Please help a design student out by taking a short survey about camp cruising.

[hobo_hut]

Hey everyone,
For my senior capstone project I will be designing a boat for beach/camp cruising. Right now I am just in the research phase of the project so I wrote up these two surveys in hopes to gauge what people want in a good beach/camp cruiser.

Thanks in advance to everyone who takes the time to complete my survey. Also feel free to offer any suggestions.

Survey 1

Survey 2

[Lt. Holden]

Greetings hobo_hut and good luck with your project.

I took both your surveys and would like to offer a few comments if I may. I think that you may need to do separate surveys or given a sufficient number of responses separate your findings according to power/sail and intended use.

The second survey seems predisposed to a smaller, lighter weight and less commodious type of vessel and seems more focused on sail power. While the first survey seems to include more commercially available vessels.

It might be useful (for your purpose) to "salt" the choices with design attributes that you have in mind and use the survey to 'weigh" them against more conventional/current thinking while getting other peoples' opinions.

I think this is a very worthwhile topic that merits some discussion. While we haven't done any camping recently we mainly like to cruise/explore the Connecticut River and pull up to a beach and fish, relax, drink some wine or beer and barbecue/picnic. I think many people find such casual and unstructured activities to offer some of life's greatest pleasures.

[hobo_hut]

You are right and I value your comments. The first survey is to more or less validate a need for designing a new camp cruiser and to identify some qualities and habits of people who do camp cruise.

The second survey is to find out what people want in a camp cruiser. And you are right about being more geared to sail. Based on my initial research I found that fuel consumption was a large reason people are leaving the boating world and pursuing other interests like hiking and backpacking. Thats why I was leaning more towards sail power. But we will see, maybe a powered camp cruiser will end up on the drawing board although my passion lies in sail.

Again, thanks for your comments.

[Lt. Holden]

I agree with your preference for sail power where it is feasible, in our case we need to travel 10 to 20 miles up river to find any solitude and our time is limited. We cruise at around 25 knots to get there and hang out. I would prefer to enjoy the journey as much as the destination.

Another big factor in your poll should be whether you plan to sleep in the boat or on the beach; this obviously determines hull volume and accomodations. You may find that the ideal (for most) solution may be a lightweight, shoal draft outboard, diesel, electric or hybrid motorsailer (especially for inland use). This would give you the flexibility to sail when conditions permit and still get you home in time for work on Monday.

[hobo_hut]

Lt. Holden,
You sound like you have some very valuable insights. How would you feel about having a short chat based interview with me some time?

Also if any of you all know any other good forums I could post this survey on that would be great. Ive already posted in on small craft advisors forum as well as some yahoo groups.

[Lt. Holden]

hobo_hut,

I would enjoy such a chat! PM me and we will. In the meantime we need to liven up this discourse. Can you post any plans, sketches or pics of boats you like or that have influenced your thinking one way or another?

Perhaps you could share some of your thoughts on features, layout performance characteristics etc.

Of sail designs, Bill Schwiecker (I'll have to verify the spelling and the issue #) in a Wooden Boat article "Six-Fathom Sharpie" describes some background on and his construction of a New Haven Sharpie for use in the Florida Keys. It strikes me as a simple and elegant (my favorite engineering term) solution for a versatile boat that is equally at home poling across a flat or cruising among the outer reefs.

Among power boat designs, I have always wanted to build William Atkin's "Dedrise 23" as described by Capt. Jim Orrell (Texas Dory Boat Plans). I also thought that Capt. Jim's "Morninglight 22" Sailing Dory would be worth considering as a catamaran (perhaps folding) with a wide beam.

[kenJ]

Will you please post survey results when you feel you have an adequate representation. Be interesting to see what the community thinks.

[hobo_hut]

Ill be sure to post my results as well as my steps along the way in the design phase. I am always looking for insights from the community.

[hobo_hut]

I realized something that I really wanted to know but failed to put in the survey.

Are people using the same boat for both day sailing and camp/beach cruising?

Also I would like to get cover as broad a demographic as I can. What other forums might you all suggest to post this survey on?