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Old 20-02-2013, 17:09   #1876
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You are so right it is called cruising. But I doubt I will ever cross Florida that way again. The only reason for BoatUS was because I was single handed and that is a bad area to have problems. Remember it is part of the ICW and they said they had coverage.

The police never found the boat.

But that was 7 years ago and I'm still at it.

All I'm saying some times what appears the easiest and quickest isn't. Plus so much nicer going via the Keys.

Nice blue clear water in the keys than nasty river water with the aroma of rotting poached gators.

Plus your on Searunner go sailing not motoring.
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Old 20-02-2013, 17:26   #1877
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Re: Trimaran - Especially Searunner - Owners

I rather like the Okeechobee. Anchored right next to an 8-foot alligator, free docks all over the place, bald eagles up above, sleepy little towns, feels like you're passing through part of the Everglades, which you are.

Quote:
1) What is the height of the mast above the water? I want to travel the Okeechobee waterway in a few weeks and I'm a little worried about that 49ft rr bridge.
You definitely want to measure your height twice, so that you don't end up cutting the mast once! We went under last time with the antenna ticking along the bottom of the steel. Luckily it is sheltered there and you can approach really slow.
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Old 20-02-2013, 19:07   #1878
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Re: Trimaran - Especially Searunner - Owners

I really like that story of "THAT"
How amazing a life can be.
Wonder if he ever sailed to Australia like he planned.
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Old 20-02-2013, 21:19   #1879
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Re: Trimaran - Especially Searunner - Owners

Boatguy, Olin had dropped by the house of a friend of mine who had hired Bob Dixon and me to build this car. We had made a couple false starts on it, but the owner kept changing his mind about the shape he wanted. Olin sent him a sketch on a piece of paper, which became the model for what we eventually built. The only other vehicle that Olin had designed was the U.S. Army amphibious Duck in WWII. It was a wonderful experiment in torturing Honduran mahogany and African rosewood, Bubinga, into a sculpture that could roll along the highway.

On another note, our yacht club doesn't lease or sublease. If you are a visiting member of another yacht club that offers exchange privileges, then you can stay free for a while. I just get to use the space when I am in port. I still have to pay for it when I go cruising. It's kind of like a condo.

I also got a signed copy of Olin Stephens' book LINES.

Here's some pictures of what we started with on the car. The old guy is Olin, the year before he passed away. Very cool dude, and very talented, all the way to the end of his life.
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Old 20-02-2013, 22:13   #1880
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Re: Trimaran - Especially Searunner - Owners

What a great gig for a boat builder. The old Hispano Suiza's used elaborate wood bodywork. In England you can still apprentice as a panel beater and build wood frame coachwork. I think Morgan still makes some that way. The all wood really puts the boat into a boattailed speedster. Interesting to think of having to varnish your car. Thanks for posting this Roy, It must have been a blast.
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Old 21-02-2013, 08:47   #1881
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Re: Trimaran - Especially Searunner - Owners

Thanks folks for the opportunity to show off this project. It's quite a stretch from Searunners. But, just like building a boat, or getting a college degree, you start at one end, try to make as few mistakes as possible, have some occasional insights, try to keep the trauma to a minimum, and hope that there's another thousand bucks coming so you can keep up the dream. And, one day, you get to have the rollout.... and, then, start on the next dream. I see many parallels between Olin Stephens and Jim Brown. Both started out with a dream, and both have created many more for others. What a legacy.
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Old 21-02-2013, 09:27   #1882
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How true. Projects are finished well by methodical people and created well by methodically visionary dreams. Our searunners are part of this process finished to make another dream come true.
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Old 23-02-2013, 10:20   #1883
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Re: Trimaran - Especially Searunner - Owners

Quote:
Originally Posted by Captryan23 View Post
Sorry for interrupting the discussion, but I'm a new searunner owner and I need some help from the pros. I have a 1974 37ft searunner and I would like your feedback on:

1) What is the height of the mast above the water? I want to travel the Okeechobee waterway in a few weeks and I'm a little worried about that 49ft rr bridge.

2) I want to put marine ac in her (I live in the Pensacola area). Where is the best place to install unit and what size to cool entire boat (9000, 12000, or 16000btu)?

3) I live on a shallow bayou and I’m considering some type of kick-up rudder system. Does anyone have some suggestions? Of course I would shorten the mini keel to fit.

Thanks for any feedback. I appreciate it.

