a downside or three…

A cartoon making sense, Sail Delmarva is on a roll, and in the “WTF am I going to do without Tiny Desk Concerts?” department…

It has been pointed out to me many times that the downside of a small boat is that they’re small. The group think being bigger is always better… right? Well, that brings up the question that if bigger is always better, then a bigger debt is better than a smaller one? I’ll let you think about that for a bit…

Minimalism

I’ll admit a 27-foot cruising boat has a few issues regarding size. First, you have to limit the amount of stuff you can have. Yep, no room for six guitars, a fashionable wardrobe/shoe collection, and the consumerist crap you have to have but mostly won’t ever use.

Sounds kind of minimalist, does it not?

For sure, the appeal of cruising a small boat is very much a minimalist thing. The hard part is you have to embrace a needful existence of less is more.

That said, there are some things where more is a good thing. Water, for instance. Crossing oceans, one needs to carry a certain amount of water, and most 27-foot boats do not have a lot of water storage in their design brief. Of course, lots of cruisers have made some pretty impressive voyages with a less-than-you’d-prefer water supply.

Today, where watermakers and huge water tanks are the norm, a lot of folks feel that 10-minute long showers mid-Atlantic are required. Something that’s not a 27-foot boat thing.

Which brings us back to the need/want conundrum. Or, maybe it’s the want/want conundrum. There are a lot of things I happen to want but manage to live without. Then there are things that I want almost to the point of need. The fact is anything you do is still going to be a compromise.

But hey, whatever works for you… right?

The Harlé designed Fantasia

One boat that works for me is the Harlé designed Fantasia.

To say I lusted for the shoal draft centerboard version of this boat would be something of a gross understatement. I loved this design. The replacement for the Sangria/Sangria NV made a really good boat great. Though I’ll admit, I mourned the loss of Harlé’s drink-based monikers.

You don’t see a lot of Fantasias on this side of the Atlantic. They do pop up from time to time and often overpriced. However, one can find some bargains. If I were serious about buying a Fantasia, I’d be looking in France where there are some real deals and it’s a buyer’s market.

I have written about Fantasia a lot over the years, so you may want to check those out if you’re interested.