How much does size matter?

I wouldn't say that that size causes too many problems on the ICW, most marina's can accomodate it, reservations help. If you're going to do the great loop, which I did on a 75' MY, the part from Chicago south can be tough as few marina's can accomodate either the size or draft.

Once you get over 45' reservations are a must. A typical 100 slip marina might have 20 slips that will fit a 46 and 3 or 4 to fit a 50 but only 1 or 2 if any to fit a larger vessel. The marinas that have 100+' on a T or face dock will often have it occupied by a vessel for several days. There can also be power problems if you have twin 50Amp service. I've also run into situations like at Coinjock where Lewis left space for a 50 (my boat- last in) and a 45 (2nd to last boat in for the night). Anybody who's been to Coinjock know that Lewis packs them in with bows overhanging sterns. Well, the 45 was to nervous to make it into the alotted space and so took my spot. With the 50 I was able to take the other spot with about 1" at my bow and stern. Not sure I'd want to do that with a 75. Draft also becomes an issue. Not that you can't do the route, just that you have to be a lot more careful and less relaxed. Another problem is wake. The bigger you are the slower you have to go or your radio will be crackling all day long from ticked off people. For me the ideal combination of comfort vs; convenience on the ICW is about 50'.

I tend to disagree here, and have never had any issues going north or south on a 65-75' with dockage. Yeah I've occassionally had to take the fuel dock without a reservation but rarely. A lot of marina's have slips for a 65-75' and considering 40% of the yachts in that size range have been sold and exported out of the country over the last 4 years, the marina's aren't nearly as tight as they used to be.

Wake is not a problem with the majority of 65-75' MY, the larger length gives a higher displacement speed, which also means you can go faster before you start rolling a wake......for example on a 75' MY I've run a lot, I can do 8.5 knots in a slow speed minimum wake zone and be throwing a 6" wake maximum.

I would be concerned and try to stay under 6' of draft. The difference between 6' of draft and 7' of draft is huge and really really limits where you can go.

Capt J

I am interested in your comment that 40% of the yachts 60-75' have been sold and exported out of the US in the past 4 years. Specifically, in your opinion, was it this size only and were did they end up.

I have seen a lot of big yachts, over 100' come on the market in the past 30 days in Europe. Is this due to the poor charter season or ?

Everyone jump in if you have a view on this.

I do about 3 loadings a month for one of the shipping companies as well as here and there on the others. I also manage 8 yachts here in South Florida. Of all of the yachts I've been loading and managing that have sold they're all going out of the country. A lot to Italy area, Norway a few, Vancouver a few, a few to China, Thailand, 1 to Vietnam, a lot to South and Central America........the destinations seem to change every few months depending on the exchange rate, however I see none coming this way. Florida boat registrations were down over 40% this year over last year.

I'm not sure about the over 100' range, but I'd say it's a combination of a weak charter market which subsidized the cost of ownership, and the weak economy eventually hitting the 100'+ range owners. Costs of ownership have also gone up between, dockage, insurance, fuel, etc....... I would say the VAT tax in Europe is probably another leading contributor.

It's not just the 60-75' size, a lot of smaller ones as well. More smaller ones are leaving then the 60-75' range, but some of those are getting replaced by new boats and staying here by the former owners. A few larger ones as well......

Assuming that you are a couple in this endeavor, a question begs asking: Why so large a vessel, especially for part-time/inland cruising?
A few years back, an elderly (with a lot of boating experience) couple I knew took a year to do the Great Loop--in a 32 Grand Banks. Although I accused them of being sea-going backpackers, they maintained that smaller was simpler.

Now, of course, if you drive a Chevy Suburban around the corner for a can of cat food....

The bigger issue is not going to be LOA/LWL but draft and how many feet of water you draw to safely nav. in and out of some areas. 99% of it you'll be fine with, but it's always that 1% that gets you.

While not the same waters you've mentioned in your post, we've found that draft is of greater consideration than LOA has been, specifically in the Great Lakes. We have yet to do the great loop which would include the ICW of FL, which we plan to in a few years should we have this same or similar boat for such cruising.

You can run them at 1000 rpm's for up to 6 hours, then run them at 2000 rpms or even 2050 for 30 minutes and you should be ok. It helps if they run at engine temp at 800-1000 rpm's. But i've put many hours on a set of 12v71 TI's this way without issues. DD recommended this if I was to run it that way, it should be ok.

Regarding the wake, in the Tn valley area it is more of a function of the perception that goes along with the big boat than the actual wake. I can run my 60 with a nominal wake and get "the call." I don't even try to explain anymore. My friend that is plowing a nice big wake in his 37 does not even get a look when he is trying to catch me.

We find the same thing in performance boats. They go nuts over a performance boat running with a 6" wake. A bow rider cane come by on a half plane and not even get a look.

I think the comfort level of a bigger boat outweighs the times that you have trouble finding a dock, but for the typical cruising couple 60' is easier than 75 to bring in and out of the dock and wash down when you get there.
Another thing to consider with the larger boats is the bridge clearance if you plan on the Erie Barge Canal and the bridges in Chicago if you plan the Loop.

The size is up to you to determine based on how much space you'll need, how much you want to invest and whether or not you want to have crew on your boat (and of course berths, bridges and locks, etc).

The size of the wake is mostly a matter of hull shape. Steer away from hard chine hulls with large immersed stern areas if you want to spend a lot of time cruising at slow speeds in inland waters. You'll notice the difference in the fuel bill as well.

So yes, size matters, but not so much for the size of a wake. I've once seen a small pilot vessel side by side with a tanker in the canal to Rotterdam. The 10 m pilot vessel was throwing a much bigger wake than the 200 m tanker travelling at the same speed.