would you like to upsize that sir?

Roll on a few months, and trawling through trademe, I discovered a boat called a Hartley TS16.
16 ft of solid ply boat, traditional design (ugly at first sight, but in racing form they look sporty.). Very popular in Australia, and towable by any car, 500kg on the trailer. Solid cast iron plate centreboard, and wide beam, still quite a fast boat, still a big dinghy though. 
After reading other people websites about pocket cruisers, my interest was caught on small fun boats.
Looked at a couple, but they are still small inside, and it has now dawned on me that I am looking for a replacement for my campervan lifestyle.

Looks fast huh.. actually a bit of a handful, need two for ballast.  The only ballast is in the centreboard, 50kg of primitive flat boilerplate iron!



 




Some people's ideas of comfortable cruising are different to others ! 

 You'll notice the size of boats I'm looking at is creeping up... the investment of time in sailing is almost as large as the financial commitment.  (Ok not quite as large.. !) .. if you are going to do it, do it with the right boat.  I have also been struggling with the fact I have lots of other hobbies, which sailing will take me away from. Given that setting up a larger boat takes the same time as a small boat, but you are likely to want to sail a bigger boat for longer, it made sense to look at 16ft boats (which are also trailable with my car).

 

What really caught my eye with yet more googling, was the NZ built Farr 5000. Built in the late 70's but still a modern looking kind of boat, I started searching for one of these. With an all up trailable weight of just under 1000kg, its towable with your average 2 litre car. Until you see someone on the front you don't realise the scale of these little boats. Its really a microcruiser, but the largest volume little 16ft you can buy.  I have only seen a couple listed in a year, and they do command a premium, it seems they did not sell many in NZ, which is a shame. I spent lots of time reading an australian blog on her voyages in a Farr 5000, and was inspired to keep looking for one of these great looking boats.

Unfortunately most of the best Farr 5000s, and 6000s seem to be living in the South Island, and few and far apart, so looking at multiple boats is difficult. I really really wanted to get sailing this summer, so the hunt was on. 

After some debate, I decided that *maybe* I could stretch to a Farr 6000, which by all accounts is a big jump in size from a 16 ft boat, being beamier and longer, and more seaworthy in terms of being able to handle some wind and waves. After all I was planning on cruising in the Hauraki gulf, which is a pretty windy place.

The first Farr 6000 I viewed was a bit of a let down, after a drive down to Napier to view it. I really didn't know what the average condition of a 35 year old boat should be in, but I could see lots of money to be spent.   It's true what they say.. BOAT = Bring out another thousand !

The hull was down to bare fiberglass in many places, and loose fittings all over the boat, average sails, and a motor that wouldn't start, a severely rusted keel, and dubious winch condition put me off. Thanks but no thanks...