Used Boat for the High Latitudes (05/2007)

Question: We are looking for a used boat to buy, and wonder if you could give us any pointers. We plan to cruise the high latitudes and circumnavigate with two people. The features we are looking for in a boat are:

Answer: If you were planning a standard tradewind circumnavigation, I would say that any good production fiberglass boat should be adequate, but since you have added the high latitudes to the criteria, this will substantially narrow the field. Generally, I would be looking for a metal boat, preferably aluminum, although that is not to say that you must buy a metal boat (more on aluminum boats).

I would also suggest that you modify your selection criteria in several ways: First, drop the length and beam criteria and instead set a minimum displacement that you will be satisfied with. This change will give you more options and reduce the risk that you will buy a boat that is too short and beamy to be comfortable offshore (more on boat shape).

Second, I would drop the full keel criteria, since a boat with a moderate fin keel will generally be faster and more maneuverable with little or no sacrifice in comfort or tracking. It is a common misconception that full keel boats track better; tracking is actually a function of many other design parameters. Incidentally, my old boat, a Fastnet 45, tracked very poorly and the present Morgan’s Cloud steers like she is on rails—they are both fin keel boats. This is not to say that I would rule out full keel boats, only that I would consider moderate fins too.

Third, I would not worry about a cutter rig since I don’t think that the additional complications are necessary or even desirable on a boat below about 35,000lb (16,000kg) displacement. (I’m assuming here that you are talking of a true cutter in which the mast is further aft than a sloop and the staysail is used all the time when the wind is forward of the beam.) Note that I do believe that any offshore boat, regardless of size, should have running backstays to stabilize the rig and a removable internal headstay that can be set up easily to take a storm jib—both are relatively simple modifications to most sloops.

Whatever boat you settle on, make sure you get a really good survey and keep a substantial amount of money in your budget for a complete refit. To make many, perhaps most, used boats ready for the high latitudes you will be looking at new rigging and sails, and possibly a new engine, as well as substantial upgrades to most other gear. If the boat is over about ten years old, or has a substantial amount of miles on it, the steering gear and chain plates need a very careful look that should include complete disassembly. On fiberglass boats, be particularly wary of chainplates that are encapsulated in fiberglass and foam filled fiberglass rudders, both can hide metal corrosion just waiting to cause disaster. Keep in mind that bringing many older used boats up to an adequate standard for the high latitudes could cost you as much again as the boat and so a newer more expensive boat may be a better deal in the long run.

France and Holland are good places to start your search for a rugged metal boat. You could also look at really good quality fiberglass production boats like those from Hallberg-Rassy, although the teak decks are a concern. You may wish to take a look at www.yachtworld.com to get an idea of what is available.

Motorsailer Versus Sailboat (05/2007)

Question: We are considering the purchase of a 52' motorsailer and wanted to know your thoughts regarding at what age (we are 62 and 60) should a couple consider a trawler versus a sailboat. After reading your very detailed descriptions regarding handling of sails while voyaging we were just wondering if we are taking on a bit much as we plan to passage to Alaska, Hawaii and beyond.
 

Answer: Assuming no physical or health limitations, other than the standard aches and pains that go with the age, I see no reason not to be ocean sailing into your sixties or even seventies. If a motorboat is really what you want, then fine, nothing wrong with that, but don’t go that way just because of your age.

After all, many of the most daring and arduous sailboat voyages of the last 50 years were made by people over 60, and many of those sailors were not immune to the ravages of age either: Francis Chichester was fighting cancer, Miles Smeeton’s arthritic knees were so bad that at times he could barely walk, and H.W. (Bill) Tillman suffered from intense chronic back pain.

I have a friend that is pushing 80 and still offshore voyaging under sail; he has circumnavigated the world twice since celebrating his sixtieth. I have another friend in his middle sixties who is currently preparing his 32 foot boat for a voyage to Greenland. These are not super-people either; both of them have had serious and debilitating battles with cancer. I guess what I’m saying here is that I think that whether we go on sailing (or do much else worth while) as we age is more an attitudinal issue than a physical one.

I’m only four years behind you and hope and plan, barring serious illness, to be sailing Morgan’s Cloud with her big rig and manual winches, well into my sixties. Sure, hoisting the main is harder now than it was ten years ago and I guess there is even a small chance that the exertion could kill me—better that way than shoveling snow.

