Largest yacht for experienced owner/operator?

Well if you are injured or sick them you call for a tow assist you into the marina or dock...

Frankly if I m unable to dock the boat, I m not sure I would trust just any crew to do it on his own unless that crew has been trained which is not always the case

When you coming into your home slip, all your lines are there already so set up is minimal and this is what owner operators do the most. On the go, it s really No big deal, you just stop before coming in and put out fenders and lines.. Yeah it take anfew minutes Ans if it s blowing you may have to get back to the helm to reset the boat...

Pascal, you're thinking like an experienced captain, with a lot of single handing experience behind you. You're also thinking that he'll spend most of his time at his home port. You may have missed this: "i'm looking for yacht to mainly cruise the caribbean ......
i have a 42' go fast boat"

I sure as heck wouldn't want to wait for hours on end, for a towboat to show up and tow me back at 8-10 knots if I'm sick or injured!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think you would be best in a 48'-55' and if you want more room maybe up to a 65' anything bigger then you really need a crew, not that it can't be done but it not be safe cruise the Caribbean with just family helping.

I agree, the other thing a lot of people really forget about when going bigger is the size/weight of the docklines and fenders. You get above 60' and everything starts getting REALLY big, bulky, and heavy. The largest boat I ran solo was a 55' express and it was against my best wishes, but the situation dictated that it had to be done. I am a very experienced Captain and even that was a royal pain when it came to getting docked, and someone was on the dock getting the lines I had draped on the railings.

Having family help and running the boat with just your family gets difficult when you get past a certain size. It is also very dangerous, and many fingers have been lost by dock lines, as well as broken bones on inexperienced people tieing up a boat. Also, make sure that your family is interested in helping. I have one owner selling his yacht, because he assumed him and his wife could take the yacht out on day trips, without asking her. She on the other hand hates getting lines and fenders, hates the yacht because of it, and thus the yacht is for sale.

Running a yacht by yourself, is just very imprudent and unsafe and really questions a Captain's decision making and damage mitigation skills as anything can and will happen. Needless to say, I would say 65' would be the absolute upper limit of running it by yourself and with family as crew and that's really stretching it.

Draping the lines

Once a person becomes proficient at deck handing, he knows to drape the lines in a fashion that makes it easy to step off the boat, secure a line and walk down the dock setting the others. That's how single handing is done. However, has anybody not had a boat rock or a gust of wind come up that left you watching a draped line slide off the boat and into the water? Imagine that line wraping on the prop as you slide in between the bow and stern of two pretty yachts on a windy day. That would leave you fending off bow and stern while throwing lines to anyone on the dock and hoping they can save you. Thankfully I've never had one wrap the prop, but the thought is always on my mind.
Most of us with a fair amount of time running boats has single handed boats, as Capt. J put it because: "the situation dictated that it had to be done". My biggest was about 80'. Not fun, not safe.
As for waiting for help to arrive if the solo captain is sick or injured; heart attack, stroke, seizure, broken back, falling overboard. These are just a few of the things that can happen where you are guaranteed that help will not arrive because there's nobody who can get to the radio.

The thing is, problems ALWAYS occur when you're out in rough seas and inclement weather. That's when everything is pushed to it's limits, and it never fails that something goes wrong when that happens. It's also the most dangerous time to get to the engine room, lazarette, etc to fix whatever it is that has happened.

"Once a person becomes proficient at deck handing, he knows to drape the lines in a fashion that makes it easy to step off the boat, secure a line and walk down the dock setting the others. That's how single handing is done"

Absolutely NOT! This is NOT how single handling is done unless you talking under 40' expresses. YOU NEVER STEP OF THE BOAT UNTIL IT IS TIED TO THE DOCK!

In all these years of running my 53 alone, I have never stepped off the boat with lines draped over the railing... I can't even imagine considering that. What i do is bring the boat to the dock, leave the helm and throw the bight of the spring line on the dock behind the cleat. Pull on the bitter end to catch the cleat then secure the bitter end back to the cleat on the boat. This way, regardless of current or wind I can easily spring the boat back into position and repeat the process with the bow and strength lines.

Then I will get off the boat! If the dock has pilings then it s just as easy using the same process.

When you have a heavy high windage boat like the ole Hatt with a deck that s 5' higher than the average floating you quickly realize that jumping on the dock before securing the boat is one stupid idea

Personally unless whoever is with me on the boat has been trained and has experience, they are told to not to even try to help. Most folks don't realize that you can get hurt even with a 40 footer.

