As Mike points out--you do not really have to have an 80 foot boat to have all of the necessary comforts for cruising. There are many smaller boats cruising successfully. A reduction of a few feet of beam will make a boat much more effecient, but the boat does not have to be 80 feet long. There also seems to be a concept that you have to have a million dollar boat and spend $100,000 a year to cruise. A larger boat does not have to be more expensive and more complex. The reality is that boats are more complex because people think that they "need" fancy chart plotters, water makers, and the list can go on and on. People safely cruise with just a simple GPS and an inexpensive Radar and fish finder. I have mentioned a long narrow boat which transited the Atlantic a few years ago. It was built by the owner in Alumium and as I recollect it was 55 feet long 10 feet wide, powered by a single 4 108 Perkins (with a complete spare engine in the engine room). The total cost of this boat was slightly over $100,000. I spent a day with the owner and his family--the boat was very comfortable for the 5 of them. They had a pleasant transit. Their budget was relitively meager. You don't have to stay at a dock--there are plenty of places to anchor out when cruising. We met people only 8 years ago cruising on $5,000 a year. Perhaps today these people are spending $10,000 a year. This is a very low budget--but it can be done. We met folks who cruised Europe virtually never paying for dockage. They anchored out. The choice is the boater's. You as the cruiser set the standard--anchor out, eat on the local economy (remembering that the majority of the world lives on less than $1,000 U S a year), travel public tansportation, or buy a vehicle for touring. On the other hand we have seen cruisers who spend $10,000 a month and complain.... One item which has been diffiuclt for me to understand is the dependance on 110 volt electrical appliances. Holding plate freezers and refigerators work extremely well. They are far more energy effecient and relitatively easy to make. Gas works very well for cooking. In many parts of the world if the boat is well ventillated, air conditioning is not necessary. Why aren't we seeing more of high energy effecient boats? Bob Austin