Hello Dashews, We love the books and are busy trying to absorb all the info as we plan toward and dream of our own cast off day in 36 months. We have been educating ourselves on design as we continue to search for the right boat for our needs. I agree with your philosophy on waterline and the value of older CCA boats. I also like aluminum or steel (though right now steel seems like a better buy in general).
Here’s the issue–I am 6’5″ tall, my wife is 6’0″ and our two sons 4 and 2 1/2 are destined to be at least that big. That’s a lot of height on a boat. Can you give us some direction on makes of the older boats that would be more inclined to accommodate our height? I know that it is an issue of free board as much as anything but has interior volume and subsequently headroom increased with the newer boats or can we find a pool of appropriate boats built of steel or alum. In the 60s–80s that will save us aching heads? Thanks, Dave
Hi Dave: There are lots of tradeoffs in boats and headroom is one of the biggest. I think you can generally find 6’4″ in most boats around 50′–maybe even 6’6″. But this will be in just from the middle of the boat forward, and of course, on the centerline. As the boats get bigger, obviously the headroom goes up a bit.
There will be exceptions–and if you look long and hard enough, will find more headroom.
Short of starting from scratch and custom building–something I would recommend against if you can avoid it–you will probably end up with a compromise. As to specific boats, I am afraid I can’t help you there. Good Hunting–Steve
Posted by Steve Dashew (November 30, 1999)