This also why i consider that the layout of the boat is a lot more important than it s size. I probably would not be able to safely do the above with a 40 sportfish as it takes too long to come down from the FB. but with a PH MY, or if you have engine controls on the afterdeck like on the 70 i run, the above procedure is easy and safe

Obviously single handling impacts the go/nogo decision, weather and routing options so an prudent owner operator may not go out on an iffy day... Like everything though it s not black or white...

As to all the disaster scenarios, then you shouldn't fly, drive or even sleep alone... what if you have a heart attack in the middle of the night in your bed...

I think an experienced couple could “safely” run a boat up to maybe 70 or 75 ft. The challenges though are really broken into three categories, the actual driving, navigating and docking of the boat, the daily and longer term maintenance, and dealing with crises either underway or at a foreign/remote port that will occur.

The best advice would be to get a 50 to 55 ft boat and run it for a few years to get the appropriate experience of longer distance cruising and a real appreciation of the magnitude of maintenance and systems knowledge before moving up to the possible maximum. The experience though is key as you have to be comfortable docking in a foreign port with an unexpected significant wind and current. You have to be prepared to deal with a fouled prop or engine problem that surprises while docking. You will have occurrences that challenge docking with strong currents or winds if you travel to many ports even if the weather is nice (strong afternoon storms form in FL/Caribbean routinely in nice weather). The experience for both you and your wife to quickly secure the correct lines in a quickly changing environment can only be safely learned with a smaller boat and a moving up process.

We have a 50 ft Viking SC that we travel all over the east coast and Bahamas. After 3 seasons with this boat, I have run the boat alone in a known environment (home port or good weather/low current) but would not travel solo to unknown ports or longer distances except under highly unusual circumstances. I am comfortable running our boat with my 11 year old daughter to unknown ports, but she has passed a boating exam and spent the last several years on the water traveling several thousand miles per year.

Bottom line, I would say a 70 to 75 footer could be safely run by a properly “experienced” couple. The maintenance is probably more than you will expect and to be able to deal with many of those mechanical/electrical problems that will arise during long distance cruising you will have to do a fair bit of your own routine maintenance to really understand the system layouts and have the practical knowledge needed for remote repair.

Hi.

Personally I wouldn't recommend anything over around the 50\55ft for a couple. No matter what the ages.

A 100ft is fine while things working right. BUT one thing goes wrong. Which it will. And you're up S creek. Without a paddle.

Both of you NEED to know how to handle her at all times. in all conditions.

I reckon. Myself. Everybody should have to have a sailing boat first.
One engine. Small. One rudder. and no brakes. (Compared to a power boat.)

You'll learn more in a yr than any other way.
To use windage and tide\Currents in berths and jetty's.

A small telltale on a shroud\Arial, will tell you more than anything what your boat will do after power off. (windage)
Along with a log. to see current. Plus or minus below you.

Have a good strong midship cleat on both sides. and a line. ready to drop.
Mid cleated she ain't going anywhere. Bow and stern next.
to suit current.

As said prior. No foot on land till one rope tied at least.
You can't run on water...

Springing them round in a current on alternate stern lines. is quite interesting too. Then jumping on at last minute.
I'm guilty of that too.
You do learn a lot by yourself.

Turning is easy. Stopping is different.

Find some shallowish water out of the way.
drop a coupla cans. and practice.
Bow to. stern to. alongside.Back t'ween. drive t'ween.
Better if a bit of current too.

With thrusters. Or Zeus drives.a good practice. is a can.
Drive Bow up to it. Then turn boat right round it. 360 Deg's.
Staying bows onWithout driving over it.
First to port. then to stbd. That gives you confidence.

I said "No way. Impossible".
Till I saw it done. You have to watch for the current.
The Boat part is fairly easy.

Mate was a tug skipper. That was one of their tests.
He used to let me practice along with the crew.
When training on standby.

Go out on a tug one day.
Realise just how incompetent WE really are.
and what CAN be done with a boat\ship..with a real
Professional.
It's a real eye opener.

Handling a boat of about 65 ft. is not that difficult if you are willing to take training serious. It´s the unexpected situations that can make it unpleasant.
Having someone with you you can rely on is priceless, especially when docking in unpleasant situations and unknown ports.

Hell is when you have someone who starts discussing maneuvers while docking, just becaus he is capable of handling a boat himself. every boat has only one captain.

