Tearing into Traveler

The next day Bob Smith (the surveyor) and Connie and I tore that boat apart from stem to stern.  Bob did an exhaustive survey with me in tow.  I followed him throughout, sometimes going ahead of him and clearing out lockers so he could see.  As Bob found problems he explained solutions to me.  Overall we were satisfied with what we found.

The boat is fairly spacious with beautiful woodwork down below.  The cockpit is of moderate size with dinghy davits and a radar post on the stern. The bimini is tall enough so that I do not have to stoop.  I can stand at the wheel and see out over the dodger.  Just aft of the gallows boom and above the dodger is a stainless steel mounting platform for the solar panels.

The side decks are fairly wide leading to a good sized bow with an anchor windlass.  The coach roof is fairly square with multiple opening hatches, a life raft, and mast pulpit bars with actual belaying pins.  The sail plan is a standard sloop/cutter rig with a furling headsail and hank on staysail.

Below deck is a master stateroom to port and a quarter berth to starboard.  There is plenty of locker and drawer space down below. The Nav station with a comfortable seat and chart size table is just forward of a hanging locker forward of the quarter berth.  The U shaped galley with double centerline sinks and gimbaled three burner propane stove has lots of storage and ventilation. As both Connie and I love to cook this galley really made a good impression on us.  We experimented with how we could both cook at once and found that it was a tight fit.  But hey! Whatever brings us closer is good.

Centered down below is the dinette across from two leather swivel chairs. Forward of the port side dinette is the head with a separate shower stall. Across from the head are two good sized hanging lockers. Forward is the Vee berth set off to one side in pullman fashion. The anchor locker is forward of the Vee with a nice sized access door down below.

The boat had lots of gear, too much gear.  Some of it was old, some unused, some ready for re-use and some ready for the dumpster.  All this stuff was crammed into the one thousand lockers and drawers and removable panels throughout the boat.

At the end of the day Connie and I flew back to Seattle to think about the purchase.  All in all it it was a pretty overwhelming day.