What Size Sailboat Can Be Safely Operated by a Solo Sailor ?

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by slug

When you add 2 or 3 thousand pounds of cruising “ stuff “ to a small yacht it becomes overloaded

Boats are designed to be seaworthy when sailing at their designed displacement

What the hell do you call 'Cruising Stuff' that adds up to that kind of weight.???
Two of us lived on a Westerly Longbow full time doing the Atlantic coast of Europe (UK and Sth) then into and around the Med.
Carried clothes, tools for repairs for engines, sails etc and came nowhere near that.. doubt if it came to 1 ton including fueled and watered up.
Did my own engine repairs, sail repairs, running rigging as needed.
Fair enough (maybe) if your going way out to the boonies for a few years but most do not.

[MicHughV]

you forgot about the beer....24 cases is around 430 lbs ( I wouldn't dream of leaving with anything less)....add in rum, wine, etc....and you'll be up to 500 lbs...and I havn't even started.....heck my tool bag must weigh 200 lbs.......getting close to 1,000 lbs here and I havn't even put a box of crackers on the boat yet....

[wingssail]

Originally Posted by Waltermorl

This sailboat will also be a live aboard and the operator will be a novice. Creeping up to the 61 mark I am planning on dumping the house when I retire and picking up a sailboat to live on. On a typical sailboat what extras would need to be done to convert it to a solo operated sailboat? So much to learn, so much to learn. I think my first trip will be to the central east coast to live out a winter season on the water. NC or MD maybe just gotta get away from Fla.

Walter

Walter, you admit to being a novice, your questions reinforce this.

So, in the first place, rather than depend on some answers in this forum (and choose which one), you need, NEED, to get some basic boat experience.

The answers here, before mine, are terrific. So much good advice, yet so much contrary.

How will you know how active you can be on a boat? How can you tell if you're fit enough? Then, how do you know if you can fix all the myriad of things which will go wrong?

Sure some things are basic: most 61 year old's will not want to haul the anchor and chain on a 45 foot boat , especially nowadays when we all want the biggest anchor which can be delivered to our boat, so an electric windlass is pretty much a necessity, But hey, maybe you are a body builder with a strong lower back.

And sail handling can be tough, and electric winches are not always available, but if you have big regular winches and low friction leads, so maybe that it not a deal breaker either.

But the bottom line is, get out on boats and get sailing, lots of sailing. REALLY LOTS OF SAILING. Then you can answer the question yourself.

If you just bull full speed ahead knowing nothing except what you read on this forum, you'll be off of that boat in sort time, and even if you last, you won't be looking back at a lot of wonderful sailing trips you're having.

[El Pinguino]

I see that Walter - the OP - is now rising 70 if not already there.... I wonder what he ended up buying?

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

A lot is being said here about how big a boat one could singlehand....but little is said about maintaining a boat and all the bits and pieces that make it all work. As the size of the boat increases, the maintenance and upkeep follows on a steep upward curve...maintaining a 60' boat is not twice the effort of a 30 footer, but more likely 10 times the effort and cost.....

This is not correct. As others have said, complexity goes up not as a continuum, but in jumps. Likewise with maintenance cost. The systems of the average 60 foot cruising boat are pretty much the same as the systems of the average 40 foot cruising boat -- two toilets, one or two black water tanks, one or two fresh water tanks, one fresh water pump, two shower pumps, one gas system, one or two sets of furlers, 8 to 10 winches, one main engine, one generator, one electric windlass, etc etc. Some of the gear may be larger, so will be more expensive to acquire, but will not cost much more to maintain or repair. To service a 150hp four cylinder diesel costs pretty much the same as servicing a 50hp four cylinder diesel, for example.


Some costs will go up with tonnage -- bottom paint, sails, running rigging, say. So my 54' boat which weighs about twice the average modern 40 foot boat, will cost twice as much in bottom paint and sails. But haulouts and docking don't cost even twice. Docking is mostly a linear function of length, so 1.3x, haulouts vary, but I've never seen them be more expensive than just a linear function of length.



