Why The Peep Hen Is Such A Great Boat

Unique Looking - Do you really want to own a boat that looks like another copy of a Catalina 22? So many american boats are designed to look like some scale verision of a Catalina that they all sort of blend into each other. With a Peep, you will stand out from the crowd. The only other boat design I know of that looks like the Peep is the Bolger Micro, and that is a home built from plywood.

Unstayed Mast - The tabernacle makes raising the mast a very quick operation. Just stand on the cabin top, lift the mast and put in the locking pin. Don't have to worry about if your stays are going to snag, and the mast is much smaller than a Bermudian mast. If you sail in waters that require you to go under a bridge, it is a snap to lower your mast.

Single Sail - It is so nice to have just a single sail and the smaller amount of lines to contend with, especially since all the loose line ends up in the cockpit. The stock sail comes with reef points so you can reduce sail area when the wind kicks up.

Big Cockpit - The specs say a capacity of "4 adults", and they aren't kidding. The cockpit is 6'7" long by 5'5" wide at the companionway.

Lots of Headroom - With 4'5" of headroom, there is plenty of room to fully function inside, and that is more headroom than most boats under 18' long.

Big Sleeping Berths - There are 2 berths, one is longer than the other. The port side berth is 7'10" long, and the starboard side is 6'2" long. The berth height is an amazing 24" which is enough for me to pull my knees up and not touch the underside of the cockpit! And if you are taking a kid or short adult with you, there really is a 3rd berth in the middle. My daughter likes to sleep in the center box keel section so she can be right next to me.

Slide Under Potti - The box keel creates a space to slide a potti underneath the cockpit right below the companionway, very convenient place to put it.

The Right Size - Go any smaller like with a Guppy 13 or Sparrow 12 and you would be cramped, go any bigger and it is a bear to handle and setup. The Peep is the perfect sized boat. If you are a fan of Larry Brown's books, read what he describes as his perfect pocket cruiser, and then look at the Peep. You will see many features built into the Peep that Larry was searching for.

"Life is too short to own an ugly boat" - When I see this bumper sticker, I just laugh. I really should make one up that says "life is too short to spend all your time rigging your boat instead of sailing". Fact of the matter is, the easier and faster a boat is to rig, the more it is used. That is why most sailors end up buying more than one boat, they get a small daysailor for quick sails, and then a bigger boat to spend the weekend in. With the Peep, you have both combined in one.

Typical Boat Buying Cycle - Most of the Peep owners tend to be older folk, because there is a typical pattern in sailboat ownership. They start off as a kid with a sunfish or other similar board boat, then when they get older move up to a 16-18' daysailor. Next in line they plunk down the bucks for a 22-24' boat in a slip and start spending rent. With that cruising dream they trade up to a 30-36' boat, even though most sailors only occasionally spend the weekend on the lake, and mostly day sail. Then they get fed up with the maintenance a slip boat requires and they downsize to a pocket cruiser like the Peep. If you think about it, how often are you going to get enough time off work to cruise the Bahamas? Why not just get a Peep and do more sailing locally, and then when you get that big block of time, go bare boat charter a big keel boat for the week or two you can get away. The charter rental rates for a week are typically far less than what one year of boat slip rental is. Or you could just sail your Peep to the Bahamas, you wouldn't be the first.