January 2019 Archives

Dunno....!

Allied, Tartan, Cal...?

The Plan, in brief, is to find a boat with headroom and living quarters that sails fairly well, is shallow draft (under 5 feet) and can be enjoyed by our extended family of children and grandchildren who sail. Other considerations are length and price. We have a mooring that will accomodate a 37 footer at most and we need the boat to be inexpensive. Norm wants to keep Averisera and has a plan for that which is a big secret. The new boat would occupy Averisera's mooring in Stage Harbor.

Jan 14: Mama and I went to look at two Allied Seabreeze 35s. One is in Yarmouth Port, near us, and the other is in Rockland, Maine, about 5 hours away. We had a look at the nearby boat which is yawl rigged. The drive to Maine was a nice three day diversion from Cape life. The Maine boat is a sloop. Both boats looked solid and unloved. Lots of renovation time and money required.

Above: Allied Seabreeze 35 view from astern showing her full bodied hull and 4 feet draft.

Below: By comparison, our Aphrodite 101, deep and narrow.

Squat versus svelte.  Deep keel and slack bilges, be still my beating heart.

Fact is that we love Averisera but she is too deep draft for the Cape area and too small below for cruising with family. We love svelte but may have settle for not-svelte. Looking at the choices.

So... a couple days later. Norm went over to Marion MA to meet with John from Lawson Yachts and they looked at a 1969 Tartan/Blackwatch 37, hull 22, designed by Ted Hood. A day later, Norm and Elizabeth met John at the Hood for a first look for Elizabeth and a second for Norm. The boat is not tired or unloved. It is absolutely stunning. Move aboard and sail away. No renovation money required beyond normal spring commissioning.

Some pictures in no particular order.

Very refined shape for a full keel hull.

Some old guy tried to sit in Elizabeth's preferred seat. Visualize knitting and a cuppa.

The next day, Elizabeth, no knitting and no cuppa. Too tight.

Transom berth in the pulled out position. we removed a drawer and looked behind the seat back to find the entire upper berth is removable by undoing a couple of bolts at each end. This means the upper can be either made narrower or deleted so the lower settee can be widened.

Same old guy slouching on extended transom berth.

Beautiful joinery

Instruments backs are behind a nice bit of cabinetry. Replace the mirrors, of course.

Old fashioned electrical panel. Behind is the wet locker with room for four sets of gear and boots! How about that? 

A hand hold runs the full length of the cabin at a convenient level. It also serves to redirect any drips from the ports away from the berths. Very seaman-like feature.

No rock dings!

Owned by the same family since new. Indoor storage for many years.

https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/black-watch-37

So kids: If you love Averisera so much how about her near sister the Bianca 111? (PHRF 93!!)

https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/bianca-111

Jan 23, Norm went to Mattapoisett to check out a Cal 34 built in 1977. It is right with regards to length for our mooring, size of sails/rigging, and draft of 5 feet. Nice boat, very simple. The price is right but... don't you hate the "but" statement?  But... the gelcoat is in poor condition. Interestingly, the stanchion bases show no crazing and below there is only one place showing weeping. The boat seems really solid and may be worthy of a full refit.

Typical Cal-design, flat bottom, 1960s era longish fin keel and spade rudder. Shows hull form for a lot of room below decks. 

This is the pose: can Elizabeth sit comfortably on the settee and knit? This one is pretty comfy with sloped backs and wide seat.

The all important had rails below. Not too high. These are reachable.

Settee backs lift to provide generous berth width or stowage. The nav table has drawers under and lifting top. The quarter berth is generous and has an outboard bin for personal gear. Nicely thought out family boat.

Pine Harbor Sheds made us a garden shed and here it is!

All we have to do is paint the doors and trim. the doors we can bring inside the house. The trim will wait for spring.

First snow of the season.

A thirty five foot sloop is being restored in Chatham. The shed is a work of art and will be shrink wrapped soon. The yacht is a Sparkman and Stephens design built by the Knutson Marine Boat Yard on Long Island. The yacht is similar in design to the Hinckley Pilot.

There it is a couple weeks later, all covered and snug.  Averisera would look good in such a shed!

Cape life revolves around boats and farms. In the old days, as Norm heard it from his grandparents, it was a bit less touristy and more small family operations just a bit more than subsistence work. Norm's family was in the tourist business as summer camp operators. As a kid in the 50s and 60s, he saw a lot of boat yards that built boats and farms that grew food. Now boat yards repair or restore boats and farming is more landscaping and gardening.

While on a walk out by the Penniman House in Eastham, we saw a scene from the old Cape.

There are a lot of garden centers and landscaping firms on the Cape and still a few working farms. A couple of working farms from Norm's childhood, Lake Farm and Mayo's Duck Farm, are now subdivided into homes as are many of the old hay fields. The commercial fishing business is still strong and supported by boat yards. Not many boats are built out here any longer. many work boats and yachts are restored.