My little piece of peace

Up for sale eh? well it dos'nt surprise me, solo sailing and setting off is a big thing and anyone that thinks it is'nt is illusionary.

 

I must just clarify / add to that
for me, I already knew from day one that I would be alone on the water, no pretences there, the wife is not keen on the wind and weather. I desperatly need a "weekend cottage" hideaway for weekends. With two main criteria 1 = trailable and 2 = sailboat. I live about two hours drive from our one and only nice dam the Vaaldam, and about nine hours drive from the sea at Durban harbour. These are travelling times towing a small boat. I wanted a coastal cruiser so that if I could only get to the sea twice a year I would be blessed but I must have a boat that can handle the notorius Indian ocean and the Mozambican current flowing south at 4 knots. If not you end up in Antartica with nothing in between!
Having said all that, I sit with the same dilema as Mas right now, will I be able to handle it at my age? Singlehanded sailing is something else, the Indian ocean around the Cape of Storms is my one and only ocean. So this gives a new meaning of between a rock and a hard place!
But as the eternal optimist, I still see myself as 30 something old ( i HATE being close to 60 ) and IF IF IF i can handle it i would love a 28 footer also trailerable like the Didi 28 http://www.dixdesign.com/28didi.htm

Should my age count against me, my little micro is still 110 % all the boat that I want and need, spending weekends at the Vaaldam dreaming of a life of wine women and song like Mas said nobody is really interested in a dirty old man

 

well Mass best of luck and enjoy that new build, the smaller boat might just be the ticket, for me as soon as I get my truck done and out of the way I'm going for the 29' harbor hopper. Trailerable and runs on waste oils = cheap.

get it sold and move forward Mass, I think that your working within your comfort zone is what in the end will keep you safe and sound, so no worries and have a great time on the new build, lots of pictures, who knows that thing does look really easy to build, although I'd do it as a power cruiser and change the topsides.

 

Yes well you see that is the illness a boatbuilder has. You haven't put the one in the water and the itch gets to you again.

Mas, I was under the impression you were gonna live happily ever after... sail away in the sunset and never look back !

 

I was under the impression he would be coming to drop anchor with me too.

Im not surprised and yet he might change his mind and yet he would change his mind if he had a mast and sails. I understand mas.

It would be foolish to go such distance without a mast, I guess the electric problems that he could not cure encouraged the situation.

I don't blame you.

 

One of my boat building books (Bud McIntosh, maybe?) mentions a conversation with an old-time builder, where someone said something like, "gee... you must really love it when you get a chance to sail on something you've designed and built." And his answer was roughly, "are you kidding? Before we even clear the breakwater I can see what I did wrong, and need to get back to my shop." Very rough transliteration, rather than a quote....

Phil Bolger supposedly spent so much time at his drafting table that sometimes it almost took a stick of dynamite to separate him from it, and actually get him out on the water...

 

Mmmm.... sounds like the guy who liked his job so much he had to tear himself away to go on holiday.

So if sails are the big problem, what's it going to cost, and what are the alternative way to obtain a mast and sails ? Self made perhaps ?

If there is a way to put the mast aft, it could be a lot more economic and easier to handle the sail single handed than any other sail !

 

Hi all thanks for the comments, - verrrrry interesting -

The mast-step IS already about 8ft further aft... Any further adds complications for the aft stays... It should be almost achievable without winches, (on a 12m stick with single set of diamonds), as the sails, (40 to 45 square metres each), are to be light weight cruise material, furled/fully reefed before wind-speed over the deck exceeds 20knots... Then motor... She surfs very nicely with autopilot on the rudders and fine tuned using the throttles but left alone on a dead downwind run she did very nicely surfing the waves at 19.5knots and the engines at 3000rpm (usual still water speed of about 7knots) with NO DRAMAS...

I do not really want to sell but as Troy suggested, I too found several things I wanted to change within minutes of launch... She still is a very nice boat and has achieved nearly everything I required... except to convince spouse to join me as crew.... Her won't is stronger than my will... and whilst moving (sail or motors) I am happy, but I need to sleep sometimes and there are several legs requiring overnight runs as well as 450 miles Cairns, Queensland to Samarai, PNG...

