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.

Rudder delamination

The surveyor tapped all around the hull and rudder and found a soft spot on the top of the port side of the rudder.  He marked it with chalk.

Offshore purchase

Here I am on Traveler with my broker Tom O'Neill.

We felt that the owner had dropped his price quite a bit to make the sale and he dropped it even further to account for the rotten rudder. But then again, we knew that there would be quite a few repairs to do on such an old boat with tired systems.

"They" say to be prepared to spend half again what you paid for a boat on outfitting it for sea duty. I hope it does not cost that much. I know the engine and exhaust will need a little work. The rudder and bottom will need some repair as will the through hull valves.

I scraped up all the cash I could find in my home equity account and sent the check off to San Diego. My broker Tom arranged for the owner and a pilot to meet him at the dock and they cast off for an offshore delivery. They took the boat out 3.5 miles beyond Point Loma and did the transaction there, completing the bill of sale and handing over the check. They recorded the GPS reading and took a picture of Point Loma in the background with a copy of the daily newspaper to prove the time and date. Thus I avoided paying California sales or us tax. Now I just have to be out of California waters in six months.

Thus begins the retrofit.  Oh man, what have I got myself in for?

Haul out

So we hauled her out of the water.. all 35,000 pounds of her. (According to the Travelift scale)  We saw her blisters, we saw her thru hulls, we tapped the hull and rudder.  There was some softness on the top portion of the rudder but otherwise the bottom seemed OK.  There were blisters, sure, but that's to be expected on a boat this age.

The offer

Our broker Tom had given me a list of comparable boats and what their asking prices were. Passport 42's had asking prices from 110k to 149k and this one was near the bottom of the asking price list. So we stewed on it for a while and let the broker stew for a while then we came in with a low ball bid.

The owner countered, coming down quite a nice bit. We countered back and got an acceptance. With a 10% deposit in place we made our plans to go show Connie the boat, do a survey, and complete a test sail.

Sea Trial

"Let's go now!" says Connie. We let the broker know we would be putting together an offer and arranged flights to San Diego from Seattle.  When Connie saw the boat she loved it so we took it on a shakedown cruise.  We brought along a surveyor, the owner, the owner's broker, and my broker.  A whole passel of people and a sunny day. We found wind just off of Point Loma and the boat picked up her heels and sailed beautifully.  Solid on deck, she seemed like she just wanted to keep on going.

We had a quick conference on the foredeck and decided to haul her out that very afternoon to do a hull survey.  Dennis, the owner, piloted her to the ways and we got the travelift in place.  He was great in that he loved that boat and was a fountain of information.  I tried to take it all in while maintaining some objectivity.

Thinking about Making an Offer

1982 Passport 42
Slocum42/43-Formosa 42
Designer: Stan Huntingford
LOA: 42'
Beam: 12' 10"
LWL: 34' 10"
Maximum Draft: 6' 8"
Displacement: 25,500 lbs.
Ballast: 9000 lbs.

When I looked at the gear list on this boat I realized that it met most of the attributes mentioned in Bill and Pat's Callipygia blog.  The boat was a little tired with peeling teak topsides but overall it looked solid. I could stand in the galley, stand in the head, stand in the aft cabin.... stand up straight everywhere!  I hopped into the master berth and it fit.  So did the Vee berth.

With dreams in my head I headed north back to Seattle to talk it over with Connie.

Looking far, looking wide

I established a top threshold of about 100k and started reading the 38 Degrees North boat advertisements.  Over the next eight months I looked at:

June 12  44 Lafitte  $ 129,900  Admiralty Yacht Sales.  Been around the world. An awkward setup with the companionway ladder leading to the quarter berths but otherwise a beautiful yacht.

July 2 - Valiant 40 "Halcyon" at Shilshole Signature Yachts - Nice boat but I couldn't stand up in the head.

July 10 - Island packet 35   $143800  Chapin Day with Signature Yachts - a very nice boat we would have bought if we had the money.

July 10 - 1987 Moody 422  $129,000   Ryan at Swiftsure Yachts - Not in very good shape.

July 17 Anacortes Looked at Jim McCarthy's 37 Irwin CC sloop "u Gotta B Kiddin"  - He was headed south in the fall and needed crew.  And we saw a Fast Passage Cutter 39'  $89K  which had too low ceilings

August 14  1986 Hylas 44 $149,900 - at Shilshole Boat show
Didn't like the low headroom in galley.

Norseman 400  $ 154K  A very nice boat!  Seattle Yachts 

August 14 Judy Nasmith showed me her Nordic 44 at Shilshole
There is another one with offer on it at Bainbridge Is. named Phantom 1980 for $ 159K  This would be a wonderful boat but too expensive for me.

We also saw Pete McGonagle's Nordic 40 at Shilshole. A good looking boat but not for sale.

August 21 - saw a Passport 40 belonging to Heidi and Kirk at Elliot Bay Marina and I really liked the layout.  A Bob Perry boat.

