30-40’ for live aboard and circumnavigation
Posted by greymistovermyeyes@reddit | sailing | View on Reddit | 5 comments
I’ve been undecided on a live aboard and CN monohull for... longer than I want to admit. I first started out thinking of a Westsail 32. Older but solid boats. That was a decade or more ago. They must really be getting long in the tooth now.
I’ve centered around the following: Union 36 Tayana 37 Baba 30-40 Tashiba 31
For some reason I love double ended bob perry designs :)
The cost of a good tashiba or baba I just can’t seem to justify. For a tashiba you’re looking at 90k+. Plus that cost in gear and upkeep. That just seems nutty to me.
Tayana 37’s seem the best bang for the buck or a solid union 36.
But I wanted to get opinions on what the audience would get today if you were a couple, and wanted a live aboard to CN on. Absolutely rock solid boat build wise. So you’re not worried about things like soft decks from balsa or teak deck maintenance. If given the choice of speed or slow and safe. I’d prefer slow and safe. If I get caught in scary weather I want to know the boats going to see me through in the end. Maintenance costs as low as possible because it’s well built. Well laid out. Everything is accessible fairly easily for maintenance or replacement. And of course sails moderately well even if she’s heavy and slower. 30-40 footer.
Thoughts?
SVAuspicious@reddit
I have great respect for Bob Perry as a fellow naval architect. When I semi-retired and became a delivery skipper (I work harder than ever now) I continued to learn. Bob's boats, with some exceptions like the Valiants, tend to have very full sections forward. The reality of this is that in a fully developed sea the boat simply stops in the face of waves. On a heavy boat that means slow acceleration gets you very slow speeds and a lot of pounding which isn't comfortable. There is no excuse for a boat that can only make three or four knots in 15-20 knots of wind. I lighter boat with fine sections forward will ride the waves and a heavy one with fine sections (like the Valiants) will punch through. Implication is twice(ish) as much time in unpleasant weather. Safe? Yes. Comfortable? No.
I made Ft Lauderdale to Annapolis in four days on a Frers-designed boat. Same route on a Tayana 37 was nearly eight days. More motoring, less sailing on the Tayana and we had to stop in Little Creek for food (not counted in the eight days).
No professional competition here. You won't sail anything I designed unless you join the US Navy.
For a US East Coast snowbird plying the ICW and wintering in the Bahamas the boats you're looking at are fine. A trip down the US West Coast to the Sea of Cortez and screw your anchor to the bottom is fine. Gunkholing Scandanavia? Fine. For a circumnavigation it would be safe but slow and unpleasant. Get used to heaving to and waiting.
greymistovermyeyes@reddit (OP)
I’m really grateful for your opinion. Would you have any recommendations that would be better choices? My short list is just based on my limited experience. I don’t know nearly as much as others here. I even read up on multihulls last night, again, to see if there are better ways to go.
SVAuspicious@reddit
Tom and Amanda have a pretty good list to consider https://www.mahina.com/cruise.html .
Complex-Bee-840@reddit
Quite a few Bob designs on that list. The Baba/Tashiba OP mentioned, for example. Those boats sail really well.
SVAuspicious@reddit
I simply disagree with you. You're correct that they are on the Mahina list. You're wrong that they sail well. Into seas they pound and are horribly slow. See my five year old comment above for examples. Downwind they wallow. As I noted, safe but uncomfortable.