Sleeping aboard whether on anchor or while trailering significant miles is one of the pleasures of my relationship with my vessel. The more time I spend on her, the more I appreciate how fortunate I am with the choices I made. I must admit, the ritual of preparing our morning coffee brings me true joy.
I downsized from a 39' catamaran to a 19' WWP 19 and the one thing which carried over was the need to sail to a quiet cove, a remote island, or an overnight sail with my sailing club which brought back the adventure, sleeping on my 19' potter. The one difference I actually benefited by was the lack of the high costs of maintenance. The best part was getting to the same location with just about the same hull speed, to spend the night while waking early at first light preparing coffee and preparing breakfast for my passengers. In fact for one of my good friends who never appreciated the motion of the ocean, we landed on an island with a sand beach I plowed the bow in to shore as and anchored secured and fast using the anchor with rode to circle a tree, keeping my boat and my friend calm all night long, as any tenter from a kayaker know, for my 19 with the board up, drew just six inches, once the tide drew in the shallows.
I had a dodger for some years and would rig a tarp in a variety of ways to make a tent, or just raise the dodger and let the lower half of me fend for itself in the open air, probably under a dew-proof cover. Then last year I got an enclosure that hooks up to the aft edge of the dodger to make a complete tent. I also got a real air mattress. Luxury. This is on a Core Sound 17.
I have two boats, a trailer sailer with a nice cabin and a sailing canoe. I love riding at anchor or in a berth at a marina with the cabin boat and I love sail camping ashore in the open boat.
As long as I’m on and/or near water I’m in my happy place.
I lived aboard my schooner for 5 years. People asked whether I got to feeling cramped. Not at all. Any time I came up on deck, there was the wonderful view from New Jersey to the World Trade Center. On a really clear day, it was possible to see individual windows in the Trade Center.
At last, something I have an opinion on....well, ok, you know. After fifty years of boating and a dozen boats of many sizes from El Toro to 32' I prefer a bunk 7' long and a minimum of 28" wide. Slept on shorter and narrower but talkin' comfort here. If a person put all the PFD's and sail bags in the cuddy of the Columbia 21 a person over six feet tall could sleep there in, ah, relative comfort. I lived aboard my boat Passage for about three and half years with said 7' bunks and also a filler board between bunks for athawarship sleeping. Kind of like camping with a hard tent at 4'8" of headroom but a wood stove for taking the edge off. I rejected a Potter 19 briefly owned for too much stuff crammed into too little space and too narrow of quarter berths and too high up vee berth. If I have to clamber in or shinny in, it ain't comfort nor.easy to check anchor with any frequency. For me, spending days aboard in marinas and backwater anchorages was the cat's pajamas. The Freedom 25, outboard model, had far and away the best interior layout of any other smaller boat I owned. Open, roomy, basic amenities but just right.
I sleep aboard for weeks at a time during a couple of longer trips each summer, and over a few weekends at other times. I would love to sleep aboard more if life's obligations permitted. I sleep better aboard than in my bed ashore!
I have two boats i sleep aboard. I voted other because of this. The Monty has a cabin, it sleeps 4. I can't imagine why 4 people would want to sleep on the cabin of a 17 foot boat, but she can.
My GP14 has also been slept aboard, but it requires a boom tent, sleeping mat, and the ability to do yoga to shimmy under the centre thwart. Surprisingly, I prefer sleeping on this boat instead on the Monty. It's like camping on the water.
I'm old now, but when I was cruising I regularly slept aboard my Bay Hen, my Sand Hen, my Bolger Red Zinger, my Rob Roy 23 and my Dana 24. Of course, I lived on a boat for 12 years. Of these boats, I think the best one for trailer sailing was the Rob Roy. If I were going around the world, it would be the Dana.
I only rarely stay out overnight now, with my wife getting older and my mother in law almost ancient, I'd rather be close to the flagpole. The Vega and the Potter 19 took me on longer trips fairly often, but we were all younger then. The AF4B is more likely to hop back on her trailer and go home for the night.
Why, isn't that the whole point of it? :) Had an MRI the other day; to help me get through it, found myself remembering sleeping aboard my diminutive Monty this past fall.
I cut away the starboard sink in order to create a Captains' bunk. This made it safer & easier to peek out the doorway to see if you have dragged anchor when there is no space inside the Avalon marina at Catalina Island. The builder of the WWP 19, Ken Lange, liked it so much, that he changed the Potter 19 and other new models to have the same comfort and extra seating space. The Potter 19 has plenty of space inside for 2 week trips.
I designed a folding camper top for my Sea Pearl that covers the full width of the deck, leaving drainage gutters on both sides. I fabbed the folding frame & sketched top, zippered front & rear openings with screens. An awning shop sewed it up. I try to use a Bahamian moor whenever possible & sheet the mizzen flat, (like sleeping in a wind tunnel)! It also works well on the trailer in cool weather.
I’m am surprised to see that more sailers sleep aboard than ashore even though a lot of the content of SCA revolves around small open camp cruisers. Are a lot of readers using boom tents/sleeping platforms on these open boats or does the content not quite match the readers’ actual sailing choices?
I personally do both but I only sleep aboard when using my sailboat that has a cabin. I don’t like the idea of erecting a boom tent that may or may not be bug proof, may or may not be waterproofand, and sleeping on the wet cockpit sole.
My WWP15 was the best “pop up tent” I have ever owned. Sail all day. Drop the hook. Crack a beer and crawl inside. Zero effort. Warm and comfortable.
