Most serious cruisers shop for their boat on the used market. Here, the term “used” has a good connotation, because it implies the boat has already been out there, logged some sea miles, been shaken down. To have been “used”, someone –the first, second, or third owner – has had to add at least the fundamental equipment and often much more, yet in one of the perennial injustices of the world, all those improvements rarely come back to the improver in the selling price. All good news for buyers.

Future cruising captains generally scan the ads in cruising publications or go to the boat brokers with a list of things they want in a boat.  Forgive me for oversimplifying, but they tend to focus on things like size, waterline, hull (material, shape, weight and whether a mono-or multi-hull), rig, engine, sail inventory, performance, tankage, etc. Much has been written about these features in major magazines and books, and each one has a myriad of variations, all of which will matter to Admirals, too, in ways you should understand.

But are there things an admiral should tune her eye to in her soon-to-be full-time home that the captain might overlook?

To start with, consider every aspect of the boat in question with how it will be for you underway. This is particularly true for smaller persons. Where are the handholds below? Can you move safely from cockpit to galley to head to the nav station? How will the galley be to work in underway? Can you get into the fridge and the food lockers while heeled over? Does the stove swing freely on its gimbals? Is there headroom above the sink, and will the sink backfill with saltwater on one tack or the other? Can you wedge yourself in to successfully use the head? Is there a good, secure place to sleep when you are off watch?

On deck, how do you feel about walking forward? Are there good handholds? Are the lifelines, bulwarks, toe-rails high enough?  Is the deck strewn with toe-biting obstacles? Can you reach the mainsail to connect the halyard or to help reef? Are you able you raise the sails yourself? In the cockpit, are the coamings high enough for security and back support? When you are behind the wheel, are you able to see forward? Can you brace yourself in the cockpit? Are you protected from weather? Can you get down the companionway in lively conditions?

Next consider how the boat will be at anchor. As important as all of the above considerations are, the chief difference between a weekend sailer and a cruising boat is how well it serves as your home. Review the galley as a place to cook regular meals as opposed to quick bites at sea. Is there enough storage for cooking tools and even appliances you don’t want to leave behind? Spices? Pots and pans? Wine glasses? Will accessing the fridge be easy or a constant struggle?

Will your cabin meet your basic needs? Is the bed long enough? Will you be able to climb out reasonably easily at night? Is there enough storage for clothes and shoes? Is there somewhere on the boat – the cockpit or the salon – where you can lounge comfortably — cushy corners with good air movement where you can read or settees where you can stretch out full length for a nap? If you are planning a tropical cruise, emphasis will shift from belowdecks to the cockpit. Will you be able to provide shade or enclose yourself from rain? Alternatively can you open up to maximize the breeze? In colder climes, a snug salon may be more important; does the boat have insulation, dorades, heat?

The cruising community tends to be a social one, and, if you like to entertain, consider whether the boat will accommodate guests comfortably in the cockpit or below? Is there a place to play such games as cruiser favorites Mexican train, cribbage, or Scrabble, and, if you like videos, will you both be able to relax and see a TV/computer screen, topside or below. And, if having visitors join you along the way is important (there’s often a lot of empty talk!), will you have a place to put them?

Space and storage are the two most finite commodities on any sailboat. If you have hobbies –for example, sewing, beading, painting, writing –will there be space to pursue them? Will you be able to make space for books, files, and computers? And if the boat’s mechanic has a project in the engine room, will normal life in the salon and/or galley have to come to a halt every time he needs to make repairs? And storage! Know now there will never be enough, but consider whether the boat has storage for things both large and small, for his and her tools, for deck equipment like lines and fenders, and toys like dive gear, wind or kite surfing, kayaks and fishing. And last but not least, how is the boat’s access to the water, the dinghy, and the dock?

Finally, as we wrap up our checklist, let’s add a few things to beware of.  The chief one is cool-looking but impractical features, many of which, ironically, are conceived to draw in the distaff half. Some personal pet peeves are rounded settees in the cockpit or below (no comfy corners or backup berths!), curved space-age surfaces where you can’t set a drink down, and bathtubs! For others it may be amp-hungry gizmos – eg air-conditioning, microwaves, dishwashers, ice-makers – that seem desirable but turn out to work only at the dock. And lastly, the monohull-ers in my “club” want to remind you that the two hulls of a cat are not automatically the answer to space and storage issues, since loaded down cats can lose much of the performance and seakindliness that initially make them attractive.  Think every feature through!

No Admiral’s checklist for the perfect boat will be the same as the next, and, obviously, no one boat can score A+ on all fronts, but unlike those pre-fabbed RVs, boats can usually be aftermarket-customized to answer your needs, especially if a sharp eye was kept in the buying process. As Ellen of Cayenne III concludes, “Self-knowledge and a clear view of the goal make for better compromises…and every boat is a compromise.”

Contributing Admirals: Lisa Schofield, Lady Galadriel; Donna Abbott, Exit Only; Kathy Parsons, Hale Kai; Ellen Sanpere, Cayenne III; Vicki Juvrud, Firebird; Judy Knape, Ursa Minor; Debbie Leisure, Illusions; plus others

This article was published in the April 2007 issue of Latitudes and Attitudes.

