Photo by Muffy Aldrich
The Modern Guide to The Thing Before Preppy

Thursday, July 9, 2020

Question for the Community: Which Vessel?

All Photos by Salt Water New England
Part of the fun of spending some time on the water is the variety of vessels one encounters.  Given that, a question for the community:
If you could go out on any kind of boat for a few hours this afternoon, what kind would it be?























51 comments:

  1. A 12-m or a J...⛵️

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  2. More and more, your site is an oasis from the negativity in the world. It's a reminder me to be a better version of myself. Thank you.

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  3. Any Herreshoff I was lucky enough to be on! Thanks so very much!

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  4. Preferably a beetlecat but I'll take anything wind powered.

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  5. If there is any wind at all I want to be on anything with sails from a dinghy to a Maxi. If there is no wind I want something with a good galley and a comfortable fantail, big enough for a picnic. If this is true fantasy I would probably pick a PJ somewhere around 40', provided there is a good crew along for the fun.

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  6. I would really like to learn how Concordias sail. I have heard so much about them and always admired them from afar. Would love to try one out just for an afternoon.

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  7. Any of them!
    MaryAnne

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  8. There is no wind here. So I think an MJM 50Z. Wow what a boat !

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  9. Call me simple, but I'm a sucker for a wooden canoe on a wide open lake.

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  10. Kayak or a Laser. Something where i could get wet in the heat/humidity.

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  11. Although I have both an Old Town canoe and a kayak, I think I'd rather be out with on my late father-in-law's speedboat. Second choice is the ferry to Ocracoke.

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  12. Even though my kayak is easier to transport and carry, I would take my canoe because I can take my dog with me.

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  13. Any sailboat under fifty feet.

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  14. Something with a galley, a head and someplace on deck to take a nice nap.

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  15. Nothing smaller than a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier. I get sea-sick easily.

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  16. A single scull.

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  17. Whaler...of-course!

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  18. Sailfish, Sunfish, sailing dinghy — anything like that so long as there's room for only me. Y'all can go find your own boat, he said grumpily, untying the painter.

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  19. Great question! Viper 640.

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  20. I've been lucky enough in my life to cox an eight man shell, sail in a Herreschoff, ride in a Boston Whaler and other variations of same and my family owned a WOODEN catboat. I've even been on a Garvey clamboat with a man who tongs(not rakes!) quahogs. I think a ride in a Hinkley on Narragensett Bay would be a fine thing!

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  21. I might pass unfortunately. I seem to have bad experiences in boats, beginning at the age of seven, which traumatized me for a very long time! But just today my husband has gone on his annual primitive camping trip to Shackleford Banks with a friend and our Labrador in his Hobie something-or-other. I love the ocean but prefer to enjoy it from the beach!

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  22. What a timely question - my Herreshoff America will be in the water by 10AM today.

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  23. The Hallberg-Rassy 42 is a thing of beauty and one of the saltiest boats (sloop or ketch) around, and has a beautiful deck. But I'd also be happy with the understated Swan 44. The Scandis make superior boats!

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  24. Well! This is bad. I didn't know what a Herreshoff America was and now I want one. How beautiful.

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  25. A ride in that yacht's helicopter for a few hours would be a real treat.

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  26. A large yacht along the lines of the ones featured in either Thunderball (1965), or The Last of Sheila (1973).

    Best Regards,

    Heinz-Ulrich

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  27. How about that nice Sweden 34, Muffy? Tell us where we all should meet you. I'll bring ice, money for gas and some food that isn't too messy.

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  28. I vote for a 1920s Elco yacht. 60 footer would be OK with me.

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  29. A classic Riva Aquarama would be the dream. But I'd settle for the Orca used in Jaws just as long as Quint was captain. "Slow ahead."

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    1. I think you're going to need a bigger boat ; )

      The Concord Diaspora

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  30. I was about to say an Herreshoff Watch Hill 15, but that's not really what I'd long for. No.

    My grandfather had a nondescript, 24-foot wooden fishing boat with an outboard Evinrude. Some might have called it a ‘stink pot.’ He kept it at the Indian Neck Yacht Club at the far navigable reach of the Branford River. Every spring, I'd help with the maintenance. Scraping, painting, varnishing. I'll wager I lost more brain cells stripping spar varnish than I ever lost to alcohol. Nonetheless, I have memories of a man I loved dearly, who treated me with incredible kindness and love and many of those memories occurred on that boat. Whether it was quietly making our way up the Branford River, letting it rip once we made our way to the Sound, or having a great day of fishing at the Cow & Calf ... I can remember them all. And in all those memories is my grandfather. He loved the water, was an incredibly skilled boatman, but most of all, he was a wise and gentle soul. In many, many situations, he would tenderly push me to “try just a little harder” to help me learn the ways of the world and, most importantly, learn that I could do things I doubted I could do. Boats are just boats after all; just chunks of wood and varnish and sail. It’s the people; not the vessel. I’ll gladly take the stink pot and my grandpa.

    Aiken

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    1. Same here. That's why I mentioned my father-in-law's speedboat. He head several boats, some of which would float. He was not a sailor, though, and once, as a member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary, he stopped to see what the problem was for a boat that was dead in the water. It was just a small sail boat and the wind wasn't blowing. He was an aeronautical engineer (pre-aerospace, he liked to say) and saw everything as an engineering problem. By no means gentle, he was still thoughtful and generous and sorely missed.

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  31. I would like to be aboard the ferry "Lilly B," on my way to Bustins Island in Casco Bay outside of Freeport.

    The Concord Diaspora

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  32. For a short afternoon sail, I find that LOA is inversely correlated to fun and function. I'd sooner take out a Rhodes 19 than a bluewater vessel if it were just for the day. In that timespan you're bound to have more fun in a small, responsive vessel than a large and grand one, much in the same way that a go-kart is more fun than a touring car.

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  33. Of those pictured, I'd take a ride on that weird thing in photo 5, just to see it in action.

    I have very little experience on the water, but a friend in law school had a Hobie Cat 16, and that was flat-out fun

    NCJack

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  34. I didn't know what #5 was either, but found out that it called "The Maltese Falcon" and was purchased for about $100 million from the original owner and designer of this boat.

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    1. Here's 15 seconds of it overtaking the camera boat:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ONLhf1L8oI&feature=emb_logo

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  35. Apparently it can cross the Atlantic in 10 days

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  36. Sculling down Manklin Creek in my empacher.

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  37. Being from Wisconsin. . . put me on the aft deck of a good old Burger yacht with an ice cold Belvedere martini.

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  38. Sail, preferably a Cape Dory Typhoon. It's the boat on which I learned to sail. On Buzzards Bay, natch.

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  39. Sailing big: Hinckley DS 42; Sailing small: Vanguard 15
    Power big: Hinckley Picnic 34; Power small: Boston Whaler 15 Super Sport

    Can only pick one? Vanguard 15.

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  40. I love a Hinkley style boat. i am not versed in the model, maybe a picnic type boat?

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  41. My own Marshall 22!

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