I own and operate a 65ft. motoryacht myself and feel safe to do the docking maneuver and lines stuff single-handed in my homeport when the weather is not too nasty, but I´d allways have a second hand aboard when going to other ports. I have a few friend i can absolutely rely on and docking is such fun with them aboar I could do it for hours, even in difficult places. But I allready had to go out with some fellows who were overly confident in their basically non-existent skills, and even though I introduced them to their part of the job in every detail the started making silly things, did not react when I addressed themor even tried risky stunts to get ashore for docking. Beeing resonsible for such foolish actions (and as skipper you are responsible for every idiot aboard) is no pleasure.

Next thing is maintenance, cleaning and repairs. I do most of that stuff myself as I feel most qualified to understand my boat (only because I designed an built it, does not apply to other boats).
Which means: Captain at sea but a janitor in port.

So do yourself a favor and never buy a boat bigger than needed to fullfill your expectations. Less work and trouble means more enjoyment.

I'd say about 55' just fromt the simple perspective of, is your wife really going to be able to heave 3/4" lines or larger and 36" long or larger fenders, be able to possibly pull against the weight of the boat on the line, tighten the line as the boat is drifting away from the dock, or safely get around to get all of the lines. The other consideration is this.

I'm a Captain and 35 years old. I am no owner, however if I was, I sure as hell would rather spend my cruising time enjoying my yacht while paying a Captain. I'm rather young compared to a lot of our owners and there are a lot of days, I am exhausted when we get into the dock, granted I travel more hours in a day and further than most owners. However as an owner, I'd like to take the helm when I so choose and not be glued to it for 8+ hours a day, I'd like to get into the dock and take a shower and go to dinner, not spend 2 hours rinsing and chamoising a boat after an already exhausting day. I'd also rather relax at night rather than changing fuel filters, or fixing something that broke, or calling mechanics to fix an engine or any other myriad of problems that occur cruising. That's too much like work, and not what yachting is all about.

I think size greatly depends on your cruising area and cruising style as well. Would it be easy to keep up with a 65' MY on the great lakes as an owner/operator. Sure, you don't have to rinse salt off at the end of the day, the cruising is more open water/deep, and less things break less often than in salt water. Put that same boat in the Carribbean where stainless needs to be polished and the entire boat needs to be waxed every 3 months, and the entire boat needs to be washed or at least rinsed and chamoised everytime it blows 25 knots, NO.

I have witnessed a seasoned couple roll a canoe after leaving a landing. I bring this up to point out, stuff happens, even the best crew can screw up a dock landing and the next solo operator can come in perfect.
What size can a person or crew handle? Who knows. What size can you and your wife, spouse, mate, friend handle? Who knows.
Are you responsible and are operating with a sober mind, best seamanship available when you do anything with a ship, around other people and property? You better know well.

With adequate training these should be easy runs but as GY mentioned picking up moorings from a boat that size isn’t easy. I don’t know what the set up is at Catalina but we deal with moorings in the Exumas with fairly short lines which don’t make it easy. It s one of the few cases where remote controls systems would come in handy. Since I can’t see the mooring ball from the bridge, we now pick it up amidship so I can control the boat from the aft deck while watching the ball. Then we pass along line and walk it to the bow.

Mooring at Catalina for a boat that size is often difficult to find and is on the outside edge of the harbor so wind and waves can be challenging. The harbor people will assist you, but mooring by yourself would be nearly impossible so essential whoever is with you is trained to assist. 70' moorings are far more readily available than anything bigger.

On a longer trip, do you intend to stop completely when you need to use the restroom since no one else with you to operate? See, it's the little things that are the challenges.

I don't know your age or health, but at the very least your companion aboard should be taught how to use the radio and how to let the anchor down and at least how to take the wheel and maintain a slow course.

Other than things like I've described an 80' is as easy to run as a 40'. Just docks and locks require an extra hand or extra preparation. Having no back up is an issue to me. It's not for a boating incident as much as a life incident. Ever had food poisoning and debilitating diarrhea? What if it hit 45 minutes after you left the dock?

Have you considered the option of hiring a deck hand to maintain the boat when you're not aboard and take the occasional trip when you feel they're needed?

I will say that I'm as much on privacy with outsiders as anyone, but not with my crew and they're on extremely strict non disclosure contracts that not one would dare violate.

To help get this back on track I offer the following. As the owner of 2 boats with Volvo’s version of skyhook, I would say while possible it will be difficult to use it to self moor. Among challenges includes the boat can move as much as 10 feet while the skyhook is engaged.