Hi Chuck,

I have sailed our Amel single handedly many times. People such as Kent and Alexandre can speak to this better than I, but I think the Amel is a breeze for a solo sailor. One of the reasons we purchased an Amel is either one of us can reef sails single handedly and never leave the cockpit. This is a huge safety factor when at sea. I can sleep knowing Cindy is safe in the cockpit and can adjust sails as needed. This was also a big comfort factor for her when considering which boat to purchase. I would challenge you to look at other designs of boats and ask yourself, how easy is it for one person to reef? In many cases, it is not possible.

I have never thought our Amel was too big. If fact, we think the opposite. Amel is so well designed we do not feel it is big at all. Some marinas and moorings in the USA charge extra for boats over 50'. We just say "see ya" and stay elsewhere. We have never been at a loss for a place to stay. For the most part, businesses are willing to take our money. You have probably noticed the draft and mast height are not Intracoastal friendly. But, if you want to travel the eastern Intracoastal Waterway buy a power boat (you are going to have to motor the entire way anyway). We have sailed eastern US and went outside. It is easier, faster and in my opinion much safer.

We recently sailed the Bahamas, an area notorious for shallow waters. When we told other cruisers we draw about 7' they give us the "oh my" face. If you are looking for a shallow draft boat, buy a cat. When you draw 2' you can get into places off limits to mono-hulls. IMO there is not much difference between a 6' draft and a 7' draft when sailing shallow waters. A 7' foot draft usually means you are just going to run aground one minute before the 6' draft. For the most part we try to stay in 10', or more. In our entire Bahamas cruise, there were only two places we opted not to enter. We thought we were deep draft in the Bahamas until we met someone with a 9' draft. They had been to all the placed we visited.

The real question you have to ask yourself, is do you want a safe proven blue water cruising boat, or something else. We opted to purchase a boat that we knew would take us anywhere in the world with comfort and safety. If you start making sacrifices such as less draft or lower mast height, you are giving up some of the characteristics that make Amels awesome blue water cruisers.

Kent,

I agree wholeheartedly, except for one thing: we love the dishwasher. We run our dinner dishes in the evening with the end of the day battery charge and make hot water for showers. It is going to be a very sad day on our boat when the dishwasher dies since replacements are not available. We just changed out the heating element and giving it a burst of new life.

Chuck & Kim (stuck in Utah),

The systems on Amel boats are not really that more complicated than other vessels of this size. The biggest difference with Amel is you can get to the systems. Let me emphasize: "you can get to the systems". And, Amel did a fantastic job over the years of fine-tuning the assortment of parts to ensure longevity and reliability. Our Amel is now 17 years old. We can still buy parts from Amel and many of our systems are original. Amel will ship world-wide. If we do have to replace something, we try very hard to use the same brand and model that was installed by the Amel factory (else we get guidance on this forum). For example, we recently replaced the guts of our refrigerator. The Frigoboat units were still available and it was a swap out of the condenser (icebox), thermostat and compressor. We kept the fridge box as it was very high quality stainless and the wood facade door matched the African mahogany aboard. No drilling new holes or re-engineering required. The fridge is removed by taking out 3 thumbs screws. The whole unit can then be placed atop the washer/dryer without having to disconnect anything. The whole project took less than half a day. Plug and play! On our previous boat it would have taken a day to just remove the old parts. It would have taken a cabinet maker to install the new parts. Once you have owned an Amel, every day you appreciate the nuances of the brand. Things like running an antenna cable from the nav-station to the lazarette can be done in a few minutes. On other boats, this is an all day project. Having an engine room I can stand up in and access 4 sides of the engine and genset is heaven. Have you ever tried to change out a starter while lying on your stomach and unscrewing bolts by brail? I have. I'm glad those days are gone.

I would encourage you to go look at an Island Packet 485. This is the finest example of good ideas gone bad. Look at the engine and ask yourself how you could ever replace it. It would take a master cabinet maker and you would have to cut a huge hole in the cockpit floor. The boat is built around the engine. Crazy stupid. Look at the size of the nav-station and how much boat real-estate is given to it. ask yourself how often you sit at the nave station. Things like this are common place amongst other boat manufacturers. Amel didn't get everything right but they did way better than most.

Hope this helps push you over the ledge to buy an Amel and leave the snow in the rear view mirror.

And, call Joel Potter. You'll be glad you did.