Best,

Stu



I am typing with my left hand, as the right (typing hand) is in a cast, so I'll try to be uncharacteristically brief.

THE OKEECHOBEE:
This is a great scenic shortcut for some, but your 37 will be too tall unless it has a shorter than standard mast, with no clutter on top. Our 34 is 50' above water on the mast, and 53' counting the antennae!

You can avoid the well publicized South Florida hassles, by going out of the inlet at Ft LaTiDa, and hug the coast VERY CLOSE, to avoid the Gulf Stream. Stop over at Biscayne Bay, then hop up to Marathon to go under the tall bridge there. Then take the inside ICW route on up until you chose to shoot across the Panhandle's arm pit. By Tarpon Springs, you will have too shoot across. OR:
You can just shoot across the entire Gulf, once leaving Fl Bay. We have done it both ways, and straight across is about a week faster than inlet hopping, but you do NOT want a bad norther hitting you in the middle of the Gulf. It can generate really nasty waves, too short in period to comfortably ride over!

If your destination is Bayou Chico, we know it well. (Lived there 3 years, and rode out H Ivan there too). The water goes shallow all winter, and many dock owners blew a hole, just under their boat, to keep them afloat at the dock, but they could not leave in winter without perfect timing.

KICK UP RUDDER:
The standard skeg/rudder has no more draft than the boat's minikeel, so, assuming you HAVE a mini keel, a different rudder doesn't have an advantage...

IF it matters to you, however: There is a semi balanced kick up spade rudder option in the plans, OR for the far superior skeg rudder, you can make a kick up rudder AND skeg unit, that fits into an open transom trunk. (Retrofitting this concept to a SR gets complicated though). These kick up rudder/skeg units are GREAT, but building it right is a LOT of work! John Marples can send you the plans for either, at a very modest price.

MARINE AC:
A built in installation on a SR is heavy, complicated, takes up valuable space, and the boat REALLY doesn't lend itself to it, due to the two divided cabins.

IF you still want her to be a good cruiser, but need AC at the dock, I would do as we have. Start off with a full cockpit enclosure, and make it really tight. Then, in the aft middle enclosure curtain, make a duplicate curtain that is mounted to a vertical ply wall, that has a condensate catchment tray underneath it. To this little wall we permanently mounted a 7,000 btu window ac unit. ($120)

With both companionway flaps kept wide open, by cooling the cockpit, the cool/dry air falls into the cabins nicely. It also keeps most of the noise "out there". (btw, we heat the boat this way too, as a single large living space).

We can put this wall/tray/ac unit in place, zip it in, and hook it up to the dock's pedestal in about 2 minutes. It works great, until the temps are in the upper 90s, and then it helps if it is used along with the awning, (which we all should have anyway), in order to really do its job. Even without the awning it helps a LOT! With >100 degree afternoon temps, we can have it in the 80s down below, and dry. Nighttime, is piece of cake!

I have never taken this 50# contraption with us cruising, and consider it useful mostly for "living at the dock mode" while working. It does however, have a balanced handle, and will fit nicely in the ama, OR your storage unit back home.

If we cruise the Chesapeake in Summer again, we will probably take it with us, as it is all protected cruising in the Chesapeake, and I would live with the weight, while cruising there. Then, If we had a heat spell coming, predicting 5 days at 105 degree temps, we would pull into a marina, hook up the ac, and wait it out.

I would not suggest taking such a thing out of the country, and in the tropics it seldom gets that hot, (> 95). Still, for waiting out H season, up the Rio Dulce, IN SUMMER, maybe I would?

Hope this helps,
Mark
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Old 23-02-2013, 10:44   #1884
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Re: Trimaran - Especially Searunner - Owners

A/C isn't really desirable to lug around with you unless you tie up in marinas, even in the Caribbean. But, even in the winter places like Cartagena or the Rio Dulce get almost unbearably hot if you're tied up and can't let the boat pivot into the wind. I personally would not want to sit out hurricane season someplace, but would prefer to keep on the move and go someplace I could keep cruising, like Maine. There is a lot to recommend snow birding it--you're always in places at the right time to enjoy the best weather. Spent the summer once down in Panama and the San Blas, and I'm not sure I would ever do it again. The T-storms there are really bad all summer long, and in between you often get calms and bugs.
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Old 24-02-2013, 06:41   #1885
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Re: Trimaran - Especially Searunner - Owners

