Re: Phil Bolger's design #501, Live-a-board Scow Schooner
But why would anyone build a 35' scow schooner if not to wring the maximum amount of boat from a dollar and limited craftsman's skills (or time if he's married lol)?
Originally Posted by James McMullen
The only reason anyone would build a scow schooner liveaboard today, IMHO, is for exactly these reasons. Lots of space inside for the amount of length you are paying for at a slip, shoal draft, easy and economical building, stable and safe in most conditions, just generally comfortable, upright cruising! Of all the talk of "blue water" ability, if you intend to cross the pond tommorrow, then scrap the scow and build a blue water cruiser! I think the vast majority of boat builders will never realistically need blue water ability. It's like buying an SUV. Most people never go off road into the mountains, crossing rivers. Yet so many are willing to pay more for an SUV, use much more gas, have trouble parking in the city, etc. just because they know that they could go off roading one day. Hence, global warming...
And as far as seaworthiness goes, take this for what it's worth (2 cents), but a "wide" beamed boat, with significant rocker, can be very stable, especially with the boards up. Think: catamaran. It prob needs little if any ballast (the chebacco needs none and has a similar bottom profile not counting the bows), and thus, like a cat, can easily be built to be unsinkable. Performance will be pretty low, but if most time is spent in port, and if weather can be planned for, then this boat is a whole lot cheaper than buying a summer house, and way more fun!!!
“The difference between an adventurer and anybody else is that the youthful embrace of discovery, of self or of the world, is not muted by the responsibilities or the safety-catches of maturity.” Jonathan Borgais