the hunt for a boat

End of summer in NZ last year 2012, was looking around for a boat, something I could take out with a mate, do a bit of mucking around on, something bigger than a kayak, with the aim of fun on the water while being more of a social adventure than surfing. Looked at Phase II sailing dinghys, a 12ft long boat, barely bigger than a laser...

Phase 2 sailing dinghy

They are lots of fun, fast, but you get really wet, and well, sometimes you go upside down... so almost bought one, but then spotted a different boat, which looked quite exciting ... a Australian NS14...2ft longer  than the Phase 2, larger cockpit, still easy to handle by yourself. Very popular in racing circles in Australia, a skiff with amazing speed, not far off from a catamaran, but very rare in NZ, so they are not popular.  Am I going to do racing? Maybe not.. can I duck under that boom all the time straining my back? Prefer not to... Here's a token picture, they are nice looking boats...

The NS14 - a radical design in early 80's.

Anyway, time went on, and after failing to negotiate with the owner of the only boat advertised, and no trailer with it either, so big fail...  but I really wanted a small boat, something I could store at my house. 

So back to square one.. thinking about things like setup time, vs sailing time, led me in a new direction.