I've been looking at videos and information about the Seaclipper 20 and the daysailer version of the Seaclipper 24.
I'm not keen on the cabin version of the 24 because it takes the great seating away
They look like really great fun designs for a trailerable daysailer/camping expedition boat
They look like they would be very easy to build for most people and affordable also.
Has anyone taken the plunge and started building one,or sailed on one?
I really like the idea of the daysailer versions with a big cockpit,and in the case of the 24,a little forward cuddy cabin big enough for a porta potti
Any opinions on these nice little daysailers?
A nice feature indeed,being able to trailer a cool little trimaran with a costco tent and fishing rod down from the dreary rain of the Pacific northwest to bright, warm,sunny,Mulege and launch in the Sea of Cortez.
I am So ready for winter to be over!
What other small trailerable basic expedition/daysailer type trimaran designs are out there worth looking at?
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Old 24-02-2013, 09:38   #1886
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Re: Trimaran - Especially Searunner - Owners

Look up Tremolino.Dick Newick design.You can sometimes find them all ready to sail for less then 5 k . I had one, now my son has it and loves it. Not much room for a cruiser but a blast so sail.biggest bang for the buck in the sailing world in my opinion. Also there is a bok on smal trimarans.
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Old 24-02-2013, 10:07   #1887
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Re: Trimaran - Especially Searunner - Owners

Quote:
Originally Posted by sea dragon View Post
I've been looking at videos and information about the Seaclipper 20 and the daysailer version of the Seaclipper 24.
I'm not keen on the cabin version of the 24 because it takes the great seating away
They look like really great fun designs for a trailerable daysailer/camping expedition boat
They look like they would be very easy to build for most people and affordable also.
Has anyone taken the plunge and started building one,or sailed on one?
I really like the idea of the daysailer versions with a big cockpit,and in the case of the 24,a little forward cuddy cabin big enough for a porta potti
Any opinions on these nice little daysailers?
A nice feature indeed,being able to trailer a cool little trimaran with a costco tent and fishing rod down from the dreary rain of the Pacific northwest to bright, warm,sunny,Mulege and launch in the Sea of Cortez.
I am So ready for winter to be over!
What other small trailerable basic expedition/daysailer type trimaran designs are out there worth looking at?




This link: Amazing Marples DC-3 Trimaran Sail Boat - DC-3 Trimaran Sail Boat

is the DC3. It may be twice the cost in both time and materials, vs what you have been looking at, but it is still a really quick boat to build. The SC 20 and 24 is a daysailor that you can camp on, where as the DC 3 is a real, trailerable, mini cruiser, requiring a rock bottom investment.

For daysailing out of your back yard, when the destination is up that little creek across the river, the small SCs are fine, but for trailering down to the Sea of Cortez for a longer sabbatical cruise, I personally, would invest the extra energy, and build the DC3...

Those 60 knot squalls always seem to hit at night!
M.
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Old 24-02-2013, 14:19   #1888
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They have a 5000 btu AC that is 12 volt for about $2,700.00. Don't know any one that has one.
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Old 24-02-2013, 18:37   #1889
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Re: Trimaran - Especially Searunner - Owners

there were 2 sea clipper 20s built here in St Augustine. There are several other newish small tri designs and they certainly are better camp cruisers than most 20' cats. Seaclipper probably has somewhat better carrying capacity than some of the other designs, but Strike 18 and W 17 are probably a fair bit faster and the Strike perhaps a bit more comfy to sail.
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Old 24-02-2013, 19:07   #1890
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Re: Trimaran - Especially Searunner - Owners

=Mark Johnson;1167308]This link: Amazing Marples DC-3 Trimaran Sail Boat - DC-3 Trimaran Sail Boat

is the DC3. It may be twice the cost in both time and materials, vs what you have been looking at, but it is still a really quick boat to build. The SC 20 and 24 is a daysailor that you can camp on, where as the DC 3 is a real, trailerable, mini cruiser, requiring a rock bottom investment.

Hmmmn...
I really like it,but once a cabin goes on , it really reduces the space to enjoy a daysail with friends.
The beauty of these two designs(from my point of view)
Is that they are all about going out for a fun day of sailing,
At the end of the sail,you go home and sleep in your own bed,
any extended trip in them would require gearing up for an adventure
Adventures aren't necessarily comfortable,but they are never forgotton.
I think the DC-3 looks like a great boat,but takes a step away from the daysailer catagory that I'm interested in by limiting the cockpit seating area and adding significantly to the cost of building a boat
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