Biggest Boat without crew?

If you keep falling out of a canoe, Id start there.
Lots of experience would be required for anything larger.

Try the Search button?

https://www.yachtforums.com/threads/minimum-crew-required-for-a-predator-68.23240/#post-199619

https://www.yachtforums.com/threads/a-yacht-you-can-drive-yourself.7624/

https://www.yachtforums.com/threads/largest-yacht-for-experienced-owner-operator.17335/

https://www.yachtforums.com/threads/one-person-operation-of-50-100-ft-yacht.15093/

Well, not if they're still tied up and dragging in the water from the last port. A dockhand can grab them on your approach. What could go wrong with that?

How many ports are in Lake Lanier?

It depends. Largely on your experience and skill. Some 35' boats are more difficult than some 60' boats.

A serious answer needs more info about you, about where and how you might use a boat, whether you'' usually have "non-hired" crew (and their experience), etc.

-Chris

I'm 68 feet currently, and I often single hand. Doing so takes detailed planning, some scheming aboard for line placement, and the hope that someone is available at the dock that is trained and agile. It's not for the faint of heart, and it's not for challenging conditions. Keep in mind that you cannot always rely upon quality help at the dock upon arrival. Even merely a warm body can be more detriment than assistance. Spring lines are your friend.

But, basically, don't do this.

It's really, from where I sit, an impossible question to ask, because everything relies upon your skill, the willingness of the weather and tide, the nuances of the vessel you're handling, and the restrictions of the dock you are approaching. I've seen plenty of experienced hands look like amateurs aboard a small center console.

Often times my worst nightmare is when people want to help me.
We're now to the point that we only send an eye ashore and keep the bitter end on the boat, that way we can control the spring lines. (end of thread hijack)

Lol, nothing like popping out of the pilot house to catch glimpse of the lone dock hand holding your vital spring line in his hands as if he's going to somehow arrest the 140,000 pound movement with a tug of the rope. When short handed, that's when you KNOW you're in the soup.

We do that also for security and ease of departure

FWIW, we sometimes do both. Eye ashore, get docked, re-tie ourselves with lines doubled.

In any case, we've certainly encountered our share of dock hands who are either mentally deaf or dumb (with apologies to folks who actually have those physical handicaps).

But then, we also just met a new-to-him boat owner who complained about the way the marina dock hands tied him up in a 4-way slip. This complaint was three days after arrival, as they were preparing to depart. It happens to be a marina with usually-decent dock hands, and it looked to me like they gave him a good, safe arrival tie-up, with a decent spring line so he didn't back all the way into the main dock, and likely expecting him to adjust however he liked. He apparently accepted the way they did it, didn't check, didn't know to improve it afterwards...

In the meantime, no feedback from OP, no idea whether he (or she) is experienced or not...

-Chris

Since OP is silent and I am curious on folks opinions, let me be more specific in his stead... Let's assume competent husband and wife crew. Not new to boating, they've moved up from expresses, sportfish, etc. They now are looking at a traditional motor yacht with walk around side decks. Typical cruising is Atlantic ICW and Bahamas. Maybe Carib. Combination of Anchor, Moore, and some dock time. I tend to think the limit practical limit is somewhere in the 65ft range. Seems like the bigger limiting factor is the couple's ability to take care of the boat in terms of systems, cleaning, maintenance. Not so much the issue of them being able to physically handle the boat as long as they are prepared and the boat is suitable.

I guess if you're willing to hire out every job you can't handle then it significantly opens up the range. But then it's just semantics. Your "crew" is either a bunch of sub-contractors that you hire from time to time, or are they are full time employees. Either way, your not really doing it yourself. As for the actual ship handling.. I guess too much depends on the type of boat and the experience of the operators. I have to believe at some point the size becomes dangerous for even a well skilled captain and mate but not sure what that size would be.

Hard to tell what OP meant by "crew." Could have been only about operating the boat, docking, etc. Or could have also included cleaning, maintenance, and service chores...

We don't count our washers/detailers or the yard guys who powerwash/paint/wax as "crew" but we've gotten to the point where I just don't want to do some of that stuff myself anymore. OTOH, that's not really a length-influenced decision, either.

For actual operations and docking and so forth, given an experienced (and reasonably mobile) couple, I could see the upper range being anywhere from 40-80'... depending on the boat configuration. That said, inside cleaning alone could easily become a much more significant burden as size increases...

-Chris

IMMO, without a lot more context, the OP's question is unanswerable. Maybe he's thinking about a sailboat for instance