The mast, sails, RO watermaker, battery charger from Christie engineering, new 3 blade 15 x 11.5 propellers, and about 1 day on the hard stand require an additional Au$45,000 or so to implement...

This is the one on the short list http://www.thecoastalpassage.com/cheapcat.html as a motor-boat, so I can muck around on Moreton Bay with occasional ventures up to the Great Sandy Strait behind Fraser Island... - - if I do not do another 39C

 

I keep on thinking of two unstayed masts on a cat, really aft aft. You still have the same or more sail area - but the masts are shorter and lighter and much less expensive and the sails are easier to handle single handedly. The stayless setup makes everything a lot simpler, and the hulls is the mast support. You can even make the masts to plug into slots and the main stay keeps the masts upright - same as I did with the little tri.

Since the sails can be furled, you can adjust the sail size, depending on the wind. It also means you have a spare if something goes wrong. I also like a wide cat, it's just more space. The wider the better advantage the two sails will have also.

Outboards on a smalish cat is a given, personally I don't like inboards as they would take up too much space. Power to weight on outboards are tops. The 6hp parsun I have runs for 5 1/2 hours on 12L of fuel at half power, and I was impressed with it's grunt. If you have one on each hull then fuel consumption won't be too bad. The size motors of course depends on how much in a hurry you will be, and the hull shape. You can plane a dust bin if the motor(s) are big enough

 

Second hand masts are worthless as they will never fit another boat. But they will fit a boat thats not had one before, buy the mast and sails of an accident boat. Must be something some where. Put the word out.

The felling that knowing you can continue in your journey with sails is everything.

Get the missus on it and catch some fish and lite the barbie,--gently gently.

 

Sigh . . . . . . . . it is not real good scaled up - - to 12m tall, holding twin 45 square meter sails?

Less than half of 6hp at slightly more than 2 L/Hour? - - - - - I have twin diesels that deliver 20hp each... Each burn a bit less than 3 L / hour at 2500rpm (3500rpm is full throttle)...

Barbie is a nice ornament / eye-candy leave her looking forward, from the bows adorning, in a 'wet-tea-shirt'...

 

If you get some wind and waves in your face you can double that.

Being kind thats 10 liters per hour,-- in one day thats 24x10= 240

240 liters is 240 kilo 1/4 a ton almost. A 4 day trip is almost 1 ton of fuel.

Welcome to the power cat world.

Cruising,--- I use just under 1 ton in exchange for 450 nautical miles per day. Thats 3/4 of a tank= 700 us dollar



Mast sounds cheaper now Eh?

 

The idea of the motors is for short distances or places you cannot sail. If you set sail and auto steer you go places for almost free. Tomorrow you are there or whatever, and no fuel required. Full tank = 0 us dollar. Even I can afford that !

 

Mast for a hitch-hiker rig has 4 stays and NO mainsail NOR the hardware/fittings associated with making that part do something useful... The sails (twin genoa) are 'flat-cut' - - and second-hand & ex mono sails have too much inbuilt belly/stretch/heaviness to be really appropriate/useful... The hitch-hiker rig is "ostensibly" a downwind rig, BUT it does point very nicely to windward... see attached image of X-IT

Motoring or sailing, the costs overall (including maintenance and scheduled replacement) are in reality, quite close ... as is known by most live-aboard cruisers who record their outgoings and live in "some level of civilised comfort" whilst maintaining a ship-shape and sea-worthy vessel...80567

Cruisers often sprout
. . . a) 80% of the time a cruiser is "at anchor"
. . . b) Most of movement time is either on the motor or motor sailing
. . . c) The cruising lifestyle is mostly opportunistic and not knowing where the money to pay for expenses will be found... (a precarious lifestyle?)

Has anyone got more 'truisms' to add?

 

Thats very true - a lot of people forget the cost of the sails and gear as they sail 'for free at $0 per mile'

The cost of secondhand sails in good condition (from rich boats) is a fraction of the cost of new ones, but they are not a popular option amongst the majority of boats.

And motors are more of a 'must have' item - they have saved many lives when wind, waves and sharp heavy things conspire against the helmsman.