August 28 -46 Formosa Peterson Center Cockpit - $124k  at Diamond Yacht Sales in Blane WA was a nice boat and I wanted to put an offer on it but I held back for something a little cheaper. This boat is much like a Kelley Peterson 44, a very popular long distance cruiser.

Sept 20 - 1989 Passport 41 - Jubilee    $199k Elliott Bay Yacht Sales - just had to look.

Feb 5  Seattle Yachts -Paris Woodard showed us a Norseman 400  with Sale Pending at 125k   Nice! and a TA Shing Panda  $ 160k   Beautiful  and a Krogen 38' Cutter  99k that would have fit the bill, but it has a full keel. Interesting..

Sail Northwest - Bob Ross showed us an Avance (Swan Type) 40   119k  Sail Northwest   Not enough headroom.

Feb 6   Elliott Bay Yachts had a 41 CT Ketch  1981   54k   Old and big, with a full keel.  Then we saw a Pearson 385  65k  kinda junky, needs lots of work. Not enough headroom.

At Signature Yachts we sall a Wauquiez (Vo Kee A) Centurion 42  129k  nice looking , clean, up and over entrance to the cabin might be difficult in a sea. I really liked this one.
Saw the Valiant 40 again.. $100k  and a nice Lord Nelson 35  for $134k

Feb 10th  Spoke with Mark Gilbert at Discovery Yachts who advised me about working with Ron Gullan at Yachtfinders in San Diego.

Feb 16th .  Flew to San Diego to look at some boats with Tom O'Neill with YachtFinders/WindSeakers. 
Saw a Columbia 50 99k - Large sweeping deck.  BIG boat... too big.

Mason 43 - 129k A wonderful passage maker.  Open cockpit. Side entrance. Yum.

Morgan 41 - 75k  - roomy, clean , nice radar arch, tempting.
Cal 2-46  125k,  owner restored, good looking, but not enough headroom for me

Then Tom showed me a 1982 Passport 42 and I fell in love.

The search begins

After the trip we were psyched more than ever to get a boat and go cruising.

What follows is lots of late night pillow talk: What next, how to start, how much do we need, what to do with houses, cars, kids....

Being the spreadsheet kinda guy I am I immediately set out compiling a list of boats and boat qualities that I was interested in.  Amazon made money off me as I bought all sorts of books on blue water sailing. What is the perfect cruising boat length, weight, keel configuration, rig?  What is affordable? What is the motion comfort ratio on various boats? 

I found Bill and Pat's blog from the sailing vessel Callipygia where they compiled the Desirable Attributes of a Blue-water cruising Sailboat and I took this to heart: 

