My previous
motor boat was a Channel Islands 22 , a
twin engined vessel created by the same designer and despite the fact that I
didn’t enjoy motor cruising anything like as much as sail cruising, she served
me very well for several years – so I have confidence in the man and his work.
So the Halcyon
27 might just be ideal.
Well, the
Halcyon has full standing headroom in the saloon
(6ft), and a reputation for a very sea kindly motion. She is described as a ‘classic small offshore cruiser - a tough, seaworthy little boat’ which I find
slightly strange given that I pretty much discarded a Westerly Centaur on the
grounds that at 26ft, she was a little too big for my needs. She also has a
good long traditional keel which means she goes in a nice straight line (directional
stability) and can be set to steer herself quite easily. Some have been taken
on long offshore cruises and some have been circumnavigated.
Ok
so what’s the downside? Well, that beautiful long keel draws 4ft, and to get
the best out of my cruiser I need a vessel which draws no more than three. Ahg!
Dealbreaker!
Not
to be put off though, I began to dig a little deeper. There is another Halcyon! The Halcyon 23 was also designed by Alan Buchanan in the
1960s. At first,she was known as the "Crystal" but after several
changes in the accommodation plan, the vessel was taken into production by
Offshore Yachts Ltd. in 1965. She was a popular model which remained in
production until 1975 when the company was forced to close down after a fire in
the shipyard.
Would you
believe it? The Halcyon 23 also draws more than I can accept. Another blind
alley but an interesting piece of research none the less.
So, I have to be
philosophical about this. Somewhere, out there, there is a boat for me, the
more I look, the better chance I have of finding her.
Talking of
chances, there is a very popular cartoon series on French television all about
a group of creatures called Shaddocks. A Shaddock, poor thing, only has four
compartments in his brain, which means he can only cope with four actions or
pieces of knowledge. If, for example, he can walk, talk, count to ten and light
a fire, he has to shed one of these skills if he wants to learn to kick a ball.
The bane of the Shaddocks lives are the Moonies – cynical, sarcastic, wasters
who take great pleasure in making the Shaddocks lives miserable. To escape the
Moonies, the Shaddocks have decided to build a rocket and emigrate to the moon
but every time they build a rocket it fails to fly and usually explodes. Does
that stop the Shaddocks? No way -! they have a party after every failed attempt.
Why? Because the Moonies have told them that the chances of them building a craft
to get to the moon are 1000 to 1 against. Now to the Shaddocks, this brings
hope. They only have to fail 999 more times – each failure brings them
closer to success!
Maybe I should
adopt a similar approach.
Seaward
Hi David
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting post. I admire that you are sticking to your guns. One has a boat for a long time so you might as well hold out and get something that will suit all your requirements. There are such a range of boats around at reasonable prices these days that it would be easy to rush in and make a big mistake. It’s a number s game and the longer you look the better your chance of coming up with something that is a good fit.
Also if you were to plump for one design that would be bad news for your readers as your search aspect would be over.
One thing thatI’m coming around to though its not ideal by any means is the concept of sharing. When I was sailing from Swansea to Appledore, and Lundy, it struck me just how few other boats were out sailing in near perfect conditions. Perhaps people just don’t have the time to use their boats, in which case sharing would make sense (that would not be the case for a retired person though). Im not sure how you would find like minded people to share a boat, there must be websites that deal with this sort of thing.
Regards
Michael
No boat is perfect. Off hand, the only coastal cruising boat designs I can think of with a 2' or less draft would be catamarans. Hirondelle, Wharram Tiki 21-26 or Woods Strider
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