Trimaran - Especially Searunner - Owners

[Boatguy30]

Originally Posted by steve ripples

Yes, hope it's worth saving. The side of the hull in one of the pics looks odd though, can't figure out the strange patterns - are they reflections or bad surface ?

Fool with a grinder.

[Randy]

Yes, it looked pretty rough to me but.....$1400

[searunner31]

Plus he took out the swing keel and glassed over it. He was asking 5k for it a few weeks back.

[sea dragon]

Wow!
I just found this thread.It will take me a week to get through all of it.
I'm up to page 8 so far.(lot's of good information and stories)
I have a Searunner 40 that I have owned for about 26 years or so.
I've done quite a bit of sailing between California,Hawaii,And New Zealand on it,and singlehanded it a bunch.alot of times with no engine at all.
I love the boat.It's an old friend.
I got sidetracked from cruising with raising a family,house building, etc.,etc...
but now things are changing back to being able to get back out on the deep blue ocean a bit.
I'm trying to make things easier for an older,weaker,less agile person to operate safely.
Any tips appreciated!
It's nice to know there are other searunner folks out there!
My big project this year, is to overhaul the mast and rustle up some used sails.
my boat has the "extra long"54ft mast
I've never used it as a cutter,so I plan to set that up this year

[Sea Otter Jim]

I also have a searunner 37 ,I have been looking at this thread for quite a while but have not posted.I bought Walking Bird from Joe Hudson in 1999.Joe and Jim Brown had cruised the sea of cortez 95-99 in the boat and then joe sold her to me.It was called tri essence and launched in 1976.She was the first brown searunner built of west epoxy.Joe had said something about John Marples changing the transome on boat for more lift.Lots of great info here.I use to own a 31 vent wing that was built for hustler magazine and painted pink called she's easy.I live in La Paz Mexico.

[sea dragon]

Originally Posted by Roy M

The coolest part of all of this? The journey has been as wonderful as the anticipation of the completion. I've enjoyed my cruising, sailing, living aboard, and the overhaul. The fantasies associated with eventual cruising with my modifications have been rewarding. The last couple years of a terrible economy have had their effects, but haven't stopped moving toward the goal, only affected the rate of progress. And, in the meantime, technology has gone forward, allowing me to play with new ideas, materials and to reflect on earlier decisions. I'm happy. I'll be happier when I sail over the horizon.

Nice Roy,
i must have met you at some point.I lived on 2 different tris in the Coronado anchorage,30ft Piver and searunner 40
I also had a mooring in the commercial basin for both boats.
I'm a little younger being a "kid' of 56
I helped build a ferrocement boat with my dad in Venice in the mid to late 70's
We read an article in the L.A. Times about the Coronado anchorage,
and that was that. We sailed there 5 days after the boat was launched.
There were some great people and boats there like "Puffin".Cosima,Slipstream,and on and on....What a bunch of characters!
I got hooked on the magic of these boats and the whole lifestyle
Somewhere I have a cover from the(1978?) San Diego phonebook of Glorrietta Bay with just my boat,my Dad's and 3 other tris in the whole anchorage.
Truly a paradise to a young Venice surf rat.
In the seventies,Venice and Marina Del Rey were full of boatyards of ordinary people building their own cruising boats.
That dream seems to have diminished in present days(too bad...}
I spent countless hours reaching back and forth from the Embarcadero to the Castle moored in the south Bay You could sail for hours with the cruising spinnaker just jibing at each end.
We called it "Going nowhere fast!"
Good times.

[Roy M]

Do you remember KEET, a Searunner 40? The owner would sail singlehanded from Alaska in late summer, spend a few weeks at Coronado, then continue on to Costa Rica. He would then return to Alaska the following spring. I, too, built WILDERNESS on Zeno Street in Venice, from 1974-1978. I shared the yard with a guy building a cement boat. The last time I was there, the boat still hadn't been launched, but was sitting up the street in front of his house. Kinda sad, seeing the potted geraniums on the deck.

[md7a]

Originally Posted by Mark Johnson

I LOVE DIRT CHEEP, REALLY QUICK, PERFECT SOLUTIONS. It makes the other 99% of boat work more tolerable! Here's a couple...

PVC ELBOW DORADE BOXES:

HERE'S ANOTHER: AMA VENT RAIN DIVERTERS FROM DOWNSPOUT ADAPTERS...
For my ama vents I have found that 4" downspout adapters make great rain diverters. They weigh less than genuine PVC and cost less too.

I use a 4" x 4.25" x 3" D/SPOUT ADP from Home Depot or Habitat for Humanity. SKU 96942 30200 5; this little beauty has a 4" circular end with barbs to hold it into the round flex pipe, and a 4.5" x 3" rectangular end with an offset for the downspout pipe. I trim the barbs down a little so they will slide into the Beckson inspection plate and yet hold tightly enough to stay in place. The square part faces outward from the ama and keeps out the rain, and it's also a decent fit for a 60mm computer fan if you want to force the air around.

I have 2 of these plates+rainshades on each ama of my 31' A-frame Searunner, and they keep the humidity in the amas to 75% or less even during our Pacific NW rainy winters.

