Tips on Choosing the Right Open Water Ship

There are many different types of sailboats and not all of them are made to withstand the open ocean. You want something that will be both fast and durable so there are certain compromises that must be made. The balance of those compromises is incredibly important because no matter how enjoyable the adventure may be, your survival is still on the table.

An open water vessel is designed to recover quickly from a 180-degree overturn without sinking. Think about that. Its ridiculous. What is crazier is that apparently that can happen quite often. If you listen to the interview on my blog with Michael King, you will hear him say that it happens quite frequently. I am not going to lie to you, I would probably pee at least a little bit if that happened to me. 

So, with that in mind you need to take all of these things into serious consideration when choosing your vessel. 

1. Make sure it is both big enough to hold up in crappy weather and small enough for you to handle. 
2. It must be in sound condition and structure, and a dry boat. 
3. It needs to have good ventilation through the cabin. 
4. A heavy displacement cruiser with a full keel (It has to sit pretty deep in the water.)
5. Diesel engine powered at no less than 3 hp/ton. This makes it strong enough to make its way when motor sailing even outside the harbor. 
6. Get a firm fiberglass hull because it is easier to look after. 
7. Fiberglass deck because it is easy to maintain and make sure it doesn’t leak before you buy it. 
8. Lots of easy to reach and well ventilated storage. You need to have enough room for clothes and supplies. 
9. Good footing on the deck. 
10. Good drainage on the deck for when it is raining or you are punching through waves. Fun stuff. 
11. Through bolted deck cleats. 
12. 2 anchors. The backup is for typhoon conditions. Also make sure you have plenty of extra chain. 
13. A large fuel tank with a range of at least 500 nautical miles. 
14. Outsized water tanks that will support your crew at least a month without rainwater catching. 
15. Keel stepped mast. 
16. Good handholds and deck room. 
17. Make sure all of the berths can accommodate a guy that is at least six feet tall. 
18. Refrigerator. 
19. Autopilot
20. Swim ladder. 
21. Cloths to put up between the off crew and the common area. 
22. Propane stove
23. Instructional manuals on how to repair everything. 
24. Maintenance record. 
25. Deisel heater. 
26. Life raft, man overboard module, flares, fire blanket, fire extinguishers. 
27. Marine VHF radios. 
28. Dinghy with an outboard motor so you can get on land. 
29. Radar. 
30. Wind Instruments
31. Depth Sounder
32. And make sure the boat is pretty. It’s like your wife. Your going to be looking at her for a long time so make sure your ok with that. 

Sails:

1. Jib with roller furling.
2. Staysail that is easy to detach.
3. Stormjib.
4. Storm trysail.

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