I can’t say what is right for you, but for me I think that pampering myself and avoiding exertion because it hurts a bit or makes me more tired than it once did is a slippery slope to the rocking chair. I’m not suggesting that all of us can or should emulate Chichester or Tillman (I know I’m not that tough) but I do want to go on pushing myself past my comfort zone, even if only a little.

By the way, if you think that I’m one of those hard men that is never sick and has no sympathy for those that are, just talk to anyone who knows me well; they will dissolve into gales of laughter at the thought.

If you do decide to go with sail, I would be thinking more about a real sailboat, albeit with a powerful auxiliary engine, than a motorsailer. More on that in the next post.

Which Motorsailer (05/2007)

Question: We are a couple aged 60 and 62 considering a 52’ motorsailer for extended cruising to Alaska, Hawaii and beyond. We have attached some details on the boat and would like your opinion of its suitability for our plans. The #1 reason we like the motorsailer concept is the raised and fully enclosed pilothouse, the layout (galley and saloon area) and the large engine.
 

Answer: I’m afraid that I’m just not a fan of this kind of boat for offshore voyaging. Motorsailers of this type are, in my opinion, just a way to put too much interior in a hull of a given length resulting in way too much volume in the ends of the boat.
 

I know that these wide boat interiors can be very seductive, but a boat, whether motor or sail, or something in-between, should be primarily a machine to move safely and comfortably through the water. A soft fast ride with no pounding and nose diving will go a lot further toward making your cruise fun, safe and comfortable than a huge salon and galley. See No Excuse to Pound for more on this.

You can get all of the features you mention, albeit downsized a bit, in a modern pilothouse sailboat that will be faster under both power and sail and easier to handle than the big bruiser you are considering. I would suggest looking at something like an Abel Marine Apogee 50. If you must have an interior of the same volume as the motorsailer, a Sundeer 64 would be an option. Interestingly, the Sundeer 64 weighs almost exactly the same amount as the motorsailer you are looking at, but will motor or sail rings around it, while being far more comfortable offshore. Both the Abel and the Sundeer would be around the same price as the motorsailer if bought second hand. Remember, boats are priced by the pound, not the foot.

A big engine is not the exclusive preserve of the motorsailer either. By coincidence, our own Morgan’s Cloud has exactly the same engine, although not turbocharged as the motorsailer you are looking at. But with MC we are talking about a boat that has won her class twice in the Newport Bermuda race, not a likely scenario with the motorsailer.

You may be wondering why I’m emphasizing speed so much for a cruising boat. Well, aside from the obvious benefit of being in harm's way for less time at sea, and perhaps counter intuitively, fast boats are generally easier to sail with lower loads than slow ones: You can shorten sail more and earlier with a fast boat and still keep the boat moving, and if it all becomes too much, you can shorten right down and motorsail a real sailboat way faster and more comfortably than a motorsailer.

On the left is a rough sketch of the motorsailer’s deck profile superimposed over a picture of Morgan’s Cloud. Keep in mind that the boats weigh about the same; in fact, in a fully loaded comparison MC is probably lighter. Also, the profile difference is much more dramatic than this image shows since MC has a lot of reserve buoyancy (flare) in the ends. A water plane plan of both boats would show a much larger difference.
 

Macgregor 26M for Trans-Atlantic (2007)

Question: I am a 46 year old professional in fairly good health and in good shape. I am wanting to reverse the steps of my great-great-grandfather, sailing from Belfast, Maine to Bantry Bay, Ireland. I plan to leave June 3rd, 2011. The boat I want to take is a Macgregor 26M. Is this solid enough?

Answer: In a word, no. The Macgregor is an ultralight boat trailer sailor designed for coastal sailing, not the North Atlantic. I know that smaller boats have crossed the Atlantic safely but they are generally very different in construction and design from the Macgregor. For example, I would not hesitate to cross the Atlantic in a Contessa 26, a Virtue 25 or even a Dana 24. Well, maybe I would hesitate, my days of going to sea in boats that small with the attendant level of discomfort are long gone, but there is nothing intrinsically dangerous about an ocean crossing in any of these three boats. All of them are heavier and substantially more expensive than the Macgregor, but you get what you pay for.
 

