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In terms of sailing vessels, a 20-24 ft twin keeled sailboat is what you want. (no engine of course)
afaik twin keeled boats are more popular in England due to its higher tides than other places. The twin keels allow the boat to sit on the ground on low tide, while maintaing stability on open ocean. Anything bigger than 25 feet and the maintenance costs and ability for the boat to be less noticeable become troublesome.
To all these idiots arguing about the wind dying and getting run the fuck over by a cargo ship are neglecting that the OP said "away from trade routes". Also in addition, you would have to be an idiot to actually stop at a marina/port because thats where the coast guard lurk and where the harbormasters need to know your documents before letting you dock there.
you should actually sail into some river/creek and anchor there unnoticed and using a small rowboat to get supplies from the boat to the shore or vice versa. the term is called Gunkholing.
The main problem i see is that you cant exactly fit 8 people onto one of these boats for more than a day, weekend at most. boats this size are really meant for 3 people and under.
