The Opposite of 2 Feet-itus. Anyone downsized?

MrBill_FLL · May 29, 2013

IMHO,
you didn't go big enough to make it worth it. should have gone to 35-40' length.

at 28' you have a little big boat.

MrUnix · May 29, 2013

We downsized for most of the reasons you gave.. the biggest reasons were because it was water bound and deep, which we not only found limiting, but costly as well. I can imagine some different situations where bigger would be better, but for us, having the boat in the yard and being able to take it where we want to sail is a big advantage.

Cheers,
Brad

Stu Jackson · May 29, 2013

If your batteries were dead, it seems to mean something wasn't right. The trick is to get things working, not lament that they aren't. We put off buying a bigger boat for 10 years, 'cuz I thought taking the outboard into the shop for regular maintenance was way easy.

Turns out I learned about our diesel in six months, took about a year for the electrical system to dig in to my pea brain.

Sorry you had such a bad experience, but after having a C22 for a few years, and a C25 outboard for 13 years, I enjoy our hot showers and creature comforts. Standing headroom is nice, too.

Otherwise, your boat, your life, your choice. Your reasons all make sense, regardless of what others may have done.

Do a search on "downsizing" on this and other forums, there's lots there.

Good luck whatever you choose to do.

tommays · May 29, 2013

I like my Cal 29 and it was chosen on purpose after long term J24 ownership and at this point in my life the 29 is as close as we want to come to camping and we camped plenty on the J24

We like to take new people sailing and at are age nobody likes sliding around the J24 deck every tack anymore and it was really a turn off for MANY people

When I refit the Cal I was very meticulous about electric stuff with 100% new stuff carefully installed and at its 3rd season the 43 year old A4 continues to run fine as all it needs is a bit of clean gas and electric

A 99 dollar on sale Pod and a hunk of mercuriser sterndrive wiring harness which has the correct color code good shrink crimps and you have a reliable motor

I have no idea how ANYTHING worked on the boat when I got it

I cant see how a brand new boat could be any more reliable if you do a good repair

Nodak7 · May 29, 2013

Well Joel you had me empathizing with you until I got to....

JoelHoover said:
.... I actually miss the porta-potty. Putting on the gas mask and the gloves and dumping that thing in the marina restroom is much more hassle free than dealing with the pump-out service.......

.... after that I knew you had gone to the boswain's locker to look for a length of "chow line".....

Yup the bigger boats (I have had a Mac and a 33) are a bigger pain in the a$$ but the creature comforts (not to say how much happier the Admiral is) are worth it.

IMHO

kenn · May 29, 2013

JoelHoover said:
Has anyone gone from big boat to small boat?

...

Can I get a witness?

Amen...

Although I've been sailing since age 15, we didn't buy a boat til our late 40's... cos my beloved wasn't going to share in my windsurfing. So we're late to the party.

But through a combination of research, budget and luck, we bought a 19' trailerable that's fun to sail, and pleasant enough accommodation for a few days. And dirt cheap to own and maintain. We also lucked into an active owners' association that has enhanced our enjoyment, not least the annual sailing get-togethers at interesting locales.

So, for the seven years we've owned her, we've had low-cost fun, few hassles, and we've trailered her to several of the many fantastic sailable lakes within 6 hours of home. At more than one destination we've run into people who upgraded from a similar small boat... and regretted it.

Don't get me wrong - we do hope to buy a larger boat someday and run down the ditch to Florida or the Caribbean for the winter. I'm also making part of my income from servicing larger yachts. But I have no intention of ever selling our current boat; it's just too much fun and opportunity for the money, and I expect our first boat will also be our last boat.

So, yeah, we like small boats.

MrBill_FLL · May 29, 2013

Hey Joel, I got a laser for when it was too much work to launch the trailer sailor, So I understand.

have you looked at the tanzer 22?

Merlin Clark · May 29, 2013

For Work related accident reasons, I downsized from a Gulfstar 41 to a Morgan 24 and am happy with the move for a lot of reasons, including the huge savings in maintenance, repairs and insurance costs. Got my own dock so no cost there. I figure the $1k a month difference is paying for my waterfront.

Ray Bowles · May 29, 2013

We started with a Hunter 26 and after a few years bought a 38 Island Packet and moved aboard. After close to 3 years we realized that crusing was great but we didn't get enough actual sailing in. When we went to a different island or area it required 1/2 a day to prepare to shove off and a day to put everything to rest when we got to where we wanted to be. Insurance was also getting very hard to get and quite expensive. We now sail a 23' San Juan. We take about 4 trips of 3 to 6 days a summer and I sail at least 2 full days a week by myself.
This is more enjoyable for us. What do you do?
Ray

Andy1237 · May 29, 2013

We traded up from 21 to 29.5 to 34. We now want to take one step back. We would even step back further but I'm trying to ease into the smaller boat. Location is the key.

Alan Gomes · May 30, 2013

I downsized from a 1987 Catalina 30 MK-II to a 1984 Ericson 26-2. Though I liked the Catalina 30 and felt it was a fine boat, I also concluded that it was more boat than I needed. I singlehand most of the time and, while I had no problem in doing so with the C30, I found that I simply did not need a boat that large for my many solo trips. The Ericson 26 is about as small as I could go and still have adequate creature comforts for my numerous trips to Catalina Island. I also find this smaller, tiller-steered boat more fun to sail.

Another consideration is that the expenses are less for many things: the slip is cheaper as well as costs for haul outs and sails. The boat is large enough to cruise with two comfortably enough for several days for those times when I do go with another person along, but more than two would probably be tight.

