Smallest boat for Vancouver to Victoria and back on infrequent basis ?

zurk

zurk

Well-Known Member
Whats the smallest boat I can buy which will get me from Vancouver to Victoria and back safely in normal conditions (no small craft advisory in effect) ?
I was thinking of buying either a Lifetimer or Silver Streak 16 footer open boat and putting a closed cabin (hard top) on it. They both seem light enough (<800lbs) to trailer behind my SUV with its 2000lb tow limit and seems stronger than other boats in this range. any comments ?
thanks.
 
You are opening yourself up for all sorts of advice and criticisms on here...

Assuming you have the appropriate boat handling experience, navigation, experience reading ocean conditions, and other attributes more important for a safe crossing than vessel type you should be able to answer this question yourself. If in doubt go with an 8 meter RHIB and cross your fingers.
 
friends of ours run from van to valdez quite often for the last 10 years in a 17' deep transom lund. 40 hp tiller....
 
It is all so dependent on weather and sea conditions which can change very quickly
2 years ago I passed a guy in a little tinny that was maybe 14' bombing across, not saying its a good idea, but he was obviously comfortable doing it or numb lol.

I see little tinners going from van to Sunshine Coast all the time in summer months, a little better protected but still a pretty good haul.
 
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No more "small craft" warnings - they did away with those long time ago-- it can be quite crappy even with no "strong" wind warning and that's important ......depends on location, tides/ current direction and wind direction. For example a 17-19 knot sustained in certain area at certain time can be nasty even for a bigger boat.
Get to know an area and what the conditions are in a given wind and current/tide before you venture out with no or limited knowledge.
I had many years experience with very small boat exploring years ago... building larger trips as I gained knowledge; many trips to Gulf Islands and San Juan Islands from Vancouver or Tswassen ; Pender harbor to French Creek; Powell River to Campbell River ; Bamfield to Ucluelet ; Tofino to Hotspring Cove on outside and all over the place up in Port MacNeil and I would say without much doubt if I had to do it all again in a very small boat, I'd choose what I used then - an inflatable. Then it was 12' and 14' Nouvourania and Zodiac inflatables . For the size they are amazingly sea worthy and stable. There is no way I could have come close to doing what I did in anything else I know of in that same size class.
An inflatable is amazingly stable, especially notable in the usual GS NW or SE (sea coming from port /starboard running troughs) - they can really excel as long as you know how to run one and are careful with the power as they are light and can be flipped if you don't take it easy. If they do flip , you still have a very decent floating platform only now its your seaworthy life raft -
 
The first thing I want to know is why you would think you can modify a 16 foot boat by adding a cabin to it? You are asking to find the smallest lightest possible boat you can and then add a cabin on top without really considering the boat stability. Not knowing your boat construction skills, but suspecting that they are right up there with your boating experience and handling skills, I really hope we don't read about you in the paper.

I would suggest that if you are basing your boat purchase plans on your SUV towing capacity, that you max out that capacity to get the safest possible craft you can. When things go bad on the ocean they usually do so very quickly. If you have no boating experience, you are a ways away from taking a boat across the pond.
 
In the past i have seen people go from Nanaimo to Vancouver in a bathtub with an outboard on the back. No homebuilt cabins on top... I havnt ever seen a bathtub in Haro Straight but hey, maybe you can be the first.
 
cabin isnt an issue - making it out of rectangular hollow aluminum bars bolted to steel reinforced boat eyes, marine glass windshield, transparent pvc sides, bimini top. weight around 50 lbs. putting gps, ais, vhf and 3g radar on it.
maxing out i can go 18ft with a thinner hull but i prefer the 3/16 hull in 16ft which is heavy. i have 10+ yrs on water but mainly in ribs/sibs in the usa so tips on what i should look for weather wise before crossing are appreciated.
 
Weather wise, Check the weather stations on VHF look for light and variable winds or winds under 10 knots to cross. In the summer cross in the morning before the North west winds kick up around 11:00 am or noon.

Make sure you consider the windage on your home made cabin as it will also effect handling, but it sounds like you will be well prepared electronics wise. Also make sure you get your MMSI number and that your VHF has DSC. You should be good to go. Those little Silver streaks and Life timers are great boats.
 
yup ive mocked it up in pro-e and done a cfd analysis on it. its got a drag reducing shape (Kammback). Not a marine engineer but i dont see any obvious problems with it. probably test it in pitt lake during a storm at speed prior to the crossing. any tips for return in the evenings ?

