John Pugh 26 foot - looking to buy. Anyone know about them?

[PQDC]

Hi,

Without going into my whole history (I've sailed for a few years, mostly with friends and hiring 28 to 34 foot sailboats on a lake), I'm looking at buying my first boat with the aim of it lasting 3 or 4 years until we upsize to a larger 30+ foot boat.

The boat I'm looking at online is a John Pugh 26 foot steel sailing boat. From the pictures it will need some interior work, and will need a newer secondhand main sail down the track, but for the price of $5K Australian it looks okay.

What I need help with before driving 2.5 to 3hrs to look at it is some feedback from anyone with knowledge of a small John Pugh. I've looked at saildata, google etc for some idea of the layout, cabin height etc, but can't find anything yet. The boat has a double V-Berth for the wife and I, and 2 quarter berths for the kids, so it might do us for the occasional overnight. Because the boat is 2.5 hours away by road, we'll want to bring it back to a boat club closer to us at some stage in the next year after we're more used to its various characteristics.

This will mean future trips of 25nm in a bay (no worries there), then 35 nm along the coast and into Port Phillip Bay in Victoria, Australia. The boat has a sub 1 metre Bilge keel. Assuming that I wait for the perfect weather window to bring the boat back next year, is this likely to be an issue. I know it depends more on the sailor and less on the boat, but is this boat an occasional coastal cruiser, or should it not leave the bay?

Any assistance will be gratefully received.

Cheers

[Sailing Soon]

Good luck

[Steadman Uhlich]

Howdy PQDC! Welcome Aboard CF.

Before you purchase a steel hulled boat as your first boat, I strongly suggest you read the CF archives for advice and opinions on the suitability of steel for small sailboats.

I will send you some tips on how to find this info in a Private Message.

In short, a common bit of wisdom or advice is to use steel for larger, not smaller boats. This is due to the weight of the materials used.

Another bit of wisdom shared by steel boat owners: "steel boats rust from the inside out."

Simply put, this means the typical steel boat will have more problems with hidden rust that can corrode the boat from the inside, to the point of making holes in the steel plate. This may be hidden from easy view in inaccessible parts of the hull. This is why a good survey by a professional yacht surveyor is strongly recommended.

If you look into some of the many threads discussing steel sailboats, you may see advice such as "steel is not the best material choice on Boats less that 40-50 feet." Of course opinions will differ. I have seen a steel boat, the Roberts Tom Thumb, that is 24 feet.

Here is a link to many threads about steel.
https://cse.google.com/cse?cx=011403...eel&gsc.page=1

Put another way, and being very brief, you may be better served and have more fun, better performance in light winds, less maintenance issues, and have less hassle selling it in three years, with a fiberglass boat that is only 26 feet long.

Good luck on your decision.

[justwaiting]

G'day mate, welcome to CF

His plans used to be sold through "Build-A-Boat Plans Co"
Their contact details used to be:

Po Box 474,
BROOKVALE, NSW, 2100
Phone:
(02) 9938 4933

I do not know if those details are current.

There is a JP user group at:

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/...ht_Owners/info

Not a lot of traffic but you may get lucky.

Generally those boats that were built out of Corten (SIC) steel were far better than those that were not. Most home built Steel boats did not have insulation and have even higher rust problems. As other have said steel boats rust from the inside and no insulation means more corrosion. When i was looking for a steel boat boat a decade ago this was true of all of the boats i looked at - to be fair i was looking at cheaper boats. I did look at a JP 26 - flicked the first bit of surface rust i saw and tasted fresh sea water seeping into the boat. I did not look any father - i ran away.

Can you weld?

I ended up buying a Roberts, lol. I got my purchase price back when i sold it but lets not talk about the ground tackle, engine repairs, new running rigging, new head and holding tank .....

[PQDC]

Thanks for the post Steady but having closed on the sale earlier today l'll have to hope the boat serves our purpose :-)
We got the 26 barge keel boat for much less than the $5,000 AUS and got the swing mooring in the bay thrown in too. It's in Western Port Bay east of Melbourne, which is a fairly shallow, tidal area in the north, so the barge keel, while being crap into the wind, will be great for exploring the shallow area without worrying about grounding too much. The interior of the boat needs work, but we can fix that. The old owner sailed it a few hundred miles allow the coast so it should suit our needs okay.
When the time comes to sell it to upgrade we can give it away if needed and sell the mooring and not be too out of pocket as long as the repairs etc don't outstrip our usual boat hire costs.
Most importantly we have our own boat now!

[PQDC]

Thanks Justwaiting. I'll check out the group, and look into the insulation too as there are a couple of areas without any.
Cheers

[Snowpetrel]

If its frolic, she looks like a nice little boat. Small steel boats cam have stability issues, but John Pugh was a smart designer so if built to plans she could be a lot of fun.

It looks like there isnt much insulation or lining in the boat so she will be a bit cold and damp in winter and hot in summer, but that's easily fixed.

The twin keels will be very handy around westernport.

All the best.

[PQDC]

It is Frolic Snowpetrel. We've got a bit of work to do inside, but she looks sound, and the price was right for a first boat.

Cheers
Peter