Can a 27' Bayliner Buccaneer Ever Be a Bluewater Cruiser ?

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by James Dieterich

I want to know can this boat ever be a Blue-water vessel? Taken off-shore and to distant ports like Mexico and Alaska (I live on the West Coast).

Short answer - No.

[sabray]

Originally Posted by Therapy

Short answer - No.

Im going NO. Hereshoff did a stint in his alerion not in my mind a blue water boat. Neat but not blue water. The canard should never have made elephant island but it did. Could you survive maybe. would you wish you hadn't gone yes if you live to tell, it will be a great story. Do you want a great story or do you want to sail?

[doug86]

Originally Posted by James Dieterich

I have seated the mast and installed a self-furrowing Jib, powered by an 8 horse Nissan outboard.

I can't think of anything else that the Buccaneer might need... Go for it!

...wait!. How does the "self-furrowing jib" know when it's time to furrow itself?

[denverd0n]

It never ceases to amaze me how many people will come to a forum like this one to "ask for advice" when in reality all they want is for someone to tell them that what they have already decided to do is not a completely hair-brained scheme.

[James Dieterich]

Your words have cut me to the quick, so true. I have really appreciated all of the advice and caution I have received from everyone so again, thank you. My actions will be something short of sailing to the Orient but on clear days I may brave short coastal trips. I have but to put all of the pieces together for a sturdy and economical sailboat and God willing I will post some pictures early Summer as she plows through the waves.
And yes, I will probably ask for further advice and shy away from acceptance on the hair-brained side of things. Thanks again one and all. James.

[SkiprJohn]

I wish you the best of luck with your Buccaneer. You'll have lots of fun sailing and learning on her.
kind regards,

[Robert Bodell]

I don't know about the 27 but I had a 24 bayliner Buccaneer for a long time. I sailed it single handed without an engine well over 40,000 miles. All of it off shore.

The only changes I made to it was to put an extra gudgeon and pintle on the rudder, install double lowers, heavier chain-plates, the next size bigger wire and install a 10" deck drain in the cockpit. Everything else was like it came from the factory.

I did make some changes for comfort like building a gymboled stove and gymboled bunk.

All rigging ran back to the cockpit so I did not have to go on deck even to reef sails.

I had two 360's and three hurricanes and one war and the antarctic and north Atlantic. I am still here.

I wish I had never gotten rid of that boat. There isn't any place I would not go in it. If the 27 is anything like it, it's a good boat.

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by Robert Bodell

I don't know about the 27 but I had a 24 bayliner Buccaneer for a long time. I sailed it single handed without an engine well over 40,000 miles. All of it off shore.

The only changes I made to it was to put an extra gudgeon and pintle on the rudder, install double lowers, heavier chain-plates, the next size bigger wire and install a 10" deck drain in the cockpit. Everything else was like it came from the factory.

I did make some changes for comfort like building a gymboled stove and gymboled bunk.

All rigging ran back to the cockpit so I did not have to go on deck even to reef sails.

I had two 360's and three hurricanes and one war and the antarctic and north Atlantic. I am still here.

I wish I had never gotten rid of that boat. There isn't any place I would not go in it. If the 27 is anything like it, it's a good boat.

Is your other name Tristan Jones? He told some amazing stories of this ilk.

Honestly, this saga is hard to believe... any documentation?

Jim

[Robert Bodell]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Is your other name Tristan Jones? He told some amazing stories of this ilk.

Honestly, this saga is hard to believe... any documentation?

Jim

Not hardly, I learned something good from him though, make sure everything is correct when you leave the dock instead of waiting for it to break at sea, jury rig it then leave it alone until it breaks again out at sea instead of fixing it.

I don't know what you mean by documentation, if you mean log books, yes I have most of them but anybody can write a set of log books. You want photos, there are a million on the internet. You want stories, anybody can tell stories. I realy don't have many ADVENTURES because I always had my boat in good condition and didn't take any chances. I quit sailing 20 years ago so I am not writing a book. I don't care if you believe me or not. Somebody had a question about Bayliners and I gave my experiences about it.

Perhaps you would like to tell your stories about sailing a buccaneer.

[Jim Cate]

I had two 360's and three hurricanes and one war and the antarctic and north Atlantic.

G'Day Robert,

Well, if you indeed experienced all of the above voyaging and disaster surviving, I'm deeply impressed. Few vessels survive a 360 degree roll let alone two, few 24 foot vessels have successfully navigated to Antarctica, few sailing vessels have sailed through a war (not quite sure what you meant there), few twenty four foot vessels survive even one hurricane at sea, and not so very many such vessels have crossed the north Atlantic (if that is what you meant in your statement).

Thus the combination of all your adventures strained my belief. If indeed fact, you SHOULD write a book, for I'd like to read it, and I suspect that many others would too.
And please realize that here o n CF some few statements appear that are not borne out in reality. Some of us have become skeptical as a result. If I was wrong in my disbelief, please accept my apology.

Jim

[senormechanico]

Originally Posted by Therapy

Short answer - No.

Yes, if on the deck or hold of a ship...

[senormechanico]

Originally Posted by doug86

I can't think of anything else that the Buccaneer might need... Go for it!

...wait!. How does the "self-furrowing jib" know when it's time to furrow itself?

WOW ! With an 8 hp engine to "furrow" the jib, I'll bet it can do it in a flash !!

(edit)
Oh, and I once sailed from the North Pole to Antarctica in a week.
No documentation, of course...

[Djsubzro]

Well I love my 76 buc,
The floor needs a replacement.
I'll go with aluminum.
Im up to 35 hp on hydraulic lift to power it . It's very capable of punching thru some stuff.

As far as a blue water boat , she doesn't have enough fin for the big leagues.
However i have rode thru six foot rollers and buried the bow to the top window. Tough gal.
I'm in Florida so the best part is you can grab the bow eye and walk her thru the shallows.
As a keys boat it's perfect . Hot water, marine air, radar all of the perks even power folding mast!
Off shore from inlet to inlet only.
I dont think true blue would be wise..

[Island Time O25]

My first boat was 1982 US27. Bayliner was its parent company and USY suffered in reputation as a result. Tough little boat and certainly with a little beefing up of the rig would make a nice little offshore boat. I hit the rocks in it one day. I was over barely submerged rocks and due to wave and inertia hit them 3 times but not too hard but still hard enough. There was the usual dents and dings on the keel and slight, 1/4 to 1/2 inch bend of the rudder post. Rather than taking out and dealing with the bend we shaved off some rudder at the top and re-glassed it to keep the original clearance of about an inch. Sailed her next 4 seasons without a hitch.

Midway through my ownership (a total of about 5 years) I had to replace by then 35+ year old depth sounder as PO had yanked the cable out of it (without any left over piece to attach to new cable) and there was no way I could think of to re-attach one back. My boat builder buddy was helping me to take the sending unit out and put the new one in. He was very surprised to find very, very thick fiberglass at that point and to see that it was bone dry and still smelling fresh like it was installed yesterday. That was the moment when I realized that this was a much better boat than it's reputation, soiled by its association with Bayliner, indicated. If that Buccaneer 27 was built similarly to my US27 it can be made to sail offshore. However, having been a member of Bucc/US forum for some years back then I don't think I remember even one member taking them offshore. Many US27s did offshore trips but not one Bucc27 that I know of. I think the issue with them was more of a too top heavy "tub" not enough keel design more than anything. And they were made in a separate facility from US boats so the quality was quite different and not to it's credit.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Djsubzro.