why buy cruises for a lake?

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pdecat

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Time and again people seem to want cruiser type boats for use on a lake or river. seems to me that cruiser type designs are intended to deal with near shore sea conditions and have narrow bows and hulls shaped for speed or sea kindliness. Interior space and water acess are compromised for seaworthiness.

Except for the great lakes, most lakes and rivers don't require seaworthy designs.
The ideal lake boat to me is a box equipped with maximum living space and comforts for a family home away. Form following function and all that.
Despite that people seem to demand boats designed for other purposes for use on lakes.

I just don't get it????
 
I dont know about you but I've been in 5' chop on the river I boat in. I want a stable as I can get boat in this kind of conditions.
 
Some very nasty conditions arise on lakes, often more quickly and unpredictably inland than on the coast.
Near your home: Try the middle of Lake Okeechobee in a big storm if you want a test of your seaworthiness.
Many of the inland rivers are challenging in a squall, especially with the often limited deep water channel adequate to allow maneuvering -
It's all in perspective and perceptions . . .
 
Lake is a pretty broad term. Patoka lake is nearby, been there more than once,8000 acre lake and maybe 1/4 - 1/2 of it useable for house boating, skiing, remainder is shallow or a stump minefield, great for flat bottomed fishing boats.
Monroe Reservoir (Lake Monroe) 10700 Acres, more boat slips than any inland lake should allow, and LOTS of huge diesel 40+ foot boats than probably leave their slip. Where the hell they gonna go ? Both are non commercial traffic.
Ky & connected Lake Barkley are the Tennessee & Cumberland Rivers. Hydroelectric power, lots of commercial traffic. Easy connection to the gulf, And Mississippi Rivers. Lots of barge traffic, boat traffic, easy 3-4 ft waves on windy days, and beware of barge wash in a narrow channel passage. Easy 6' roller.
Lakes ?
Yep, first two examples, houseboat lakes. Ky-Barkley Lakes . . . . .sky is the limit, all three are Lakes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kentucky_Lake
 
IMHO.. It's not so much about the min or max seaworthiness of a particular design, but the intended function. Matching the location and boating needs to the right vessel is whats important. I always want the max seaworthiness in any design-period. I know that expecting off-shore handling isn't realistic from a flats boat nor is blue-water seakeeping expected from a pocket cruiser.

My 33 express is overkill for the ICW around where I live, but I like to have all my creature comforts even on the day trips..
Have I run thru some nasty Sh*t on LI/BI Sound.. You bet. 5-7ft 10sec seas are NOT what this boat was designed for but it was a good compromise for us when up in that area.
 
Been lake boating all my life, both sail and power and all I can say is when sever weather blows up on you with little to no warning, it's nice to have a boat that can work it's way off a lee shore ( of which there is no shortage on land locked lakes).
 
quote:
Originally posted by JHS3750

Some very nasty conditions arise on lakes, often more quickly and unpredictably inland than on the coast.
Near your home: Try the middle of Lake Okeechobee in a big storm if you want a test of your seaworthiness.
Many of the inland rivers are challenging in a squall, especially with the often limited deep water channel adequate to allow maneuvering -
It's all in perspective and perceptions . . .

Click to expand...


+1
 
They are also used as a summer home. Many people on Chautauqua Lake keep a cruiser at a marina and spend weekends on them.
 
Pa;

That's exactly what I thought and IMO house boat style is better suited to a family getaway.
 
You’d only buy a box with maximum living space if you’re planning to overnight on the boat. Many lake boaters (perhaps most) live either on or near the lake and never plan to spend one night on their boat. Also, a box isn’t going to get you up to plane quickly if you plan to do any skiing or wakeboarding, which is a favorite activity on lakes. Or, you may just want the speed of a cruiser to get you where you’re going quickly. If you’re planning to trailer your boat, a small cruiser may be the best design for launching and retrieving. And (as others have pointed out), even on a modest sized lake, you can get a nasty chop, either by wind or by the wakes of other boats on a busy day. There are many reasons why one would opt to buy a cruiser on an inland waterway… it all depends on how you plan to boat.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Padraig

They are also used as a summer home. Many people on Chautauqua Lake keep a cruiser at a marina and spend weekends on them.

Click to expand...


Same on Center Hill Lake here in TN. Re vs houseboat, you can pull kids on tubes behind a cruiser, but not a houseboat.
Also, some houseboaters rarely if ever take the houseboat out of the marina. Center Hill is 64 miles long and with a cruiser it is much easier/cheaper to cruise the lake.
 
I'm not sure which 'cruisers' you are talking about, but I would argue that the average Rink/Ray/Chapp/Bay/Cob is in fact a flat hulled boat whose seaworthiness is severely compromised to provide roomy/beamy interiors, water access and the like - making most of them ideal protected water cruisers, but at least scary - if not downright dangerous - to take off shore in anything but ideal conditions. Now if people were loading the family onto a Blackfin with like 30 degree dead rise all the way to the transom for a run up the canal, then yeah, I agree, too much boat. But in my opinion most all so called cruisers are so puffed up, it practically is a square box that you drive around... I can see your argument that if you are sleeping on board with a large crew, why not go all the way and buy a houseboat ( which BTW seem to cost a lot more than the average 34 foot cruiser). But to spent a day out on the lake, skiing, tubing, restaurant/bar hopping, fishing, etc - in other words boating - not sure what advantage a houseboat provides.
 
Nothing looks more out of place on an inland waterway than sportfisherman or even a convertable. Don't see many salty CCs either, though as a playboat for skiing, tubing, fishing or carrying a load of people puttering around there is no better design.
 
because I think a boat designed for maximum living and lounging space not intended for fast or distance mobility would provide the best mobile living space on a lake. Skiing and zooming about can more easily be added with some water toys the kids and guests always want anyway such a jet skis, PWC canoes etc.
Towing skiers with 36' cruiser with all the people and party stuff aboard just doesn't make sense to me. Let the living quarters go to its weekend space, get situated for the weekend then let all the water fun happen with smaller more flexible water toys.

Not having to feed and maintain a couple of V8s is appealing as well.
 
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