   1.  Affordable. Can we afford to buy and maintain this boat without borrowing or overextending ourselves financially?
   2. Pleasing to the eye. Can we love this boat--we know there will be issues with her, so she has to make our hearts smile while we work through them and accept them or else we'll get disatisfied and grumpy. [During our 4 years with Callipygia, we never saw another boat we'd rather have had.]
   3. 35' - 40' on deck. Big enough to be sea-kindly and safe in bad weather, yet small enough for one of us to single-hand if we had to.
   4.  Cutter rig. Easy sailplan for reducing sail.
   5.   Good survey. Sound condition and structure, and a dry boat. No need to keep everything wrapped in plastic.
   6.  Good ventilation and no air conditioning. No thank you, we have no need for the noise or electrical requirements of air-conditioning, we'll settle instead for a few fans and good ventilation.
   7.   Heavy displacement cruiser with a full keel and attached rudder. Able to take care of us in bad weather while we hunker down below.
   8.    Inboard diesel engine powered at not less than 3 hp/ton. Sufficient power to make our way motoring or motor-sailing when necessary, or to power up and get out of a tight spot.
   9.   Solid fibreglass hull. Easy to maintain and not laminated.
  10.   Fiberglass deck (not teak). Easy to maintain, and no leaks.
  11.    Plenty of accessible and well-ventilated storage. This is our home, so we need enough room for books (we had 24 linear feet) and other comforts, plus all the spares, tools, etc. for blue-water cruising.
  12.   6" Bulwarks with scuppers. Good solid footing while walking around the deck, and good drainage in downpours or shipping green water.
  13.   8 strong through-bolted deck cleats. Strong attachments for docklines and anchor snubber. [Callipygia only had 6.]
  14.    Squared off coach roof/cabin top. Strongest configuration for a knockdown (which thankfully we didn't experience.)
  15.    Boom gallows. Solid support for boom in a storm, and great extra handhold in cockpit or on deck.
  16.    Dual bow anchors, one with minimum of 200' chain. Second anchor for storm conditions, and plenty of chain for normal conditions. [Callipygia had only 170' of chain on primary anchor (plus 200' 3-strand nylon line) but there were a couple of times when we wished we had another 50' of chain.]
  17.   100 gallon fuel tank. Enough to give us a range of at least 500 nmiles under power.
  18.    2 50-gallon water tanks. Enough to last the two of us 3-4 weeks without rain catching, or backup in case one tank gets contaminated or emptied.
  19.   Small aft cockpit with 4 drains and strong padeyes for attachment. Comfortable and safe for whoever's on watch, and safe in a seaway, with ability to drain fast if much water is shipped.
  20.    Aluminum keel-stepped mast. Minimal maintenance and more support than deck-stepped.
  21.   Good handholds and footspace on deck for moving around. Essential for safety.
  22.    Good handholds and headroom below. Headroom for a 6' person, and solid handholds for moving around below when the seas are up.
  23. Manual windlass. A bit more work for anchoring, but no likelihood of sticking in a dangerous situation.
  24. Sails: Jib with roller furling. Easy to handle from the cockpit.
  25. Sails: Staysail that hanks on. Bulletproof system, no furling gear to jam, and easy to remove and switch to storm jib.
  26. Sails: Storm jib. For use on the inner forestay (replacing the staysail) in storm situations--the Tayana 37' heaves to well with this configuration.
  27. Sails: Storm trysail with separate mast track. For use in a storm, without having to remove the mainsail. Also, useful for stability while sailing downwind.
  28. Dodger, splash cloths, and bimini. Dodger with easy visibility forward to keep the wind out of the cockpit, and along with splash cloths keep crew in the cockpit dry when water is shipped, and Bimini to shade us from the tropical sun.
  29. Folding mast steps. A great assist while going up the mast, and providing essential footholds while working up or on the mast.
  30. V-berth with double bed on one side, all berths accomodating 6'. Good space to snuggle, and comfort for tall crew.
  31. Manual bilge pump in cockpit and below as backup to the automatic bilge pump. Ability to manually empty the bilges from the cockpit.
  32. Refrigerator. Minimal electrical requirements but yet enough space to keep stuff cool, but no need for a freezer.
  33. Starting battery separate from house batteries with a battery monitoring system. Enough electrical storage to light and cool the boat, plus run our basic electrical equipment without excessive recharging requirements. Easy way to tell the condition of the batteries (input, output, voltage, status)
  34. Autopilot. To relieve the helmsman when under power.
  35. Windvane. To relieve the helmsman while sailing without drainingn the battery.
  36. Mast pulpits. Security while working at the mast. We didn't want all the lines coming to the cockpit, because we think it's important to get used to working at the mast--so it will be more familiar in those cases when something jams or otherwise goes amuk.
  37. Swim ladder An easy to drop and retrieve swim ladder on the side of the boat.
  38. Lee cloths for the cabin berths. Comfort and security for the off-watch crew to sleep below.
  39. 3-burner propane stove with oven. Able to cook pretty much whatever we want.
  40. Instructions for all the equipment. So we can figure out how to fix things, or find out where to go for advice and spares.
  41. Maintenance record. To know how old the rigging is, what the service record is for the engine, hull, plumbing, and electrical system, etc.
  42. Cabin heater. Keep us warm in cold nights or in the winter.
  43. Liferaft, MOB module, flares, fire blanket, propane and CO detectors, and fire extinguishers. Essential safety equipment.
  44. Manual and sea water pump in galley. Ability to pump fresh water if the electric pump fails, or seawater to minimize fresh water use.
  45. Radios--marine SSB with ham bands and GMDSS VHF. Essential communication equipment.
  46. Dinghy with motor. Ability to get around when at anchor.
  47. Radar. Essential for navigation at night when near land, or in shipping areas, or of course in fog. Also a tremendous assist when approaching an unfamiliar harbour with a hard-to-find entrance, or entering or leaving an anchorage at night.
  48. Wind instruments (vane and speed) and depth sounder. Depth sounder essential, wind instruments very helpful.
  49. Bug screens on portholes, hatches and dorades. Let the air in, and keep the buggers out.

 Gosh, if I can just land a boat with 30 of these 49 attributes I'll be a lucky man!  The search is on.

La Paz

Reluctantly we made our way back to La Paz and managed to dock the big boat without losing our damage deposit. Everyone was worried that I'd run her aground but I kept my eye on the depth sounder and waited for Bernie to retrieve his hat he lost as he took the whaler in before I docked. We removed our stores except for one very bad bottle of Sangro de Cristo. Another crew was there to take the boat for another week and we spent some time explaining the systems that we'd taken a week to figure out.

We stayed at a nice little hotel for a couple of days and wandered around La Paz getting our land legs back, debriefing. Even though the boat was a little bit cranky and the nightly winds were stressful the crew held together very well. Everyone got along. There were plenty of hands to do the work and the time was spent relaxingly well. Couldn't have asked for better weather.

Connie and I traveled together seamlessly and enjoyed each other's company coming out of the trip closer than ever and ever convinced that our trip together had just begun. The next time in the Sea of Cortez we hoped to be there on a boat of our own having sailed south from Seattle. And we hope to sail into La Paz and pick up our crew of Chris, Bernie, Lisa, and Keth....