. That means we need to determine what our limitiing factors are: Fuel, water, food, trash, laundry, etc. We can go about 4 months comfortably, and then trash becomes the primary limiting factor. [We've been considering a trash compactor to ameliorate this...] Then groceries [5-6 months]. Then fuel. [Depending upon distances traveled under power (~1200 mile cruising range), heat, generator runtime, etc...]

For us, the boat and appliances that enable us this freedom [while maintaining an approximation of the lifestyle we became accustomed to over the years] are not luxeries; they are necessities... [e.g., watermaker; pressure hot water, heat and A/C; generator; large fuel capacity; washer/dryer; etc.] That said, it does not mean we cannot continue our journey without any one or all of them...

Everyone has their own standards, needs, and requirements, and all those morph as our use cases change... Each of us make constant material choices [acquire, repair, jetison, etc.] which often change with experience, needs, and time...

On thing has become clear to me over time: it is difficult to go backwards... 'luxuries' become necessities; it is a matter of what we think is a luxury... [e.g., Ice cream...]

Cheers! Bill

[daletournier]

It's a personal thing. If it all fits and you enjoy the usage you get out of the stuff, then why not?

I started on a Wharram tiki, I understand boat camping and now enjoy the relative luxury of more comfort. Ice in your drink at the end of the day is nice, hot showers when it's cold are very nice, decent cappacino the morning?

What's that saying "any fool can do uncomfortable on a boat it's takes real skill to do comfortable".

[OS2Dude]

By definition, nothing is 'TOO MUCH' until it is.... ;P

[Island Time O25]

All this kinda defeats the original call of sailing - to get away from hustle and bustle of the land bound life.

As laughable as Taxachusetts residents escaping into tax free NH only to end up clamoring for more lib programs and new/higher taxes there. Oh, human folly...

[OldManMirage]

I personally would get - and have gotten - as much boat as I can afford.

If I could afford a 40 footer - or 50 or 60 or whatever - then I would get one.

And I would load with as many creature comforts as I afford to maintain. Generator and AC ? Absolutely. Watermaker ? Heck yeah ! Clothes Washer ? Sure if I had room and water to feed it. I might pass on the dishwasher as I don't always use the one at home, so maybe - maybe - I could live without it. But if I had the money ? Why not ?

But I don't, so I won't. And I won't waste time worrying about it or anyone who does have it. I'll just go sail what I got where I can.

Carpe Diem !!

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by wallythacker

40 foot ketch

Generator, washer/dryer combo, dishwasher, icemaker, trash compactor, wine cooler, large freezer, all granite countertops in galley and vanity sinks. AC/reverse heat, corian in head, italian marble in head and shower.

I must admit it all looked really nice and was well integrated but for everyday life aboard a boat is it overkill?

Granite, Corian and Italian marble? How much displacement does this 40'er have?

[laika]

You can do a lot more with a lot less when you're younger. I like what wrwakefield said.. luxuries become necessities and its hard to go backwards! Seems true both of weird boat people generally and the course of human civilization writ large.

I don't have a ton of luxuries, but I've met boats out there who stared at my watermaker like I was a bourgeois a**hole Meanwhile, I'd like to think I happily accept the choices others make when they don't effect me personally. Telling other's how they should to do it is akin to trying to fashion police the ocean.

[Ericson38]

"Generator, washer/dryer combo, dishwasher, icemaker, trash compactor, wine cooler, large freezer, all granite countertops in galley and vanity sinks. AC/reverse heat, corian in head, italian marble in head and shower. "

Generator, frige(s), AC, autopilot, VHF, SSB, electric windlass, bow thruster, autoprop, watermaker, instruments, GPS chartplotter, radar, AIS, dink-motor, liferaft. Left off dink davits, solar panels, wind vane, drougue, spinnaker, and such, all still important.

Your list sounds like dockside living focused.

[Mike OReilly]

It’s not a question of what is too much. The issue, for me, would be maintenance and repair. All things need maintenance, and all things break. The more doodads you have, the more time and money you will spend maintaining and repairing them. If you are capable of doing the work yourself, or have deep enough pockets to pay someone to do it all, then no problem. But most cruisers I’ve met have their limits (in terms of skills and money).

It’s why I try and match my equipment to my ability to maintain and repair it. Since my skills are few, and my finances are limited, this means either highly reliable stuff (like GPS or VHF radios), or stuff I can figure out and fix (like my windvane, or manual windlass, or simple water system, etc.)

The other thing to consider is that once you’ve grown accustomed to having all the luxury items, they can and will tie you down when they stop working. I’ve seen quite a bit of this already in my short cruising life; people with all sorts of labour-saving tools who get stuck at the dock when something breaks — and like I say, things ALWAYS break eventually.

Throw enough money at the problem and it can often be solved, but for those who want to travel slightly off the beaten path, sometimes no amount of money will help.

[ferrailleur]

Originally Posted by wallythacker

40 foot ketch

Generator, washer/dryer combo, dishwasher, icemaker, trash compactor, wine cooler, large freezer, all granite countertops in galley and vanity sinks. AC/reverse heat, corian in head, italian marble in head and shower.

I must admit it all looked really nice and was well integrated but for everyday life aboard a boat is it overkill?

if you can afford it GO For IT!

[JPA Cate]

Good day, all,

There is also the issue of how one appears to folks who have less possessions than one does, or expects among peers.

If I had had a washing machine aboard, I would not have joined the ladies at the stream doing washing. IMO, it is a plus, for them to see us doing washing, to see we share the same work, as well as an opportunity for us women to get to know more of each other.

There are places we've been where having a toilet as part of the house is rare, where one uses a bucket to flush a communal toilet. We also have gas (or other fuel) cookers, a luxury for people who use wood and kneel on the hearth to cook.

Our boat is self-sufficient electrically. Some villages people have no lights at night, no gen-set for the village. No concept of how much electricity it takes for a washing machine vs. an electric light.

The OP could add our boat to the Bestevaer 49 and Hawk, we do not have a gen-set to maintain, either. And, unlike, the Bestevaer, we do not have a washing machine, and, we have only a simple refrigerator, NO ICE. It's a special treat for us when we can have a gin & tonic with ICE CUBES in it, and, we are content.

The decisions involved have all been towards simplicity. By choosing all the mod cons, the OP would never know what he would be missing.

Ann

[Bobel]

If you are a live-a-board and these are the niceties you want, then they are appropriate. They should match the function and quality of your boat. Whatever systems you have will at some point need repair. Plan on it.

[Bundyon]

Personally, I think good luck to them, if they have the resources to maintain all this gear good luck to them. But, yes , it must be a little cramped down there.

I spent 20 years on Oberon class diesel submarines, unless we were doing a short transit on the surface, there was no showers, even if we were on Patrol for 8 weeks, the only person to shower was the Chef. Sure we could have a bird bath, clean our teeth etc. A dishwasher? That was the crew, you use it, you clean it and stow it. Washing, no washing machines onboard, although we have cut the lid of a 20 litre drum a few times, splashed a little water in, some Gamasol D, whatever item of clothing and gone to town on it with a Mop handle. Everyone smelt the same, everyone had diesel soaked into the pores of their skin, which btw could take up to two weeks to exit the skin once ashore and showering everyday. You learnt quickly to make do with what you had.
I've been a civvy now for 25 years, I am on a military pension and suffer from PTSD. I bought a boat on the Hard nearly 3 years ago, I finally got enough money and a couple of mates together and travelled the thousand Kilometres to where it is and got stuck into it. New paint, hull Vv's etc. am now working on the systems. The boat had a new twin tub washing machine onboard but not plumbed up, it can stay! I have a new/old Fresh water maker, I will install it and have all the showers I want, the dishwasher will be me, I would love an Ice maker, but fixing up my 'fridge's are more important.
I guess what I am trying to say is; make do with what your happy with & work with what you have. I hope to splash s/v Two Dogs (yduask!) sometime this coming August. Then sail/motor it back down the coast to my home port of Coffs Harbour where I will live on it & continue to work on it so I can cast off the lines and enjoy it, with whatever creature comforts I have or don't have.
We will be taking Veterans & E.M.S. Personnel suffering from PTSD (but not limited too) out to sea for a day on a wellness program once this boat is up to standard. (Vessel is a Roberts Mauritius 45 in Fibreglass)

[GrowleyMonster]

I simply HAVE to have my morning cappuccino and I am pretty far down the economic food chain from the average member here, so a superautomatic espresso machine is right up there with a motor, in importance. I agree on the ice machine. I will be getting one for my little boat, soon. Dishwasher? I have a really nice one that even calls me "Honey". Granite countertops? Formica, for me. Marble in the head and shower? I don't have that, though I do have a head and shower, just no marble in it. A homer bucket and a toilet plunger make a great washer, when there are no laundromats around and I am too far from GF's house to use her machines. Lifelines make a great clothes dryer. It's all about what you can afford and what you can't live without, and we are all different, there. Sure, you can shoehorn all that stuff into a 40' boat. If you "need" it and can afford it, go for it.