My favorite places to sleep is aboard one of my Trailer Sailors….Monty 15 or Potter 15…. (Especially in the rain!)
Sleeping aboard whether on anchor or while trailering significant miles is one of the pleasures of my relationship with my vessel. The more time I spend on her, the more I appreciate how fortunate I am with the choices I made. I must admit, the ritual of preparing our morning coffee brings me true joy.
I downsized from a 39' catamaran to a 19' WWP 19 and the one thing which carried over was the need to sail to a quiet cove, a remote island, or an overnight sail with my sailing club which brought back the adventure, sleeping on my 19' potter. The one difference I actually benefited by was the lack of the high costs of maintenance. The best part was getting to the same location with just about the same hull speed, to spend the night while waking early at first light preparing coffee and preparing breakfast for my passengers. In fact for one of my good friends who never appreciated the motion of the ocean, we landed on an island with a sand beach I plowed the bow in to shore as and anchored secured and fast using the anchor with rode to circle a tree, keeping my boat and my friend calm all night long, as any tenter from a kayaker know, for my 19 with the board up, drew just six inches, once the tide drew in the shallows.
I had a dodger for some years and would rig a tarp in a variety of ways to make a tent, or just raise the dodger and let the lower half of me fend for itself in the open air, probably under a dew-proof cover. Then last year I got an enclosure that hooks up to the aft edge of the dodger to make a complete tent. I also got a real air mattress. Luxury. This is on a Core Sound 17.
I have two boats, a trailer sailer with a nice cabin and a sailing canoe. I love riding at anchor or in a berth at a marina with the cabin boat and I love sail camping ashore in the open boat.
As long as I’m on and/or near water I’m in my happy place.
I lived aboard my schooner for 5 years. People asked whether I got to feeling cramped. Not at all. Any time I came up on deck, there was the wonderful view from New Jersey to the World Trade Center. On a really clear day, it was possible to see individual windows in the Trade Center.
At last, something I have an opinion on....well, ok, you know. After fifty years of boating and a dozen boats of many sizes from El Toro to 32' I prefer a bunk 7' long and a minimum of 28" wide. Slept on shorter and narrower but talkin' comfort here. If a person put all the PFD's and sail bags in the cuddy of the Columbia 21 a person over six feet tall could sleep there in, ah, relative comfort. I lived aboard my boat Passage for about three and half years with said 7' bunks and also a filler board between bunks for athawarship sleeping. Kind of like camping with a hard tent at 4'8" of headroom but a wood stove for taking the edge off. I rejected a Potter 19 briefly owned for too much stuff crammed into too little space and too narrow of quarter berths and too high up vee berth. If I have to clamber in or shinny in, it ain't comfort nor.easy to check anchor with any frequency. For me, spending days aboard in marinas and backwater anchorages was the cat's pajamas. The Freedom 25, outboard model, had far and away the best interior layout of any other smaller boat I owned. Open, roomy, basic amenities but just right.
I sleep aboard for weeks at a time during a couple of longer trips each summer, and over a few weekends at other times. I would love to sleep aboard more if life's obligations permitted. I sleep better aboard than in my bed ashore!
I have two boats i sleep aboard. I voted other because of this. The Monty has a cabin, it sleeps 4. I can't imagine why 4 people would want to sleep on the cabin of a 17 foot boat, but she can.
My GP14 has also been slept aboard, but it requires a boom tent, sleeping mat, and the ability to do yoga to shimmy under the centre thwart. Surprisingly, I prefer sleeping on this boat instead on the Monty. It's like camping on the water.
I'm old now, but when I was cruising I regularly slept aboard my Bay Hen, my Sand Hen, my Bolger Red Zinger, my Rob Roy 23 and my Dana 24. Of course, I lived on a boat for 12 years. Of these boats, I think the best one for trailer sailing was the Rob Roy. If I were going around the world, it would be the Dana.
I only rarely stay out overnight now, with my wife getting older and my mother in law almost ancient, I'd rather be close to the flagpole. The Vega and the Potter 19 took me on longer trips fairly often, but we were all younger then. The AF4B is more likely to hop back on her trailer and go home for the night.
Why, isn't that the whole point of it? :) Had an MRI the other day; to help me get through it, found myself remembering sleeping aboard my diminutive Monty this past fall.
I cut away the starboard sink in order to create a Captains' bunk. This made it safer & easier to peek out the doorway to see if you have dragged anchor when there is no space inside the Avalon marina at Catalina Island. The builder of the WWP 19, Ken Lange, liked it so much, that he changed the Potter 19 and other new models to have the same comfort and extra seating space. The Potter 19 has plenty of space inside for 2 week trips.
seadog6161kh
I designed a folding camper top for my Sea Pearl that covers the full width of the deck, leaving drainage gutters on both sides. I fabbed the folding frame & sketched top, zippered front & rear openings with screens. An awning shop sewed it up. I try to use a Bahamian moor whenever possible & sheet the mizzen flat, (like sleeping in a wind tunnel)! It also works well on the trailer in cool weather.
I’m am surprised to see that more sailers sleep aboard than ashore even though a lot of the content of SCA revolves around small open camp cruisers. Are a lot of readers using boom tents/sleeping platforms on these open boats or does the content not quite match the readers’ actual sailing choices?
I personally do both but I only sleep aboard when using my sailboat that has a cabin. I don’t like the idea of erecting a boom tent that may or may not be bug proof, may or may not be waterproofand, and sleeping on the wet cockpit sole.