I tend to confine my perusal of sailboats of the VolksCruiser ilk to Craigslist and Le Bon Coin. Both venues have what I’ll call a mostly reality-based interface as long as you know what you’re looking for and have done your homework. That said, whenever buying something used like a boat it’s best to be …
So, here’s a boat that just made it into my top ten VolksCruiser candidate list… It’s the Ted Irwin Endeavour 32CB which came from the same mold as the Irwin 32. The main change is that when they refurbed the mold they added a few inches to the length and beam which also added a …
It occurred to me that you just don’t see a lot of homebuilt cruising boats in the Caribbean these days and I find that all kinds of depressing. One reason is that DIY boatbuilding has become something of an antisocial activity in a “We are what we buy” world. A world that seems to look …
As much as I love the CAL 34, I’d much rather have a Columbia 34 MK2 SD or Columbia 34 MK2 CB. What can I say but that extra bit of shoal draft makes all the difference. Another reason I like Bill Tripp’s design is its great foredeck that’s big enough for a dinghy without …
It’s come to my attention that there are several CAL 34s going cheap (as in less than $3K). This got me thinking about how I’d go about VolkCruiserizing them today knowing what I know now after living aboard and sailing “So It Goes” for ages. For starters, there’s a CAL 34 going for $1k which …
My recent post on the Beachcomber 25 produced some emails of the “A 25-foot boat is too small to cruise or live on” variety and a fair bit of outrage. I get that. A 25-foot sailboat is, after all, a small boat. That said, in my own defense I’ll point out that not all 25-foot …
Offhand, I really do think that real (3′ or under) shoal draft makes all kinds of sense for anyone looking for a VolksCruiser. Having a boat that can anchor in places others fear to tread or navigate, that’s also beachable if needed, and ocean capable is really a no-brainer. For instance, take a look at …
Here’s a boat you might want to check out… Now, for me at least, the Chrysler 26 comes pretty close to checking all of the fields on my what makes a great VolksCruiser list. It’s cheap and I’ve seen good boats going for $1K. It packs in a lot of livability into a 26-foot envelope. …
So there’s this guy who wants to buy a (new to him) boat to sail off into the sunset. As it happens, he also has a YouTube channel that has quite a few followers and more often than not his videos are both entertaining, as well as educational. Just to be fair, I’ll point out …
I’ve always had a love/lust attraction to Bill Tripp’s Columbia 50… What’s not to like? It’s salty, sexy, and has that awesome flush deck. Obviously it’s too much boat for a couple on a budget but there is currently one for sale in Hawaii with an asking price of $35K that has me coming up …
