Lake Michigan Crossing to Beaver Island, '25

drewm3i said:
Hey, who you callin' small?! ;) :cool:

With a VHF (x2), GPS (x2), trim tabs, and some other basic safety gear (manual bilge pump, etc.), I would take this boat many places along the coast of the Chesapeake, East Coast, Great Lakes, and Florida. She really is great for short-term (4-5 day) "adventure boating."

Though the wife and I actually just acquired a live aboard sailboat that we will be refitting over the next few years with long-distance cruising ambitions (at least coastal cruising Maine and/or the Caribbean if we can make it happen) though!
Click to expand...

Coastal cruising is a great thing to do. After having many 19 to 29ft boats and finding we just can't carry what we really need. Now the 40ft'er comes along and opens up a new world. With the smaller boats, we only went about a 80 miles north and south of Boston. With planed stops that had fuel.

Now we can go just, and to too. I am thinking that your sail boat must be in the 38 to 45 ft. You will need AIS and radar. If your going to the Caribbean, you will need a water maker. Or pay 0.50 to 2 dollars a gallon. The Bahamas now require you to have AIS. Never been there, but my friends have and love it. Someday I may get there by boat. The trip now is to do part of the Great Loop next winter, I hope!

The sail boat engine, is that diesel?
 
Thats great!! When you have your sailboat ready, you can go to more places. Now you are on what is called the Great Loop. My boat has done the loop from a past owner. I have gone from Key West to Boston helping a friend bring has boat up. So the trip was on the fast side and I would like to it again.
 
Iggy said:
Thats great!! When you have your sailboat ready, you can go to more places. Now you are on what is called the Great Loop. My boat has done the loop from a past owner. I have gone from Key West to Boston helping a friend bring has boat up. So the trip was on the fast side and I would like to it again.
Click to expand...
 
The great loop is adventure of a lifetime. I had thought one time that it would be neat to take a one way trip from Chicago to New Orleans, and combine it with some land adventures also.

There was what I call my trip of a lifetime. My one son and I did a trip that circumferenced The Great Lakes. It allowed us to experience the water and surrounding land at the same time. Our RV was the boat we lived on. If we could not find a marina we made do. A park or a roadside rest, one night in a Walmart parking lot, another in a Home Depot. We had no time schedule, we just lived and enjoyed the ride, 28 days and 3,500 miles.
 
Last edited:
Iggy said:
Coastal cruising is a great thing to do. After having many 19 to 29ft boats and finding we just can't carry what we really need. Now the 40ft'er comes along and opens up a new world. With the smaller boats, we only went about a 80 miles north and south of Boston. With planed stops that had fuel.

Now we can go just, and to too. I am thinking that your sail boat must be in the 38 to 45 ft. You will need AIS and radar. If your going to the Caribbean, you will need a water maker. Or pay 0.50 to 2 dollars a gallon. The Bahamas now require you to have AIS. Never been there, but my friends have and love it. Someday I may get there by boat. The trip now is to do part of the Great Loop next winter, I hope!

The sail boat engine, is that diesel?
Click to expand...
It is a Hunter Legend 37.5 that I picked up for--I kid you not--$1,000. The boat needs some work, but is actually in great condition overall; it was an estate sale item that never really hit the public market.

It has a ~40HP Yanmar so super reliable, simple, and efficient. It already has solar and what not. I will update everything, etc. I don't know if i will add radar--it would be a very low priority for now. My ambitions would be to go to the Dry Tortugas and Bahamas from Maryland; maybe a summer cruise up north to Maine as well-- I will post some pics soon!

Cheers!
 
drewm3i said:
It is a Hunter Legend 37.5 that I picked up for--I kid you not--$1,000. The boat needs some work, but is actually in great condition overall; it was an estate sale item that never really hit the public market.

It has a ~40HP Yanmar so super reliable, simple, and efficient. It already has solar and what not. I will update everything, etc. I don't know if i will add radar--it would be a very low priority for now. My ambitions would be to go to the Dry Tortugas and Bahamas from Maryland; maybe a summer cruise up north to Maine as well-- I will post some pics soon!

Cheers!
Click to expand...
Yanmar is a very good engine! Parts are easy to get, no spark plugs, low maintenance over gas, better MPG. The thing with diesels is, you must keep an eye on the primary and secondary filters. If the boat has been sitting for a year or two. You may want to polish the fuel first. You don't want the engine to quit when you need it the most. That engine, if kept up should last you 9000 to 10,000 hours.

I hope you have a bow thruster, if not I would add one. You won't be sorry!!

As to radar and AIS, as the saying goes. I would not leave home without it. I will pick on Maine, full of lobster traps and fog. Radar will show the traps with the gain turned up a little. Oh, Maryland has crab traps. For a $1000 dome, is it worth not getting a trap around your prop. Or hitting another boat that you can't see? I have heard it before, "I never go out in the fog". But fog can happen, you leave the slip and the sun is out. Go 5 or more miles. Hit a wall of fog for a 300 yards to a mile and come right out of it.

Don't mind me on the radar and AIS. Been there done that and wish I had it on my first few boats.
 
Last edited:
Iggy said:
Yanmar is a very good engine! Parts are easy to get, no spark plugs, low maintenance over gas, better MPG. The thing with diesels is, you must keep an eye on the primary and secondary filters. If the boat has been sitting for a year or two. You may want to polish the fuel first. You don't want the engine to quit when you need it the most. That engine, if kept up should last you 9000 to 10,000 hours.

I hope you have a bow thruster, if not I would add one. You won't be sorry!!

As to radar and AIS, as the saying goes. I would not leave home without it. I will pick on Maine, full of lobster traps and fog. Radar will show the traps with the gain turned up a little. Oh, Maryland has crab traps. For a $1000 dome, is it worth not getting a trap around your prop. Or hitting another boat that you can't see? I have heard it before, "I never go out in the fog". But fog can happen, you leave the slip and the sun is out. Go 5 or more miles. Hit a wall of fog for a 300 yards to a mile and come right out of it.

Don't mind me on the radar and AIS. Been there done that and wish I had it on my first few boats.
Click to expand...
I had radar on my last 38' sailboat but went broke outfitting it because I went for every gadget (full electronics suite, autopilot, etc.) before getting the basics down pat LOL. E.g.: replaced all the rigging and broke a chainplate on our first passage from Punta Gorda to Marathon. This time I am going to slow build, starting with the basics first.

Bow thruster?--on a sailboat? ;) In my experience monohull sailboats are easier to dock than any powerboat as they simply glide through the water and carry momentum amazingly well with their dual fins (and weight) under the water (keel + rudder). I think the hardest boat I ever had to dock was a Sea Ray 270 (29'10" LOA with a 9'2" beam, tall profile, and Alpha one drives)--that thing couldn't track for shit LOL.

Re: the fuel: absolutely--from experience, I had that issue on my last sailboat and it caused the motor to conk out upon entering an inlet after getting beat up on Charlotte Harbor. The stalled motor caused us to end up aground as the tide went out--it was definitely an experience I do not wish to repeat so I will definitely be doing a fuel drain and tank polish this time!
 
Many sail boats have bow thrusters. But to each there own.... I do like mine.

After getting "beat up" that strid the tank/s. That's why I mentioned polishing the fuel. Racor has a twin fuel filter setup. I never know they made one until I bought my boat. If the filter gets clogged, turn the handle to the 2nd filter. You may not have to drain the tank, I would polish the fuel first and see how bad the filters are. But thats me...

Never had a sail boat. Good like with the rigging! Oh, some sail boaters at my club are getting into dyeema. There are some You Tube videos on it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top