Description of a Cruising Sailboat

The description of a cruising sailboat will be different for each person.
With that said, I will list our criteria for choosing Shadowtime our 35 foot Island Packet sailboat.

Our first criteria was safety...we were not all that experienced in sailing. We wanted a boat that was safe firstand foremost.

Our second criteria was comfort...we went sailing to enjoy the sunsets.

Our third criteria was reliability...before we bought the boat I could barely change a light bulb, I knew I had limitations.

Our fourth criteria was low maintenance...there turned out to be enough to keep us busy on board.

We did not care too much about performance, we cared less about racing.

Here is what met our criteria for description of a cruising sailboat.

An Island Packet 35, we named her Shadowtime, she was a jewel.

Taken at Peter Island BVI, from the shore...no dinghy in the davits.

It had a 4 foot 6 inch  draft, displaced 17,500 pounds, with a 12 foot beam.


I called it the Volvo of sailboats, boxy, not sexy, but very safe and comfortable.

I never regretted our purchase, after 8 years of use, and would buy another in a heartbeat.

Oh by the way...we sold our boat in 2002 for exactly what we paid for it in 1994. Any description of a cruising sailboat should include resale value. We had a winner.

It took 4 months of hard looking in the Clear Lake area (south of Houston on Galveston Bay). The only other boat we considered was a Pacific Seacraft...it had 2 pointy ends, we preferred the broad flat stern of the IP.

Here is the aft cabin...we called it the garage, we used it a lot for storage.

We slept here when we had guests (those lucky people got the breezy V berth).

This met our comfort and roomy criteria quite nicely.

See the island colors we used for cushions.

Out of this galley came some great meals.

It had a huge refrig section that kept the beer ice cold, the freezer section was small but adequate.

The stove had 3 burners (propane). The oven cooked several large turkeys. One at a time!


The 12 volt refrig system is the biggest draw on power on board. We used about 100 amp hours per day, the refrig pulled about 80% of that...but did I say the beer was ice cold?

Did our description of a cruising sailboat include a roomy head? You bet.

Our boat had 6 feet 4 inches of head room and contained a very roomy shower area.

This compartment contained the toilet, sink and a shower area that was a pleasure to use. No smashing of elbows trying to turn around...it had space.

Note the ergonomics of having all your shower items in one central dispenser.
Soap, his and her soap and conditioner.

Our boat contained 90 gallons of fresh water. It would last us 2 weeks. A shower each day, washing the dishes (my job), brushing your teeth and drinking water for 2.


The average American family of 4 uses over 400 to 1400 gallons a day...
we would use about 6 to 7.  Can you say we waste water in the US?

Every summer we hauled the boat out of the water. It is safer for the boat if a hurricane hits.

Note the full keel design, maybe not as fast as others, but stable underway and at anchor.

This is Virgin Gorda BVI. We hauled 4 times at Peakes in Trinidad. A huge boatyard.

We would spend several days "on the hard" going and coming.
Hot, up and down a ladder, no fun but necessary.

Here is the highly stressed out couple on deck of
Shadowtime.

It was in a lot of aspects the best 8 years of our life.

We spent less than a $1,000 a month and had a ball.

Living aboard a sailboat may not be for everyone...do you think we enjoyed it?

For those that like the ocean, and frugal retirement living it may be just the ticket.

If this lifestyle is one you haven't considered go find a dock and start up a chat with a liveaboard cruiser...they are usually very friendly and anxious to share their experiences.

The description of a cruising sailboat may mean something else to you. But we were lucky, or maybe just did our homework well, the one and only time we were boat owners. Enjoy.

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