[sea dragon]

I remember a brown 40 that would anchor in the 72 hour anchorage on occassion.
I used to gaze at it longingly from my Nimble.
I think that made it a goal for me.
What really cinched it was an attempt to sail to Kodiak island from Kauaii single handed and enginless on my nimble.(yes,I was insane)
I limped into Santa Barbara 34 days later with the boat literaly falling apart
1/4"ply amas,Resorcinol glue and boat nails
I really don't know how I survived that one.
I was bailing at least 100 gallons of water a day(with a bucket)
One thing I did on that crazy trip(my second attempt)Was to design my perfect boat that had what the piver lacked.
basically a sr 40.
I think one of the best days of my young life was the first night on that 40.I payed $33000.00 for it
Originally it was called water rat,built by Art Cox in Long Beach
My brother and I sailed itfrom Point Loma to Kawaihai in 10 days(no engine)
We were sailing down the big rollers at an angle like they said to,in order to not pitchpole.
We decided ,just for the hell of it to go straight down a wave as an experiment
What a rush!!We kept doing that for days on 17+foot tradewind rollers
the stern would go up,up,up..and be momentarily poised at the top before taking off on the waves.Picture the Hawaii 5-0 theme song in the background
just Wow!
Anyway,back to the boatyard,
We built my dads boat on Venice Blvd at the Sarlo yard,and then finished it across the street on Electric Avenue.
My dad called those boats "forever boats"
Glorrietta had lots of Horstmans,crosses,and pivers.
On a-frame 31 I remember was" Light"which a couple(Marty & Debbie) and baby lived on.
I was very impressed by them.Last year Took the boat out to Barkley Sound for a couple weeks.
That got me inspired again,so I'm steeling myself for a big haulout to bring the systems back.
My biggest hurdle is sails.
I've always wanted to try the boat as a cutter, instead of a sloop.
I also need to make things safer for the older me.
Last summer, I found myself crawling forward to do sail changes instead of like in the good old days.
I'm going to drop the mast soon,and get the reef points,lazyjacks,etc. sorted out.
I'm heading down to SD in April to visit family,and I'm hoping to do some used sail shopping.
I made a pretty nice hard dodger for my boat with a removeable front window.
1/2"stich and glue ply with carbon fibre carlins.
I will try and take a few shots naext week
Eric
Any leads or ideas on that subject would be appreciated

[rossad]

Gosh this thread has taken off...
Lets get these Searunner kids back in the real world

[sea dragon]

Originally Posted by rossad

Gosh this thread has taken off...
Lets get these Searunner kids back in the real world

Sorry Rousad,
Maybe I should've pmed Roy instead of writing this in the thread.
But,Please tell me te "real world isn't another 111 pages of ultra dry boat maintenance
After reading all that in one day,I'm tempted to burn my boat just to escape that cruel fate

[md7a]

Originally Posted by sea dragon

Sorry Rousad,
Maybe I should've pmed Roy instead of writing this in the thread.
But,Please tell me te "real world isn't another 111 pages of ultra dry boat maintenance
After reading all that in one day,I'm tempted to burn my boat just to escape that cruel fate

No apologies at this point please - I'm one of those maintenance monkeys and I need the occasional reminiscence to keep going...

[Mark Johnson]

Sea Dragon:

For the best old age rig, I suggest a cutter rig that is nevertheless "sailed" as a sloop, (most of the time), with a high clew roller furling "lapper" headsail. It can be sailed with the simpler and far more efficient sloop setup until the wind really kicks up. Then the staysail stay and runners are made up for the gale.

This setup, along with our 4' taller rig, (50'), have served us well for 17 years now. If I'm feeling REALLY lazy, like a daysail in the Neuse River, Delphys sails just fine under headsail alone, in winds over 10 knots...

My wife and I did the work, but the concept was John Marples' idea, after his 10 years of cruising in the Pacific. For our use, he felt that this was the perfect rig, and I agree...

With a standard height rig, you would be underpowered in light air, (without a "genoa" on the roller furler), but you could always have a light weight "mule", on the staysail stay, for those rare light air days, (or, other than on a beat, fly an asymmetrical spinnaker). You could also use a "genoa" on the roller furling headstay instead, (except when on a real passage).

Caveats: Using a "genoa" on the roller furling extrusion, you would loose quite a bit of visibility forward, and need several sheet lead car adjustments, when sailing partly reefed, (unlike with a high clewed "lapper"). For those blustery bluewater days, the bulletproof "lapper" should take the place of the "genoa", imo.

With our tall rig, the "lapper" is large enough 99% of the time, and we don't even have a "genoa".

Our sloop configuration is fine up to 30 knots of app wind, when we roll it up a bit, to 35 knots or so. Only then do we strike the "lapper", and raise the staysail, (already rigged up, in its bag on deck). The "lapper" is now totally furled, and the staysail is the only headsail. We continue on, still sailing as a sloop.

It's easier to set up as a sloop, easier to keep trimmed, and more efficient as well. The sloop also works better for those using a cockpit enclosure, because the sheets approach the winch from aft, and the aft vinyl curtains are usually out.

Sailing under staysail alone, or along with a double reefed main, is perfect in a gale. The center of effort is then centralized and down low. It is great to have this as an option, but the other 99% of the time, you just can't beat a roller furling sloop for ease of operation, with good reliability, and a decent turn of speed as well.

Mark

[Roy M]

Hmmmm... Now you've got me thinking of simply changing my 50' mast for a 54', instead of just overhauling. John Marples, are you out there lurking? Do you have a mast layout for this? I'm willing to pay for it if you do.

[sea dragon]

I've already got the 54 ft.mast.
I've been talking to my brother about senior sailing modifications,and roller furling was the first thing he mentioned.His contention is that:
"A fat old man has no buiseness out on the bow changing sails in a storm"
Any op[nions on a good furler for a 40 ft tri?