Used Boat for Trans-Atlantic on a Budget (2007)

Question: I am trying to buy a boat to go cruising with my family. Over the course of a few years, we will cruise in the Chesapeake and then the Med with a trans-Atlantic in between. My budget is modest (US$50,000 give or take 20%). However, the choice of boats is MIND BOGGLING! Is there a site, or a person, or a process that you could share with me that helps one to narrow down the choices? Are there boats/brands from the last 40 years that simply must be avoided in general and all of the rest are more or less OK?
 

Answer: I think that it will be very difficult to get your goals met at the budget you have set. The key issue here is that you want to cross the Atlantic safely with four people. If you just wanted to coastal cruise or just wanted to cross the Atlantic with two it might be doable, but doing both is going to be a problem. Even if you could get a boat that is fundamentally seaworthy for that price, she will almost certainly be old and require substantial upgrade and repair to get into ocean ready condition, which will strain your budget.

Having said that, you might just mange to meet your goals by buying a good and strong old boat, possibly damaged, investing sweat rather than money and buying good used gear. To take this course you need time and a lot of experience maintaining sailboats. Also, keep in mind that you might end up with a safe boat, but she will be small, cramped for four people and very basic.

As you look for boats, keep in mind that the vast majority of boats, particularly in your price range, are not something you want to take yourself and the ones you love offshore in. When looking at boats, be particularly careful of boats built during the production sailboat boom of the seventies; many were cheaply built then and are way past their best before date now.

It is hard to recommend brands, but an old Hallberg-Rassy, Pearson (watch out, there are some poorly built ones around), Nicholson, Pacific Seacraft (probably too expensive), or Contessa (see www.sailingmagazine.net/UBN_1003.html for an example) might be types to look at.

With boats of this quality, it is likely that any that fit your budget will be old and worn, so a really good survey will be essential. The chain plates (Nicholsons had problems here), mast step, bulkhead attachments, rudder and keel root are all places where major trouble that can cost a lot of money to fix or sink you can lurk.

As to a web site or person to help you select a boat, you may wish to contact John Neal at www.mahina.com  who provides a boat selection advice service. If nothing else you should read John's excellent boat selection tips.

We also provide the same service although our expertise is more in larger boats and boats being built or fitted out for the high latitudes.

Reader addition (the commenter's name is John, and that is all we know):

I recommend having a look at:

Steel boats can be very good buys since they're typically less desirable than fiberglass boats, primarily for two reasons: they're not well known in North America (as opposed to Europe) and there are many examples of very poorly home-built steel boats for sale. That being said, if you know what you are looking for, and have a survey, it is possible to get a VERY good deal on a well-built, used steel boat that will take you just about anywhere you want to go in the world. The cost will likely come in gear and other upgrades to make the boat safe and comfortable.

Finally, have a look on www.yachtworld.com (Advanced Search, select steel hull as a search criteria, length 30 to 35); or have a look at this project steel boat for sale for very cheap (www.seamuffin.com/?page_id=51). I don't know the boat, but it looks like it could fit the bill for what you have in mind.
 

Aluminum Catamaran (2007)

Question: I would like to do some cruising in the high latitudes and am in the process of planning a boat to take me there. You and others, like Jimmy Cornell, are very partial to alloy boats and I agree it seems to be the way to go. But I also like catamarans. I can have a cat made from alloy. What do you think of sailing in the high latitudes in a catamaran? I was thinking at least 50' long with thin hulls to help her point well. I would like to visit Alaska and Antarctica, among many other places.
 

Answer: As I answer this, please keep in mind that I have had no multi-hull experience since a summer skippering a 50ft day charter (head boat) catamaran some 30 years ago. Having said that, I see no reason why an aluminum catamaran would not be perfectly practical for the high latitudes; in fact, some real advantages come to mind:

1. Shallow draft enabling the boat to get away from drifting ice.

2. Could be built to easily dry out on the tide.

3. The potential for fast passages, thereby reducing the chance of getting caught out in heavy weather.

I think that the main issues will be making the boat strong enough to withstand the demands of high latitude sailing as well as capable of carrying the necessary equipment (particularly ground tackle) without making the boat too heavy. As I understand it, the key to safety in multi-hulls is keeping them light. I can remember that the charter cat mentioned above used to scare me in a breeze when we had a full load of tourists aboard and, in fact, my predecessor as skipper flipped it in that condition, luckily without loss of life. Of course multi-hull design has come a huge distance since then.

