Mo' Money, Mo' Problems

Our beautiful Brewer 44.  More boat, more money, more problems.

The late philosopher poet Notorious B.I.G once said, "Mo money, mo problems". I've been thinking about that line a lot lately, not because I'm a fan of classic rap, but because it's a refrain I have been hearing in my head over and over the last couple weeks, although mine has been slightly modified.  My little mantra these days is: "Mo boat, mo problems".

Lin and Larry Pardey, arguably the greatest and most prolific cruising couple of our time, are famous for saying "Go small, go simple, go now".  It's really great advice because, really, the three go hand in hand.  It's much easier to go "now" if you go "simple" and it's a heck of a lot easier to go "simple" when you go "small".  I'm not saying there are large boats that aren't simple or small boats that aren't complex, but they seem to be the exception and not the rule.

Take us for example.  We're still at the dock largely because we got ten more feet of boat and with that extra real estate came more work.  I'm not complaining - this was a calculated choice we made - but it is a fact.  When you get more boat, you get more problems.  There's probably even a law of physics to prove it.  Asante has about two or three times the systems that Rasmus had.  We've now got refrigeration, air conditioning, and even a freezer (crazy, right?).  We have a breaker panel with twice the number of switches on it and a honking generator.  We even have a bow thruster for crying out loud (yeah, we think it's cheating too).  We've got more lights, winches, lines, deck hardware, sail area, sail options...more EVERYTHING.  With all that comes more opportunity for stuff to fail, service, repair, maintain...and more opportunity to get dock-locked.

Rasmus, our 1975 Hallberg Rassy Rasmus.  A smaller, simpler boat.

The big question that I know a lot of you are wondering is:  would we do this again knowing what we know now?  Well, I would be lying to you if I didn't say I haven't cursed this boat a couple of times (like, 'F' bomb curse).  I would also be lying if I told you I haven't cried for our beloved Rasmus and her ready-to-go status.  Have we considered the fact that if we didn't buy a bigger boat we could be cruising right now?  Have we thought about the fact that Rasmus was about as close to perfection as we needed?  Of course.  But you know what?  Rasmus was not the right boat for a family with a small baby.  It just wasn't (in our opinion).  There are many reasons for this, but suffice it to say we would not have been comfortable.  We would have longed for more space.  We would have craved an easier single-handed setup.  For two, Rasmus was perfect.  But we're no longer two.  We now have a bright eyed, smiley little deck swab to think about and her safety is numero uno.

We should, however, be a cautionary tale to any people in a similar situation.  If you already own a boat and want a bigger boat, really consider why.  Consider the time it will take to shop for and purchase a new boat.  Consider how much work you will need to put into the new boat (it will be much more than you think) and how much money that work will cost (it, too, will be much more than you think).  Can you learn to be happy with what you have?  Adjust your expectations to make your current situation work?  We are very pleased with our new boat, but could we have made do with Rasmus?  Sure.  It was after careful consideration we decided not to.  We have no doubt Asante, in the long run, will serve us better than Rasmus would have.  There will be hiccups, curve balls and unforeseen problems, we know that for certain.  We'll learn as we go, just as we did with Rasmus.   There might be mo problems, but we'll deal with them in the relative comfort of mo boat.