A Rugged Boat For The High Latitudes

by John June 1, 2009

A few weeks ago we met up with our friends Michael and Martina on their beautifully designed and built custom Hutting 54 Polaris. They were kind enough to give me, camera in hand, a tour and to patiently answer my many questions.

Morgan’s Cloud’s Designers Have A New Website

by John October 1, 2009
McCurdy & Rhodes sailboat Selkie under sail.

McCurdy and Rhodes, designers of Morgan’s Cloud, have a new and very classy web site. The firm is now run by Ian McCurdy, whose father, Jim, was a founding partner and designed our boat.

Limited Production Run Of Aluminum Expedition Sailboats

by John December 1, 2009

Question: I have this notion of building a modern expedition (aluminum) fast cruiser that would include many of your ideas/opinions, not necessarily because they are your opinions but because you and I have reached many of the same conclusions. In considering a project, the thought has become, not to build ONE, but to build a [...]

S/V Polaris, Built For The Arctic

by John December 1, 2009
The red drums contain a shore survival kit in case the crew is forced to abandon. The blue bag is a small light inflatable that is both a backup to the larger tender and intended to assist in getting ashore during the freeze-up.

Those of you who have read some accounts of boats wintering over in the polar regions may have visions of dented hull plates, narrow escapes and three inches of frost on the INSIDE of the boat. That is not the Polaris way.

France: The Source For Aluminum Sailboats

by Colin December 1, 2009
Ovni 385 under sail

The summer of 2009 was a good one in Scotland, at least compared with the rest of the UK and Ireland. But as is generally the case, once the weather breaks, that’s it, the summer is over, and it’s time to make tracks.

Boreal Sailboats–An Introduction

by Colin January 1, 2010
Boreal-44-under-sail-762071

Over here in Europe many people choose an aluminum yacht for the excellent strength to weight ratio and the sheer robustness of construction. As a result they are more and more the choice of long distance sailors, especially those heading for higher latitudes.

OVNI Photographs At SetSail

by John March 25, 2010
The underside of an aluminum OVNI sailboat, showing the lifting keel.

Steve Dashew over at SetSail has just published some interesting photographs of, and comments on, an OVNI. This is the type of boat that our European Correspondent, Colin Speedie has written about extensively here at AAC.

Building An Aluminum Boat In South Africa

by John March 25, 2010
An old Perkins 6.354 diesel engine out of a farm truck that they are salvaging for S/V Eva.

To continue our series on different ways to get out voyaging, here is a link to an interesting site about the build of a near sister ship to Hamish & Kate Laird’s Seal, one of the most interesting aluminum boats we have ever seen.

A Boat Designed For The High Latitudes

by Colin May 17, 2010
Boreal 44 Aluminum Sailboat Hull

For most of us, our boat is a compromise – very few of us can afford a pure custom built boat for our chosen form of voyaging, especially if that includes high latitudes. Of course, there are boats that can be modified for more ‘off piste’ voyaging with greater or lesser difficulty and cost, but [...]

Boreal 44 Design

by Colin May 28, 2010
Juan Sa Bulan 3 at rest in Treguier

Having spent half a day going around the Boreal factory looking at the boats in build, I was looking forward to seeing the completed item. The boat that is used by the factory as their demonstrator Juan Sa Bulan 3 was built for Jean-Francois Eeman and his family with two small children, and they kindly [...]

Rudder Options

by John June 10, 2010
Rudder and dagger-board system on the Boreal 44 Sailboat

A really interesting thread of comments has developed about rudders and other movable appendages on the French aluminum expedition yacht from Boreal.

Test Sail On A Boreal 44

by Colin June 12, 2010
The Boreal 44 is crisp to windward

After a good nights sleep aboard I was rested and looking forward to a short sail aboard the Boreal 44. But as Jean-Francois Eeman arrived with breakfast, things didn’t look promising as we looked out through the drizzle onto a flat calm river. Eventually though we agreed to go out and look for some wind out [...]

Keeping The Water Out

by Colin July 3, 2010
Rainy Night In Spain From Boat Cockpit

After nearly 20 years of going North, our decision for 2010 was to head South in search of new horizons and the sun. Last year in the Hebrides was wonderful, but when the weather broke in August we were glad to move on, and we know we’ll be back one day.

Vagabond–An Extraordinary Polar Yacht

by Colin August 18, 2010
Vagabond-400x265

There’s no mistaking the profile of certain boats, so it was easy for us to recognise the red yacht transiting the Caledonian Canal one day in early April, despite the near blizzard conditions at the time. ‘Vagabond’ is a well-known yacht in polar circles, and there is really nothing quite like her visually.

Colin And Louise’s OVNI 435, Pèlerin

by Colin August 22, 2010
ourboatandhomeisanOVNI435cutterdesignedby_thumb.jpg

Pèlerin, our boat and home, is an OVNI 435 cutter designed by Philippe Briand, built for us and launched in 2008. Here is a brief introduction to her, what has worked for us, and what we’d do differently if we were starting again.

Rudder Options, Staying In Control

by Colin October 17, 2010
OVNI's always attract attention

Whenever we lift our OVNI out at a boatyard, she soon attracts a lot of attention. Partly that’s due to the sight of a sizeable boat (seemingly) without a keel, sitting on her bottom, but especially the rudder in its kicked up position, pointing out behind her.

Achieving The Impossible

by Colin October 28, 2010
Interior 11

When we ordered Pèlerin, we had some pretty specific ideas about what we wanted from her as a home, and as a voyaging machine – and then we had to find a way of making these two contradictory requirements meet in practice. In effect we have two boats – one is a floating home with [...]

New Versus Old

by Colin December 11, 2010
It's taken us a long time to get here - rounding Cape St Vincent in company

When we arrived in Lagos, Portugal, I recognised a very smart looking cutter berthed near us as belonging to people I knew, so when I could see there was someone aboard I wandered over to say hello. After a brief chat, I was told that this obviously ocean-ready yacht was now up for sale due [...]

Keeping The Water Out #2

by Colin February 2, 2011
A motor boat negotiates its way around floating logs, British Columbia

When we were formulating our long-term list of places to visit during our cruising life, the Pacific northwest was high on our list. And having spent Christmas and New Year on the shores of British Columbia and Vancouver Island, we can confidently say that as a cruising ground it has now gone well up the [...]

Adventure 40 (Model T) RIP?

by John February 14, 2012
JHH5_104618-Edit.jpg

I think I’m going to take a break from responding to comments on the Adventure 40 (Model T) subject. Frankly, I’m finding that the ratio of negative to positive comments is starting to bother me.

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