We began our journey around the Great Loop about a year ago. We have yet to be on a boat on the water for the first nautical mile. But we have been on the loop just the same. I have been reading everything I can on the loop. Pam has been listening to everything I have been telling her about the loop. We have developed a strategy for completing the loop. But we lacked one essential ingredient. The boat!
While we were making all of these plans we did not even own the Big Boat yet. But that is part of the journey isn’t it? Finding the right boat to spend the necessary time to travel some 5500 miles is part of the adventure.
So what is the “right” boat? That question has been asked of the different forums on the Internet. As a matter of fact it is asked with great regularity. I have read with keen interest MTOA, AGLCA and Trawler forums to name a few to determine the requirements of a great loop boat.
The answer seems to be universal. The right boat is the boat that is right for you. Of course there are many elements that make the boat right for you. Length, width, height, number of engines, generator and luxuries all determine the right boat. Then there is the other things that cannot be quantified like does the boat feel like home when you walk aboard.
The final amount of money required to purchase, equip and operate the boat sometimes is the overriding element of determining the right boat. After all if you purchase the greatest boat in the world but can not afford to equip it or run it, then you will never leave the dock. Also, if you purchase the least expensive boat in the world but can not afford the repairs to make it capable of making the loop then you will never leave the dock.
Our quest began in absolute ignorance. Well maybe not ignorance, but inexperience which can appear to be the same thing. We did not know the answer to any of the vital questions about the boat we wanted. Heck we had not even run a boat larger than an 18 ft. run about with a 50 horse outboard on back. So length and width were merely numbers to us. The concept of two engines vs one engine was beyond our comprehension. But then we started looking at the size of these engines along with fuel consumption and engine hours. Our heads were spinning. I could go on with this for hours. The options that determine the right boat are endless.
The most common sage advise for determining the right boat is to make a list of your requirements. As discussed previously we did not know enough to make a list.
So I am writing this after we found our right boat. I could not attempt to write this during the process. If I had I would have sounded like a babbling idiot. Every other blog would have been 180 deg. out of phase. It took dozens of times walking aboard boats to even begin narrowing down our list of vitally important items. We had no idea what the actual answer was, just the question.
On the subject of walking aboard boats, let me say that the boating community is one of the most helpful and friendly communities that we have been a part of. Our standard mode of operation was to walk around one of the marinas in our area looking at boats. There was a nice Grand Banks. I really like the looks of that Defever. Wow could we ever afford that Fleming? And then it would happen. Someone would be washing their boat. We would say hello. That would lead to a conversation about their boat. Their likes and dislikes about boats in general. Their plans and experiences. Then they would invite us to board their boat. I love this community. I have babbled enough.
After driving at least three brokers crazy we started narrowing down the choices we deemed important on our list. We wanted:
- 45 to 50 ft. length
- 14 to 16 ft. width
- two engines
- sundeck
- cockpit
- fly bridge
- spacious saloon
- two state rooms
- two heads
- lower helm
- aft master state room, and
- open galley.
That is the short version. There were literally 30 more items on our list. But let me say, we still missed some important things. So if you have begun your journey by looking for the right boat don’t fret about making the right choice. No matter which boat you choose, there will be some things that you will wish were different. There will be some things that will surprise you because you did not even think about them. And there will be some things that you thought were so important that you will find out is totally unnecessary.
At least that is my experience so far, but then I am only a novice and I am still learning about the greatest adventure I can imagine. Maybe your experience will be different.
Bye George 