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Your issues with windage will more likely effect it when running in a cross or quartering wind. My 5500 lb. 24 foot striper has a tendency to lean into any quartering wind when on plane. It is mostly due to the deep V entry and can be adjusted for with trim tabs, but you may find that a light 16 footer with that much square footage of windage for the wind to grab may be more tender or susceptible to quartering or cross wind handling.
 
I can drop the sail area on demand (hence the side dropping) so should not be an issue.
weight distribution should be even front to back and side to side as well.

in the electronics/safety department was thinking of getting a :
seastar hydraulic steering with DIY autopilot
ACR ELECTRONICS GlobalFix Pro CAT1 EPIRB, GPS no Disp (Requires hydrostatic release unit replacement for $70 every 2 years and battery every 5).
LOWRANCE HDS-8 Gen2 Fishfinder / Chartplotter Combo
83/200 kHz OB/IB Shallow Water w/Temp XD
Lowrance Broadband 3G Radar
STANDARD HORIZON GX2200 Matrix AIS Fixed-Mount VHF
SHAKESPEARE Mariner 8900 8' 6dB VHF Antenna with Silver-Plated Elements & Gold-Plated Connector
REVERE SUPPLY 4-Person Coastal Compact Life Raft with Canopy
PARA TECH Parachute Sea Anchor for Boats to 25', 8,000lb
Mercury MercMonitor engine monitoring

That should be enough i think. Anyone have any opinions on the safety/electronics ? I could go better but i think this is the minimum to get what i need.
 
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zurk said:
I can drop the sail area on demand (hence the side dropping) so should not be an issue.
weight distribution should be even front to back and side to side as well.

in the electronics/safety department was thinking of getting a :
seastar hydraulic steering with DIY autopilot
ACR ELECTRONICS GlobalFix Pro CAT1 EPIRB, GPS no Disp (Requires hydrostatic release unit replacement for $70 every 2 years and battery every 5).
LOWRANCE HDS-8 Gen2 Fishfinder / Chartplotter Combo
83/200 kHz OB/IB Shallow Water w/Temp XD
Lowrance Broadband 3G Radar
STANDARD HORIZON GX2200 Matrix AIS Fixed-Mount VHF
SHAKESPEARE Mariner 8900 8' 6dB VHF Antenna with Silver-Plated Elements & Gold-Plated Connector
REVERE SUPPLY 4-Person Coastal Compact Life Raft with Canopy
PARA TECH Parachute Sea Anchor for Boats to 25', 8,000lb

That should be enough i think. Anyone have any opinions on the safety/electronics ? I could go better but i think this is the minimum to get what i need.
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With that gear I'd be confident to go from Vancouver or Victoria to Alaska.
 
That's a lot of safety stuff I would buy less of that stuff and buy a bigger boat and you will be safer!!
 
Another option is to get the ACR PLB which is a lot cheaper than an EPIRB. You can clip it on your belt. Although to be fair, an EPIRB is the gold standard.
 
i could get an 18ft and ditch the cuddy cabin. but i dont think an 18footer with tiller would be safer than a 16 footer with CC due to the open bow.
i'll probably add an automatic bilge pump option - Jabsco 36680 Series Diaphragm Bilge Pump seems to be the best/runs dry with an auto float switch should be fine. PLBs are poorer than EPIRB and since economics are irrelevant ($300-400 more is not going to break the bank) might as well go for the auto deploying option with EPIRB.
 
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JAC said:
That's a lot of safety stuff I would buy less of that stuff and buy a bigger boat and you will be safer!!
Click to expand...

Yeah, i was thinking the same thing. Size DOES matter in the ocean
 
Instead of pushing the limits of the Ocean, maybe push the limits of the SUV and go bigger,
I'm thinking you adding a top to a little tinny will make it more top heavy and 1 big gust in a 3' chop and your gonna need a new pair of shorts!
and dont forget your also responsible for anyone with you
theres alot more stable platforms around near your weight limit then an 800lb tin boat.
but like I said earlier in perfect conditions its no biggie, but when it changes on you and it will........... then what?
 
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