The Boat You NEED: 20 Questions
(…The one you WANT might be a colossal mistake!)
If you’re thinking about buying, building or restoring a sailboat—or any boat—here are some questions that might help separate What You Want from What You Need (or what you can afford…)
1. Size and Purpose — We often dream of cruising to remote and dreamy coves, or even offshore, but only find time for a few hours to sail on Sunday afternoons, if then. Our lives seem more crowded than ever, with less time for recreation, so the natural question is: How much boat do you REALLY need?
2. Propulsion — Row, sail, power…or all three? (If you’re mostly sailing on a lake, do you really need an engine, or can you get by with paddles or oars?)
3. Boat Transport — Smaller is simpler and it’s great if you can get your boat to the water on roof racks, in the back of a pickup or on a simple trailer. In other words, you might want to avoid a deep-keel sailboat that’s difficult to launch and retrieve, or maybe requires a Travel-Lift to put in the water.
4. Towing Capacity — Related directly to the above, what’s the towing capacity of your Subaru? Can you find a boat that’s easily towed, or might you need to buy a $40,000 SUV to haul the $3,500 sailboat you’re looking at?
5. Where Are You Boating? — On protected local-area lakes or rivers? Sandy beaches or rocky shorelines? In tidal currents or open ocean? Are there launch ramps close by? Conditions where you’re actually going to sail should determine most everything about the size and type of boat you select.
6. What’s Your Budget? — Can you afford to go sailing with the boat you’re dreaming about? If not, go anyway, but go smaller.
7. New, Functional But Used, or a Total Project? — We have a saying in the boat-restoration field: “There is no such thing as a free boat,” so beware of the hot mess someone offers to give you. Used but functional sailboats are a huge bargain these days, so if you’re shopping, look for models with some kind of pedigree…well-known builder, designer or reputation for safety, speed, cruising comfort or whatever’s important to you.
8. Restoration Realities — Do you really have time to do it yourself? Get help from a professional in evaluating the project, even if you’re not in a position to hire a pro for portions of the work or the entire job. A marine surveyor or seasoned restorer will spot problem areas you might miss, or on a more positive note, they might reassure you that the apparent issues are “not a big deal.”
9. New Construction — Kits are a great approach if you can find a suitable design with CNC-cut parts; they’re far easier and faster than starting with lines and offsets, but plans with patterns are a good way to go, too. (Do you have adequate shop space for year-‘round work on the boat?)
10. Hull Material — Whether new or used, it’s usually the old question of Wood or Glass? Vintage fiberglass boats are often stronger that new production boats (builders used heavier layups in the old days, when hull strength seemed more important than profit margin). Also, many wooden boats are simpler to maintain than people think—especially boats that are small enough to protect from the elements when not in use.
11. If Wood, What Type of Hull? — “Wood” is a vast subject area, so will it be plywood, cold-molded veneer layers, lapstrake, carvel-planked, or…? (Modern marine-plywood boats, often with stitch-and-glue construction, are amazingly strong and long-lasting compared to the fir-ply creations some of us built in the old days, when veneers sometime delaminated after a few seasons.)
12. Storage — This is another “small is beautiful” factor, since boats you can keep in a carport, garage or under a tarp shelter are easier to deal with than hulls requiring expensive commercial storage.
13. What Kind of Carrying Capacity? — Are you sailing alone, with one other person, or taking the whole family, two dogs and some friends? (If you want to discourage passengers, think small.)
14. Overnight Accommodations? Same questions as above: How many berths or other sleeping spaces are required? (Will you ever actually sleep aboard the Pelican you’re looking at?)
15. Sailing Rig? Would you strongly prefer the simplicity of a boomless sprit rig, lugsail or other single-sail arrangement…or are you strongly drawn to the appearance of more complex rigs like cutters, ketches or schooners? How many lines do you want to manage? (Remember, SCA’s recent Minicruiser Madness winner was the little ComPac SunCat with it’s dead-simple cat rig…launched and under sail faster than most other models.)
16. Speed? Does it really matter, or are you ready to relax on the water? Who are you trying to beat, and does your personality tend to be destination-focused…or do you “just love being out on the water,” at any speed or no speed?
17. Ballast, Boards, Keels? — Fixed keel, bilge keels, centerboard, leeboards, daggerboard, water ballast or other forms of permanent ballast? So many questions! Some small trailerable boats like SCAMP have the advantage of water ballast when you need it; easy to evacuate when sailing in light air, or for trailering.
18. Seaworthiness — Back to Question #1: How will you actually use the boat, and in what sea (or lake) conditions? What’s the initial and reserve stability of the hull you’re considering? Is it a self-righting design, and is there enough floatation? Are you prepared to do a self-righting test in different conditions, or at least check videos illustrating how easy or difficult the model is to right and reboard when swamped?Bigger is not often better when it comes to self-righting ability.
19. Lifespan, Condition — With a used boat, how long will it be before the hull, sails, rigging, electronics, paint or interior need costly repairs or replacement? What might annual maintenance involve? How long do you imagine keeping the boat, and what might it be worth in 5 or 10 years?
20. And, Most Importantly — If you have a spouse or partner, will they like the boat of your dreams? If you partner isn’t comfortable with the boat, or thinks you’re an idiot for considering the beast, how’s that going to work out, and for how long? (Been there…) •SCA•
Regarding accommodations, there are several levels to this. These would include from most basic to more accommodating:
1) You can sleep on on it but only if you add a boom tent and floor boards, e.g., Scamp.
2) You have a cuddy into which you can crawl to get out of nasty weather.
3) You have an area designed for sleeping but not much else, e.g., the v-berth on a WWP-15, Neptune 16.
4) You have two berths, v-berth or quarter, and some (perhaps) sitting headroom, e.g., Com-Pac 16. This likely will have room for a portable head.
5) You have sitting headroom and extra berths in addition to the v-berth and room for a portable head, e.g., Sparrow 16, Montgomery 17.
6) You have 4 berths, sitting headroom and a table at which to eat, along with a head, e.g., Catalina 22 etc.
7) You have all of 6 PLUS standing headroom, e.g., MacGregor 26X.
I don't think the advantages and disadvantages of hull type were mentioned. Round, hard chine or flat bottom. I happen to very much like the initial stability of my hard chined Core Sound 17. It has good initial stability and can handle a blow. It has a slight V hull. It sails very nicely fairly upright.