There is even a French yard that specializes in aluminum catamarans, albeit large and expensive ones; see www.yapluka.fr.

Used Colin Archer Design (2006)

Question: We have reached a stage now where we want to be cruising very soon (world in 4 to 5 years, local waters well before that), and so we are looking at boats to do this. In two weeks or so we will travel interstate to see this boat: She is a Colin Archer design, 43' in steel built by a Dutch yard, about 25 years old, appears in very good nick, also very strong (16mm keel, 6mm below WL, 5mm above, 4mm topsides). Safe, too: watertight doors, good helm and fitout etc. (The name and colour are a bit of an issue...) We would have her surveyed of course. But it is her design which I would ask your impressions of, because we would want to take our boat to South Chile and the Horn, and bring her home again. As a heavy displacement boat she will be slow, maybe 7 knots at best, and I accept this, because her seaworthiness is the most important. But I thought you might have had your ear to the ground about cruising design for a bit longer than I, and am wondering if you could offer your thoughts about her as a boat to go most places.

Answer: Some thoughts on the boat, in no particular order:

1. 'Colin Archer' can cover a wide gamut of designs from exact copies of Archer’s boats to poor copies. It's important to make sure you are comfortable with the designer and the design.

2. The pilot house looks great; however, the windows are very large. I would want very strong storm covers for them before going to sea.

3. I think she will be slow and you should be ready to motor a lot. I think that seven knots may be optimistic. She might hit that from time to time but the averages will be much less. I’m guessing five knots. Morgan’s Cloud is 56’ long with a fin keel and big rig and comes from a racing pedigree but we feel fortunate to average seven knots over a 24 hour period. If you look at her as a motorsailer you will be happy; if as an auxiliary sailboat I think you may be disappointed. This might just be my personal prejudice since I'm a great believer in fast boats for offshore sailing on the basis that the longer you are out there the more likely it is that you will get thrashed.

4. 25 years is old for a steel boat. Many steel commercial vessels are considered ready for the breaker’s yard at that age. She may be fine, but make sure it is a really careful survey from someone that knows steel boats and uses a plate thickness meter. The surveyor needs to get into EVERY corner, even if it means taking the boat apart. If you can’t do this it’s not a good enough survey. Beware of corrosion behind insulation and in difficult to reach places like under the engine.

5. The Dutch are among the best metal yacht builders in the world.

That is all that comes immediately to mind. Hope it helps and good luck. If you are interested in more in depth evaluations of possible boats and their gear for high latitude sailing we can provide this for a fee.

Fiberglass Sailboat in the High Latitudes (2005)

Question: Would you cruise the high latitudes in a fiberglass hull?

Answer: There are two parts to the answer: Depends on the fiberglass boat, and depends on the area of the high latitudes. (On this last I will restrict my thoughts to Arctic and North Atlantic since I have no Antarctic experience.)

Given that the boat is a good offshore vessel capable of keeping the sea in heavy weather, we would want to see the following for high latitude sailing:

1. The boat should be constructed strongly enough to withstand a full speed grounding. There are far too many fin-keeled fiberglass boats that will suffer catastrophic hull failure at the keel to hull joint in the event of even a slow speed grounding.

2. The boat should be able to stand up to heavy weather at sea without leaking through the decks or hull. Many fiberglass boats are so flexible that as soon as they are really stressed offshore they start to leak from every port, hatch and chain plate. There are few things more unpleasant than coming below to a wet bunk after a long watch in cold, windy conditions.

3. Water tight bulkheads (good idea for a metal boat too). Collision with ice—or, particularly in the Barents Sea, logs—is always a possibility and fiberglass, no matter how strong, tends to crack when hit, unlike aluminum or steel, which stretch a long way before rupturing, thereby absorbing much of the blow.

4. Insulation. An uninsulated fiberglass boat will weep condensation in cold weather wetting everything below—miserable. Most metal boats are insulated with foam.

The where: