Where did we go wrong?

Mrs Yobarnacle is named Hoolya. (Julia) But she prefers the american form "Julie". We are Julie and Dave

 

just to go a little back to the beginning
I am always envious when I see how much fun folks have with "really small" boats

the everglades challenge
http://duckworksmagazine.com/12/gatherings/ec_puddleduck/index.html

anyway enjoy your boating whatever gold taps you like

 

Certainly part of "Where we went wrong" is isolating ourselves from the experience......kind of like today's cars, a cozy womb in which people become invincible and need never be concerned with road conditions.

When the Shipyard Raid would arrive in a bay, 15 open boats full of people obviously having a wonderful time in the pouring rain, those with Bayliners and Beneteaus could only stare in wonder.......pretty soon they'd get curious and come to ask, "What are you folks doing?".......They could not really conceive of one being able to cruise 100 miles through the Gulf/San Juan Islands in perfect safety in a >26' open sailing/rowing boat......most of us had no engine at all......

 

rain is good, as long as it's falling down. i stand outside and enjoy it, licking it off my lips. But horizontal rain?...not fun

 

We did our share of open boat cruising/camping in total open craft and after building/converting this big old dory with it's crawl in shelter we thought this is perfect we'll never need anything more. We remember the experience but forget the hardships.

P.S. And yes that mast is a former spinniker pole.

 

I agree, there's room for every kind of experience when it comes to boating... but roughing it in an open boat isn't everyone's cup of tea (or percolated coffee, as the case may be...) And clearly a small open boat isn't going to have much in the way of dedicated galley facilities...
As far as the rest of it goes - comfortable berths, seating, toilets etc etc etc... it all comes down to the designer paying due attention to the SOR. The requirements for those cruising in temerate regions are going to be different from those in the tropics. A boat made for two long term cruisers will obviously be different from a once-a-month party barge... the list goes on...
It's difficult for production boat builders - they are trying to build a one-size-fits all boat. One of the advantages of custom building....

 

Cruising houseboat. Can use outboard but usually does not.

 

thats really cool B kinda makes me wonder if a pedal power boat of the same concept might not work out ok on a lake or something like that. Maybe even a two person pedal houseboat eh.

 

Pedal power to a good low speed torque prop would be interesting.

 

Some years back I towed a troop carrier to the ship breakers. She was festooned with life boats. They were 50 feet long, and man powered with push pull sliding bars, connected to a crank each side of the reduction gear. I considered buying one , price was $200. I didn't. I mention this because of their props, $ bladed scimiter shaped like the scimiter blades on nuke sub props. Obviously for slow rpm, low torque thrust. Old tec, the ship was from WW II.

 

There's a couple of quite lengthy threads hereabouts on pedal powered boats.

 

Somewhere in one of my DIY boat building books, the author lists minimum and standard dimensions for everything from a companionway hatch to a settee for the average person, including the most comfortable measurements and angles for seating.

But I can't remember whose book it was in. Buehler's, maybe?

 

Ian Nicolson - Boat Data Book...

 

Troy Skenes-Elements of Yacht Designs--page 101 --

 

Ian Nicolson much more detailed --