So where do you get 10x? This is just not right.


People should should buy whatever they want and like and/or need. There are pluses and minuses to any given choice of size of boat just like everything else. But some people with smaller boats distort reality in order, it seems to me, to rationalize their own choice. This does no service to people who are trying to make a choice themselves.



There are plenty of rational reasons to choose a smaller boat -- the big one is a smaller boat is of course cheaper to acquire, but also finding a mooring may be easier, getting into particular harbors, draft, maybe others. One might not need a bigger boat if one does not go far afield and/or never has a lot of people on board. But if you sail long distances, spend long periods on board, sail much in bad weather, and/or have larger groups of people on board, then larger boats have big advantages. For the kind of sailing I do, I would actually like a bit larger boat than what I have. The accomodation space is more or less OK, but I have far too little storage and engineering space than I need. If I could have whatever I wanted, I'd like something around 65' with similar accomodation to what I have now, maybe not greatly increased tonnage, but with greatly increased deck storage, proper sail locker, real walk-in engine room, workshop, all kinds of other storage.


Some people cruise happily on 40 foot boats, but for more than weekends or short cruises, I would find that really difficult. I spent decades cruising a 37 foot boat with very small accomodation (and proportionately better deck storage), just a v berth and a salon settee which slid out to make a single bunk, no quarter berths. I would not want to spend whole summers on that boat, like I do on my present boat, and even 3 people started to be pretty cramped. How people cruise long distance and long term on 30' boats, I have no idea. I guess it's possible to adapt. YMMV.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

So where do you get 10x? This is just not right.

It is one of those things that boaters "just know".

[slug]

With s big boat you might be spending 10 thousand a year on crew simply to move the boat

A small boat may spend zero

[MicHughV]

As I pointed out to the OP...it's his money...he can buy whatever he wants...and doesn't have to listen or believe anyone on this thread. At the end of the day, his own experiences are going to dictate the wisdom of his choice.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by slug

With s big boat you might be spending 10 thousand a year on crew simply to move the boat

A small boat may spend zero

How "big" are you talking about, so that you spend money moving it because of its size (as opposed to -- you just don't want to do it yourself, which is not size dependent)? Maybe a 100 footer?



In 11 years, I've never spent a cent on having my 54' boat moved, although I usually spend summers and winters in places separated by 1500 miles or more. I single hand my boat with ease, much easier than a smaller boat because it's so much easier to move around on the much more stable platform. But there's plenty of room for a gang of friends to join me, which is the way I usually do it.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

As I pointed out to the OP...it's his money...he can buy whatever he wants...and doesn't have to listen or believe anyone on this thread. At the end of the day, his own experiences are going to dictate the wisdom of his choice.

Certainly, but WE should be careful to give correct information.

[Adelie]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Certainly, but WE should be careful to give correct information.

Unfortunately most of what people have is opinions not information. So most of what gets shared here is opinions. Problem is that most people think a lot of their opinions are info and share it as such.

So for the reader the challenge is to recognize what is opinion and then evaluate how trustworthy the holder of that opinion is. And there are usually caveats that go with those facts and opinions that are unspoken.

Ok enough metaphysical pontificating.

[MicHughV]

yah, it's rare to find two people on any thread agreeing with anything...

but, I've been afloat now for 40 years, more or less, and my "opinion" is based on what I've seen, heard and experienced.

I'm not out to prove I'm right, or how smart I am, or otherwise score any points.

my "opinion" may not jive with others.....and I don't much care, but will stand by my opinion...that one should really think of differences between a 30' and 60' boat in displacement terms rather than pure LOA.

regardless of what I think, I am not the one looking to buy a 60' boat and if that is what the OP desires...go for it !

[MicHughV]

just for giggles I looked up some random used boat prices...

Catalina 310 $59,500
Beneteau 323 $59,000

Beneteau Oceanus 60 $575,000
Little Harbor 63 $829,000

simple math shows while double the length 10 times the price...

you pay by the pound...simple as that...

yes, I know, you can probably find examples to suit any theory...but displacement is a better comparison to compare boats than LOA