We are still in search of the perfect boat. This is not unlike the quest for the unicorn as it is unlikely we will ever find her. In the mean time we are having a wonderful time scaring boat builders with our 39-page "unicorn" specification. Not being born yesterday (not by a long shot) we are applying a well know principal learned back in the heady days of Yuri Gagarin (and lucrative
defense contracts) of being "good enough for government work". This by no means implies that any old scow will do. In fact, after completely tearing apart our old C&C 35 from bow to stern we have learned a few things about what we do and do not want in a new or used boat. We have found it difficult to find a used boat that satisfies some the major
mechanical requirements we seek. At present we are six months into evaluating boat builders for a suitable combination of design, workmanship, economics and that certain something. After all, you really have to like the boat not just have it satisfy a list of needs. We really liked our old boat; it just didn’t satisfy our current needs.
We found it is particularly hard to convince some people, for example boat builders and yacht brokers, that we really want a boat better suited to the open Ocean rather than for sitting near the jagged edges. Having a generator on board to run every night to keep the cabin air conditioned while moored is not a high priority for us. We would just as soon not have the generator or the air conditioning (you can’t imagine the shock this causes some boat builders) opting rather for additional fuel and/or storage space. More importantly this represents two less complex things to break down – something at least generators have a penchant for doing. Not to give the impression that we are out to do a non-stop around the world jaunt, we are looking forward to exploring the many places located on the jagged edges. It’s just that air conditioning, high current 120V appliances (except for my blow dryer) and excessive power budgets are things we would like to avoid.
It is important that the living spaces be well designed not only for practicality and comfort while moored but also for extended offshore passages. For example you wouldn’t believe the boats marketed as “Blue Water Cruisers” that don’t have any place for a pilot berth. In addition, at the bottom of the companionway, our boat has to have a wet locker, a head, and a nav-station (facing the right way – forward). We don’t like traipsing through the entire cabin in wet foulies to check a chart, hang up our foulies coming off watch, or go to the head, which in our case requires us to take off our foulies. You would be surprised at how many boat designs don’t meet these seemingly simple and logical criteria.
Also the last thing we have learned to not overly depend on is a boat’s electrical system. We know from practical experience it gets ugly when they fail or catches on fire (it wasn’t our boat – we were just visiting!). We are not however Luddites. Our ability to set off on this adventure is a direct result of working at the leading edge of technology for many years. We like our toys. The problem with knowing a lot about technology is it creates an underlying utter distrust for it. Sure we will be equipping the boat with the latest navigation technology (we do like toys, remember?) but make no mistake we could chuck the whole lot over the side and it would not affect our ability to get from point A to point B. Our primary navigation tools are still a paper chart, a compass, a sextant and a reliable time piece.
Further installments of this log will give you more details of the decisions we have made while looking form Makara. We do know the rough parameters for the boat:
- Length: 40 to 50 feet - size does matter!
- Material: Fiberglass or Aluminum - we are comfortable with glass but prefer Aluminum
- Construction: Solid – we are looking for a boat that is really built for blue water cruising, not just marketed for blue water cruising (we have found you must be careful when reading boat reviews in magazines)
- Rig: Cutter -We prefer smaller sails that we can manage easily
- Deck Layout: Aft Cockpit - Center cockpits give us nosebleeds
- Interior Layout: See above – in addition a large master cabin, one guest cabin, a proper galley for use in a seaway and storage, storage and more storage.
- Sea Kindly – Not all boats are, and our buoy racing days are over
- Autopilot: Wind Vane – see electrical system discussion above
On a final note, please don’t get the impression that we are we think we know it all – humility is something you learn fast on a boat. Through lots of research, mentors and friends, visits to many boat builders and lots of stupid mistakes (more on these later) we have developed some pretty strong opinions about what the perfect boat looks like. We will let you know how it all turns out, and if there are any unicorns floating out there