SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL

When Jon Kandell decided to downsize from a Grand Banks 36 to a North Pacific 28 it wasn't just about saving money, it was about improving the cruising experience for his growing family

- Annie Means

The Göta Kanal stretches from Sweden's Baltic Sea to the inlets and islands of its glorious west coast. Winding through the country's idyllic, pastoral interior, a series of 58 locks dot the 120-mile canal, at times lifting or lowering boats up to ten metres at a time in a single metallic passage.

Though it is an engineering point of pride for Sweden, it has also earned the less appealing nickname of the 'divorce ditch' (skilsmässodiket), in large part due to the troubles many couples experience while navigating its constricted channels and locks. The average boater can expect to traverse this winding blue serpent in six to eight days during high season.

Jon Kandell, whose upcoming summer voyage will start in Stockholm, route through the Göta Kanal, and end in the North Sea, expects his cruise to take twice as long. And with a family of four aboard his tiny 28-foot trawler yacht - a boat with an 8ft 6in beam, one cabin and a single head - one might assume the very communication issues that earned the canal its nickname could easily surface in such tight quarters.

But not so for this family.

"For our little boat, it's actually perfect. The canal is quite narrow, and the water's flat. No rollers there," says Jon, chuckling.

In a world where 'bigger is better' and buying a new boat almost always means sizing up, the Kandell family takes a different approach. They view their pocket trawler's small stature not as a drawback but rather as a major advantage.

This mindset, and their North Pacific 28, represent years of thoughtful decision-making to deliberately downsize their A fully equipped long-distance cruiser built for comfort and extended family voyages

cruising lifestyle. And, already, they've proven that small spaces and small boats can lead to big rewards, both in terms of money and family bonding.