Truth be told, there’s not a lot of difference between most of the classic plastic designs and when you look at a CAL 34, Columbia 34, or a Whatever 34 it’s easy to see that all of the designs tend to cover the same bases. Since they all use the same rig, the same accommodation …
What most folks don’t get with the whole idea of a VolksCruiser is that it’s really all about simplicity. The general approach to getting an inexpensive sailboat and fixing it up seems to be in adding complication rather than paring things down to the essentials. So, what would we do to a cheap CAL 34 …
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 …
Practical Sailor just put up an excellent article on windlasses that you really should read which touches on the subject of planned/premature obsolescence which happens to be a big part of why I’m promoting the whole VolksCruiser thing. It’s not just a cost thing. Sure the driving force for most folks is about affordability but …
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. …
A couple crossing the Atlantic in a 31-foot boat…
Certainly not the same old same. There’s more info on the boat on the Oddity blog and Yachting Monthly that’s worth checking out.
Here’s an interesting design I’ve long admired… The Clipper Marine 32 is a Bill Crealock design that I’ve always liked in spite of the fact that I most detest center cockpit designs. The shoal draft version only draws 3 foot six inches and it has an transom hung rudder that could easily be adapted to …
I saw a Kirie Elite for sale in Edmonds Washington state going for a silly price ($1.2K). I have something of a sweet spot for this particular design as I saw it at a Paris boat show and it just felt like it would be a great boat. It was quite roomy for its size, …
Yesterday I heard that Charlie Morgan was no longer with us and it got me thinking about some of his designs. While there’s something about the look of his Out Island series that sorta/kinda rubbed me the wrong way there’s no denying that they are prime candidates for VolksCruising. Just take a look at the …
