16' to 33' usable cabin sailboats

OK,

In the pocket sailboat thread, someone has already mentioned, they have to go ashore for restroom facilities. Not so usable.

How about some usable cabin boats, preferably sail. And maybe multis?

What is needed in a functional cabin cruiser? multi-berth? Galley? Porta-pot? Shower? Auxiliary engine? Trailerable?

Wayne

 

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Thats not necessarily true, Wayne a lot of small boats can carry a porta-potty of some type. My 18 did and had a small stove as well.
I think Cackers 15 has the room as well.

 

Ergonomics are the biggest issue in small craft. I have a client that insists he can have a low freeboard, shoal draft, Friendship Sloop like hull, while providing standing headroom at the companionway ladder, in a trailerable 26' package. In spite of a few attempts, I've yet to provide this combination. If I could lose one of these requirements, I could get it done, but as usual the demands of the SOR make for difficult, if not imposable decisions.

A small craft, having a port-a-pottie seems the only reasonably route. I do have a 24' powerboat that does offer a full headroom, a standup head in a pilothouse and all the usual amenities, but it's fairly high sided to pull it off pleasingly. Portable toilets are pretty easy to install and incorporate into small craft, often under a bunk, settee or even a hatch. Personally, I'm a "dancing in the wind" kind of guy, though the other half is more peculiar in this regard.



This easily addresses the SOR above, has a place to poop and free standing rig with several hoist options. A tabernacle on the main can make bridges a non-issue.

 

Doug,

I shouldn't have implied small boats cannot, or do not, carry porta-pots. They make really small ones.

I should have asked more clearly, "Is a porta-pot, or other bathroom facilities necessary for a cruiser, or cabin boat?

PAR,

Beautiful!

 

I like it, Paul.

By the way, you might want to catch up on your email. I sent you one a couple of weeks ago that apparently you haven't seen yet.... unless you're ignoring me, of course.

 

I was off the grid for a week Troy, remember that house I got a couple of years ago, for just this purpose? Resend the email if you can. I do remember answering one (August 18th) about packaging epoxy for shipment. Is this the one? I ordinary don't ignore you.

For most a port-a-pottie isn't really necessary, as they just bounce along the coast, where facilities are available. If doing some real, short term cruising, then it's necessary.

 

The Porta potti is a dubious asset in many situations. Mostly due to limited potential locations on small boats.

Lots of smaller boats have it hidden under a berth ( eg forward berth) , so to use it in the night, you have to disturb the sleeping arrangement's, viewable from the whole cabin. The remnant odors make the whole thing an unpleasant experience.

If you are a 'couple', then intimate open cabin antics may not be such a problem. Even two of the same sex can be tolerable. But get teenage passengers, casual guests etc makes it a very unpleasant experience.

A boat that has to use shore facilities is not a 'cruiser', its a day sailer, but if you can 'hold it' for a day, then you dont have enough food or alcohol to make the day worthwhile.

The 'number one' reason why women cant be enticed onto boats, are the facilities - so if you are a confirmed misogynist, that's how to keep your boat female free.

My experience is that unless you can provide a 'closet', separate from the main cabin, you had better be really comfortable with the rest of the crew.

 

Why is that woman wearing a poncho in that small open boat on such a nice day? Oh, she's waving with a big smile, she must have heard me......

 

PAR I love that boat. Perfect !

 

Good to hear, so send me a check . . .

 

If the water is comfortable, not polluted, not full of dangerous creatures like miniature catfish or pirahna, or tourists, then when nature calls, take a swim.

It's not legal to pump or "throw" it over the side, but you can "go" in the water like one of God's marine creatures.

 

very good observation. My wife and I just returned from the Port Townend Wooden boat show. Every 36 to 45 ft sailboat her comment was "look how much room you have on those boats, I like those". I am looking at the 20 to 26 ft size "pocket cruisers", that I can store at home in my yard on a trailer. Her dismissive comment is "look how crowed that boat is".

I suspect if I reconfigure the smaller hull to have a separate but roomy restroom, apart from the sleeping compartment, she might start to like the idea of a pocket cruiser. Perhaps we can have the kitchen facilities out in the cockpit under a Bimini.

 

Or galley in a cockpit locker.

 

You could call it a port-a-galley.

 

The check's in the mail, Paul.