Small boat Sailing Magazine

Find out about us from interview with did for Small Craft consultant mag May/June 2000 problem No 3

Five times, (now seven) Dave and Mindy Bolduc have entered nearly 65 miles of available sea between Florida plus the Bahamas aboard "minimal Cruiser, " their particular 15-foot, Matt Layden-designed sailboat. Each time they explored the hawaiian islands for more than two months, all the while residing aboard their particular small vessel, before sailing back once again to Florida.
This is exemplary performance for almost any 15-footer, specially one with a set base and only four and a half legs of beam. Oftentimes the Bolducs experienced waves adequate to depower their sails, however they never ever believed they were in peril. Obviously we had many questions for them.

SCA: The number of voyages together with kilometers you have traveled in LITTLE CRUISER seem rather a testament to her design. Exactly how far have you sailed this lady, and had been your voyages feasible because of this unique design of LITTLE CRUISER, or do you realy feel other 15 base sailboats could properly make the same trips with careful planning?

BOLDUCS: In the five trips we've made to the Bahamas, Mindy and I also have actually sailed about eight hundred kilometers throughout the two-and-a-half month lengthy cruises. We think that various other little boats might make the Bahama trip offered these people were managed by experienced sailors hence these boats had been well proven. We feel safe about taking a trip within our ship because we understand its limits and our personal. We esteem the sea plus the climate, and now we don't tempt fate by venturing aside when problems are too serious for people or our small art. We've found prudence could be the better part of good seamanship.
SCA: Elaborate on several of MINIMAL CRUISER'S unique features which make relatively lengthy voyages practicable in a boat of this dimensions (water catchment, stowage, etc).

BOLDUCS: MINIMAL CRUISER is uniquely suitable for making very long seaside passages and short island hops as a result of the woman sturdy construction and efficient design. The woman one-inch dense bottom may take the abuses of regular groundings in addition to periodic encounter with a coral reef. More over, the watercraft may be safely handled completely from inside the cabin, which will be specially crucial during bad weather. MINIMAL CRUISER even offers a tremendous amount of stowage capacity in her own bilges because of her flat-bottom design.

SCA: Tell us somewhat exactly how your boat had been outfitted, electronics, protection equipment, lights, solar power, etc. What outboard can you make use of, and how reliable has it already been?

BOLDUCS: LITTLE CRUISER gets the typical safety gear required by the coast-guard such as for instance flares, navigational lights, a horn and life vests. Furthermore, we carry a hand-held VHF, a GPS and a parachute anchor. We consider the anchors our most important security equipment and our only insurance. Therefore we carry three, which could look like a whole lot for these types of a small vessel. They consist of a 4-pound Fortress, a 9-pound Danforth, and a monster 25-pound take-apart Luke storm anchor. When not being used, the two heavy people tend to be secured in the bilge where they serve as ballast whilst the 3rd is on bow ready for instant use.
Our electronics tend to be running on two gel-cell battery packs that are charged by three, ten-watt solar power panels. Whenever wind will not blow, we rely on our trusty four-horsepower, two-cycle Evinrude outboard. Someday we'll change it with a less polluting plus efficient Honda four-stroke motor.

SCA: exactly what special gear, materials, or features do you discover vital for residing aboard therefore tiny a boat for months at any given time? Items that may not happen to the first-time voyager, but which you discovered from knowledge.