There is no simple answer. The right boat size for you will factor in many considerations – sailing abilities, voyage planned, size of crew, cabins needed, storage needed, comfort expectations, rig and layout preferred, equipment you want to add, modifications you need to make, and, of course, budget. Every decision you make about the boat you go cruising in will have a cost associated with it – in dollars, energy and attention — both up front and forevermore as you move it, maintain it, dock it, haul it, and repair it. What you can, or are willing, to spend — in dollars, energy, or attention — will inevitably be the controlling factor, but the worth of many of those considerations may be quite different when you are out using the boat than when it was a pie in the sky on the dock!

Industry reports say the size of boats being shown at boat shows is getting bigger and bigger. But, when is a boat too big? Quite simply, a boat is too big if you can’t afford it. “If you have to take a mortgage or if buying a particular boat takes assets away from retirement or other after-cruising uses, you may never feel comfortable with the decision,” counsels Lisa of Lady Galadriel, a Crealock 37. “You’ll find that the costs of cruising are not merely proportional to the size of the boat, they’re exponential! Plus, you need to ensure that there’s enough left over to enjoy the travel at the places you visit.”

“A boat is too big if it taking care of it becomes too much work, if you can’t find a convenient place with big enough equipment to haul it, if you have to hire other people to do all the work that needs to be done, or if you can’t keep up with the constant cleaning that is necessary when you live in every square inch,” weighs in Donna of the Privilege 39 Exit Only. A boat is never so big as when you are underneath her cleaning the hull and the waterline!

Most importantly, a boat is too big if you can’t handle her. As a boat gets bigger, so does its sail plan. It’s more work to raise the sails and more work on the winches to trim them. Vicki of Firebird, at 84 feet by far the largest boat in my Admiral’s Club, says, “We’ve liked many things about our big boat: the walk-in engine room, the space for guests, the privacy and security our high freeboard affords us, and the extended range our of big tankage, but we could not have cruised this monster without our third crew!” Most cruisers don’t have the luxury of hired crew and might not want to sacrifice the privacy if they could. Most of us are more concerned with the challenges of maneuvering our boats in packed harbors, in the close quarters of a marina, or, as Kathy of Hale Kai reminds, coping when things go wrong: “A big boat is more difficult to sail or anchor single-handedly, to short tack up a channel should the engine fail, or to kedge off if you run aground.” A boat is too big if the crew is “afraid” of it. How many times have I seen a couple pinned to a marina, or, sadder, a boat stashed in a yard, because a scary experience took the wind from their sails?

“Go on the smallest boat you can put up with,” says Lisa of Lady Galadriel. Because the Crealock is a small 37 (thanks to her low freeboard), during the four years it took them to cruise from San Francisco to Annapolis, Lisa and her husband spent a lot of time considering boats they might upgrade to. Upon arrival though, they opted instead on a major refit. “So I don’t have an indoor shower,” Lisa shrugs. “We know this boat, we can each singlehand her, and her particular strengths – a great salon for entertaining and surprising storage – outweigh the other inconveniences of her size.”

Lack of storage is a key compromise in choosing a smaller boat. “I’ve spent time on a lot of different-sized boats,” says Judy of Ursa Minor, a Saga 43, “and no matter how big the boat, there is never enough storage space, especially if it’s to be your only home.” For Kathy Parsons, who wrote her first book while cruising on a Whitby 42, it’s the lack of work space that frustrates her on the 38’ Hale Kai. “Writing and doing projects becomes more difficult. I’m always having to put my work away because every space aboard does double duty.”

Debbie, who has lived for six years on the 29′ Island Packet Illusions, however, says this. “Only on rare occasions have I wished for a bigger boat. We originally wanted a 32′, but, due to finances, that would have meant working at least another year, and we were ready to go! We decided to buy the 29′ and try it. If it proved too small, we could always go back to work again for the bigger boat. I highly recommend going NOW on a smaller boat as opposed to not going at all… or waiting ‘til it is too late.”

Fully half of my Admirals have been cruising for years in boats under 38 feet.  Unilaterally they sing the praises of the smaller boat’s affordability, its ease of handling, the fact that they can singlehand if they have to, and that they can take shelter in small places.

But there are some caveats.  Smaller boats with shorter waterlines are slower, making passages longer, while lighter boats are not as comfortable in rough conditions, making passages (and sometimes anchorages!) less pleasant. Furthermore, for some cruisers, performance is not something to be sniffed at. “Our 51’ retired Moorings charterboat was the most waterline we could get for the money,” says Ellen of Cayenne III. “it was the fastest yet most comfortable and seaworthy hull we saw. As we look at new boats on the market, we see lots of gee-whiz bells and whistles, but all that stuff in a fat slob of a hull wouldn’t be worth a dime to us. Fast is fun, and when fast isn’t fun, at least it’s over soon.”

And then sometimes it just comes down to elbow room. When my husband and I were looking for an “our” boat to take the place of our two 44’ CSYs, we found, because we are both tall, that many of the boats highly touted as cruisers were just too confined for us. Neither of us wanted to have to duck to move around belowdecks, and we insisted on being able to stretch out full length in both the berth and the cockpit. We kept our 44 with the 7’ headroom and have found her to be just right!…FOR US!

Contributing Admirals: Lisa Schofield, Lady Galadriel; Donna Abbott, Exit Only; Kathy Parsons, Hale Kai; Ellen Sanpere, Cayenne III; Vicki Juvrud, Firebird; Judy Knape, Ursa Minor; Debbie Leisure, Illusions; plus others.

This article was published in the March 2007 issue of Latitudes and Attitudes.