I've had the boat for less than a year and am still in the process of outfitting it to suit my desires and needs. I'll have a better sense of how the downsizing has worked out after I've got a few remaining items dialed in and have had more time with the boat in a variety of situations. But so far it seems to be working out pretty well.

rgranger · May 30, 2013

I had a Coronado 25' "stuck" at a marina and realized I really missed having a trailerable boat... so I went down to a Mac 22'. I LOVED that boat and took her on many great adventures... that said... I also got my whole family hooked on cruising so I recently sold the Mac 22 (I already miss that boat) and purchased a Balboa 26. It is still trailerable but it is a much bigger deal to launch and retrieve. I guess if you understand why and how you use the boat... you will make the right decision.

shemandr · May 30, 2013

I sold my 356 because it just got too expensive for me. You've heard of some expenses being "A bleeding wound". This had become a spurting artery. Mostly it was the boatyard. I'll be looking for a "trailerable" sailboat. I mean one I can put on a trailer at the end of the season and take somewhere other than a boatyard for storage. So I'm in the process of downsizing.
I've been sailing on a friend's Seafarer 23 and I'm amazed at the simplicity of a push off the dock, 2 minutes of motoring, and then the sails go up and off we go.

Scott T-Bird · May 30, 2013

I would be better off in smaller boat considering our location, but I have enjoyed learning about the "big" boat systems that I have on mine. It's hard for me to imagine that you could want a small boat given your location. I wouldn't feel comfortable.

Last night, my son and I were re-bedding the shroud plates and I looked over at the 25' O'Day on stands next to my boat. I happened to recall the account of another forum member who had a dismasting earlier this year. Well, no wonder ... the shroud plates were attached to the deck with what looked like 4 #8 lag screws and the fitting itself looked to be a thin piece of sheet metal about 1/16"-inch thick or less. I compared my fitting which is a hunk of SS about 1/4" thick (at least) attached with 4 - 5/16" SS through bolts to a similarly robust chainplate which is attached to a bulkhead below deck with about 8 more through bolts (on each side).

The comparison in robustness between a 27' and a 25' boat is significant in this particular case. Granted, my mast is a real mast, not a flimsy cylindrical tube with mast fittings and the sail area would be significantly different based on the extra 5' (or so) of mast length.

I couldn't see myself taking a smaller boat to Catalina or some similar adventure with a slightly smaller boat that has such a substantially inferior rig capability. One of the sailors on our lake that I spoke with moved up from a Catalina 22 to a Catalina 25 precisely for the reason that the flimsyness of the rig spooked him ... even though we are on a very small body of water. I look at the Catalina 25 rig and don't see much improvement ... it's not even closely as robust as my rig. I wouldn't sail with any confidence on the ocean or any of the Great Lakes on any boat that had a rig that is lesser than mine (unless it was a beach type boat and I felt like I would enjoy a swim to shore).

Obviously, there are smaller boats that are built like a tank, but then you wouldn't have the simplicity that you seem to want. But I find it odd about your notion of simplicity, when reliablilty would seem to be the hallmark of simplicity. How could you want an outboard in rough water and how is it easier to handle an outboard that hangs off the back rather than an inboard with a rudder that steers like a civilized boat? How could you want to dispose of the contents of a porta-potty when pumping out is so much easier? How can you want a mast that comes down so easily, and likely will at the wrong time?

Yikes! I don't second the notion, especially where you are located.

tkanzler · May 30, 2013

I recently went from an H340 to a Mac 26X. On purpose.

There were a lot of reasons for it, but the main ones included not using the bigger boat as much as I'd like, even though I single-handed it a lot (even with others on board

), and I just couldn't put enough time together in large chunks to take trips to placesI want to go. Like the Erie Canal (long ride to get there, and the mast has to come down). And the Thousand Islands (a longer ride still). And some of the Finger Lakes (only two of them connected by canals to the EC). And maybe even south to warm weather this or next winter.

And my kids lost interest once the novelty wore off. with this boat, my younger son taught himself to wakeboard. And I don't mind letting my older son take the boat out himself (with another for crew), with the younger one soon to follow.

And I can work on it in the driveway, as it's even hard to put time together to drive the 20 minutes just to get to the marina, and if I forget something, the task is modified or suspended. A royal pain, but not so with the boat in the driveway.

I could go on and on, but for now, this is a much better way to sail. I may go back to a keelboat when I retire, if I ever retire, and if I get a place with a dock in the backyard, but trailer sailing has many advantages, not the least of which is cost, but many others in addition.

I do miss my dock queen, though. :cry:

Skipper · May 30, 2013

I've always moved up - 25 to 26 to now 30. I very much miss the Capri 26 with Honda outboard. I now have a Universal M-18 14HP diesel, which is 29 years old but has been flawlessly reliable. I also love the sound the 2-cylinder M-18 makes. Still, for practical purposes, prefer an outboard for coastal cruising. Should not be used offshore.

Why I prefer outboards for coastal cruising:

Easy maint
Low cost maint
Easy\low cost to replace (HUGELY easier)
No smoke
No smell
No internal fuel hoses, tanks, etc
No internal coolant issues\leaks
No internal wiring to track down
No shaft alignment, packing adjustment and replacement, etc.
Vector thrust
More interior boat space
No crab pots, weeds, or other junk fouled on the prop to dive after or strand you - just tilt the motor and clear it
Tilt the motor up when moored to save zincs and\or corosion and fouling
Start the motor with a dead battery, or failed starter or starter circuit wiring. Then charge the battery back up with the alt. BTW, get an OB with an alt