A book I’d like to read, some roid rage, an execution, and in the “has it really come to this?” department…
One issue everyone who lives aboard or does extensive cruising is that hardly anyone designs or builds sailboats for those purposes. So, we all have to adapt boats designed for racing, day sails, and weekenders to something more appropriate.
Face it, it’s just part and parcel of the process and can even be an outlet for your creativity. Or to be honest, a frustrating insanity-induced hellscape.
Choose the one you’d prefer…
That being the case, I’ll point out that lots of folks manage to cruise classic plastic production boats to faraway places in relative comfort. Even more impressive is that a lot of them adapt their boats on the fly with great success. In my experience, folks who do a major refit before they cruise with the goal of rebuilding their boat into an ideal cruising platform without the advantage of hindsight are, for want of a better word, not happy campers. Adapting to needs rather than wishes is my preferred method.
Sure, nobody should leave the dock without some basic running systems and needful seaworthiness but perfection isn’t going to happen. Deal with it.
No matter what the youtube folks say…
Last night, I spent time thinking about “So It Goes” our old CAL 34 and how I should have done things as opposed to the what I did. Hindsight is a wonderful thing albeit sometimes embarrassing. We all have our days of shame now don’t we?
More on the subject soon come.
I dunno……. i remember the Vancouver 27/28 and Victoria 26/30 as “load up and go” plastic boats off the shelf. Not that i could afford them at the time, but a Vancouver 28 today is pretty much a bargain, but so is a Contessa 32 or any of the “unsinkable” Sadler range.
The only new plastic boat (that im aware of) that seems to have a lot of thought go into it is the Sirius range, 35 and 40ft. Will never be in my budget.