16' to 33' usable cabin sailboats

Who knew the only way to successfully design a boat, is to design a toilet, and wrap a boat around it !

 

Use to be a common yachting question, "How many does she sleep?"
Times are changing. "How many stand up heads does she have?"

 

I REALLY like the trapdoor idea. Ideally suited for a catamaran. The trap could be in the bridge deck, and if asked it's purpose, "Why, it's to enter the accommodations to retrieve survival supplies, in case of capsize."
For a monohull, a retro overhanging "Poop" deck?
Purpose? Checking the rudder.

 

It sounds like it never made it into production, just like the Dymaxion house itself.

http://www.bfi.org/about-bucky/buckys-big-ideas/dymaxion-world/dymaxion-bathroom

"Bucky specified a waterless "Packaging Toilet" that deftly shrink-wrapped the stuff for pickup for later composting"

 

Steve - you have hit on the absolute truth.

My personal philosophy is that if you cant comfortably live on a boat for 24 hours, WITFP ( the last word is Point ! ) ( half day fishing boats and short trip craft excepted of course )

I smile to myself as people oooh and aaah over 'pretty' little designs, that they just 'love', and get all excited about, but don't even have standing room and comfortable amenities

Naval architects pander to these desires, and make shapes and curves that entice dollars for plans from the unsuspecting novices. Of the 5% that actually get built, most get sold within 3-4 years because 'no one in the family uses it anymore" The reason that the boat gets no more use, is that the onboard shelter is cramped, awkward and uncomfortable.

My last 26 footer trailerable yacht was so comfortable, my teenage son used to sleep out in it at home, so he could play his music loud, and watch his own tv programs. We got as much use out of it as a spare bedroom in the back yard, as we did as a boat.

If we towed it to the coast, and the weather was rubbish, we still got a comfortable 'pointy caravan' to camp over in, until the sun came out.

When it finally got in the water,we didn't have to go home when the sun went down, like 90% of the fishing boats and 'day sailers'.

In my part of the world, really enjoyable weather is not common, so to be able to stay out comfortably, is a bonus.

 

Okay..OKAY...I'm SOLD! What WAS the little jewel of a trailer/sailor?
Do you have plans? Or was it a production boat?

I like my Albin 25s for the same reasons, but would like to see the design YOU enthuse over! Please?

 

Isn't this a bit of an oxymoron? ...or something.

 

This boat has sold over 35,000 over the years. I bet you recognize it

Of course, it is no longer made, but I am working on the self build version of better version. You may remember our previous conversations.

 

I DO remember!

but had to look.
http://www.macgregor26.com/

and you are working on a 28ft modification of the 26ft design.

water ballast, twin dagger boards, ect.

 

this is true if you want to sell to women, or to couples where the woman has some say in what is purchased.

For some reason taking women on boats, particularly sail boats, is always risky if you intend to maintain a relationship with that woman. There are a rare few females that love sailing and do not mind the inconvenience, but for most that is not true.

Larry Pardee tells the story of a disastrous first time he took a long time girlfriend on a sailboat. he never saw her again. When he started dating Lin, he took is time and check the weather and conditions ahead of time, found a calm evening with a full moon and light breeze. Lin fell in love with Larry and sailing right than and there, and have been sailing together for nearly 40 years.

34 years ago I took my than girlfriend, now my wife of thirty years, out in a 14 ft sloop on a breezy day in San Pedro harbor. I had a good time but to hear her to this day recount her first exposure to sailing, it was a death defying event with memories of "rope burns" and sore bottoms (never happened, but that is how she recalls it). And getting her into a sail boat of any type now is an effort in coaxing and cajoling.

After considering her emotional response to boats, inside and out, I think a nice restroom is one thing that will get her to reconsider he opinion of sailing. And than waiting for some "perfect" weather to invite her along.

This has always strikes me as odd since we have backpacked all over the mountains year round, have skied in good weather and bad snow storms, she loves car camping (I do not care for it, I would rather spend time in the back country), and considering the effort, sweat and bad experiances that can happen doing those activities, I do not understand her reaction to sailing. It all comes down to how she "sees" herself doing these activities. It has taken me 30 years to come to this realization, and now I have to go to great efforts to undo the damage that one first time experience has caused.

 

Bleeding obvious. Boats heel over and pitch up & down. All those other outdoor activities you listed ....... ???

While I don't care overmuch for them myself (mainly because you really can't overload them without consequences as you can a monohull) catamarans & trimarans make sense if you want to get the average female to be comfortable aboard.

That, and a decent place to take a dump, and a galley something better than an afterthought with no bench space and a rotten 2 burner (if you're lucky) cooker...

PDW

 

Yeah, its true, women and boats are a rare combination. Some even say "oh, I cant wait to go out again... ", but they never actually go inside a yacht club, or take the last of the sailing lessons etc.



I have told the story before, of chatting to a guy hosing down his 70 foot cabin cruiser at the docks, gleaming white in the sun with huge windows, giant air intakes and shiny chrome rails.

"Wow, " I said "I bet you have gone some places in that thing"

"Oh yes", he said, "Christmas before last, me and the wife went all the way up to the Gold Coast from Melbourne".

"Excellent", i said "Let me know if you need any crew for the next trip"

"Nah", he said with a downcast face "She hasn't set foot on the thing since that trip"



It was the constant waves and motion, even though it had all the comforts at home.

Women just dont enjoy the challenge of keeping a heading, plotting a course, making a successful docking in a strange harbor, second guessing the weather forecasts etc.

Its just an eternity of endless mountainous waves, feeling ill and yucky toilets for the fair sex

 

Well, who does? That's why my ambition stops at Bruny. I can always get the ferry home from there if I've had enough of a rough passage....

Lot to be said for a boat in the shed. You can still sit on deck, drink and bullshyt about where you're going and what you've done. Then go back to the house for a hot shower, decent dinner and a nice wide bed that only rocks when *you* (and your SO) wants it to....

PDW

 

Going to sea for a paycheck is good. Getting paid to relax/stay at the dock is even better.
Going to sea for fun? hmmm. Never tried it.

 

Its like camping, the only reason you go is so that you really appreciate getting back to civilization.

Its true that a lot of good boats get totally ruined by being put in the water, but I think there is a lot of fun in the challenge of going to sea. My first aim was to sail far enough out to get out of sight of land. Terrifying. But the worst bit was trying to find my way back through narrow harbour entrance after dark in rainy weather, with no radar.

Its when you see mussel buoys sliding past the hull, and you realise that you have strayed into a shellfish lease, and any moment your prop is going to get wound up with thick rope, that it suddenly all seems like a bad idea.

For all that, I have some really good memories of sunny days, watching the dolphins and birdlife, the snorkelling ..... oh yeah, thats the day I ran out of fuel in front of the ferry terminal with the three level car ferry about to dock ........