Simplicity taken to the max

By Rudy and Jill Sechez of Briney Bug

How do you capture all of the features needed to have a safe, comfortable and inexpensive cruising boat? This we asked ourselves for several years as we dreamed of breaking loose. Having finally addressed these concerns, we choose a design that we thought would fulfill our needs and then built a 36-foot cutter. Once completed, we climbed on board and went cruising.

After traveling for several years on this boat, we began to think about George Buehler's idea that cruising on a powerboat can also be inexpensive, and decided that his idea could work for us. So, the next step was to design, then build our next boat. The result was an economical, long-distance troller yacht that we named Briney Bug. Once launched, we moved aboard this boat and began the next chapter in our cruising life.

Briney Bug was designed to be comfortable for one couple living aboard full time; be seaworthy, sea-kindly, and have ocean-crossing capacity; be inexpensive to build and use; be simple and dependable, and, not be one foot longer than we required.

At the time of this writing, having logged more than 1,400 hours on the Bug's engine, we can say that our design is successful, and we would not hesitate to choose it again. Please come aboard and let us show you around!

Here’s how the Briney Bug story is presented:

What does Briney Bug look like?
What about hull design?
What is the secret to engine dependability?
What’s your advice on replacement parts?
What about diesel engines?
How do you contend with boat motion?
Why do you have a sailing rig?
What’s with the big rudder?
Why do you have an open pilothouse?
Simplicity and self-sufficiency rule aboard Briney Bug . . .
How does one go about finding the right boat?
How much did Briney Bug cost?

Editor’s note: Rudy and Jill Sechez, when they are not away cruising, live aboard Briney Bug in Port St. Joe, Florida, and provide boat and yacht repair services. They can be reached at 850-832-7748 or via e-mail by clicking here.

Simplicity taken to the max

What does Briney Bug look like?

What about hull design?

What is the secret to engine dependability?

What’s your advice on replacement parts?

What about diesel engines?

How do you contend with boat motion?

Why do you have a sailing rig?

What’s with the big rudder?

Why do you have an open pilothouse?

Simplicity and self-sufficiency rule aboard Briney Bug . . .

How does one go about finding the right boat?

How much did Briney Bug cost?

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