So it’s 2023 and a new year. For some of us, it comes with some musing over the state of things. As far as sailing and cruising goes, my musings seemed to be along the lines of that Dickens quote and I spent a couple of hours thinking about the good/bad reality after the ball …
Here’s a boat I’ve always liked. It’s the Chris Craft Pawnee and it is a very cool little cruising boat. Sadly they only built them for a year so did not make a lot of the excellent Sparkman & Stephens design. As it happens there’s one for sale in Hawaii if anyone’s interested.
Every once in a while I’ll see a Bristol 26 (aka Sailstar 26) for sale for a good price and it gets me thinking. Back when I was in Paris looking for a boat to buy. The sailboat in my head that I was looking for was a European facsimile of the Halsey Herreshoff Bristol …
For about a year or so I’ve been rowing by this Maria vintage hurricane catamaran and wondering how I’d go about sorting out it’s issues. Of course, that was before it sank… Again. Bringing such a boat back from the dead is a lot easier than most folks think but a lot harder and more …
The issue with most 27-foot sailboats is they don’t have a lot of dedicated water stowage. The Catalina 27 has a 20 gallon water tank. Considering that the average family in the USA uses 300 gallons of water a day, we find ourselves in a problematic territory. The “average family” only uses 70% of that …
Some quick thoughts on water and the 27-foot boat… Read More »
Sadly, it’s a simple answer… Not enough. Which, for me at least, is the big downside of every 27-foot boat you’re likely to come across in that they just don’t have a lot of space or weight carrying ability. Which is not to say you can’t live and cruise on a 27-foot sailboat but with …
How many guitars can you fit on a 27-foot sailboat… Read More »
The thing to keep in mind when thinking about boats in this particular size niche is that, for the most part, they all fulfill the same needs. Which is hardly surprising when confronted with a 27ish by 9ish foot envelope. Take the Catalina 27 for instance. It pretty much sets the norm for what you …
Apparently, some folks don’t agree that a bog standard 27-foot production boat can be a capable cruising conveyance. I get the fact that a boat in this size range is not everyone’s cup of tea but they are capable and well within most peoples means. Sure a 44-foot Swan might be better but it also …
Whenever a hurricane looks like it might ruin my day/week/month/year I do a quick CraigList search of possible boats to buy because, you know, shit happens. Call it my plan B but in the event of losing the boat in a serious storm my plan is to get out of Dodge on the first available …
Refitting an old boat on a budget, while possible, is no easy task. It’s also a lot of work and in our current world real work is not something a lot of people are comfortable with. It also takes a certain amount of brain power. While I won’t throw stones in that direction there are …
