Morgan Out Island 33 - Is it the One?

[captjimg]

Originally Posted by matt385

We have a 33 OI and are very pleased with it. It has the interior space of a 42' boat. If you are living aboard you will do more living than sailing, pay attention to the living aspects.

As you have one of the 33 OIs (I just bought a 79 a month ago)
Any experience with the rudder packing gland?? Mines leaking a few
quarts a day. Tried a strap wrench to tighten, but no luck.
Don't want to damage this.
Any suggestions??
Thanks
Jim

[johnar]

Banks,

I got my Morgan O.I. 33 1979 last May and i have been living on it and sailing. It is my first sail boat but have been sailing anumber of other boats. For the money I dont see how anyone could do better.

With my boat the asking price was $18,000 but I paid $9,000 with a new set of sails.

At the time i got the boat it needed new bottom paint, the oven did not work, the A/C did not work, Icebox did not work, The motor leaked alittle oil, Two Turnbuckles needed to be replaced and one Through Hull needed replaced.

Over the last 10 months I have spent very little to fix it, almost everything i was able to fix without buying anything, Oven still does not work. I think i have spent around $1,000 so far in repairs.

At the marina i live at i beleive my boat is the most sailed boat here. Yesterday I returned from a 3 day sail off shore (My first), must say at first i was scared coming out of the Mayport inlet, After i was 3 miles out the boat was like riding in a Caddy. My average speed was around 5 knots.

I would be in the Islands right now if it was not for a untimely DUI.

If you would like some pic's of the dutch i would be happy to send.


Capt. Jimg


The packing needs to be replaced, its cheap, wait until you pull it for a bottom job and then replace it. should be around 3 to 5 drips per minute coming from the packing, reason for this. The seal is a wet seal.

Oh buy the way i got my boat there in Punta Gorda


Hope i was of help.

Dutch

[Artful Dodger]

johnar: I certainly would be interested in seeing some of your pic's, as I too own a Morgan O/I 33, its been my first boat and as well we live aboard as well, and soon to be heading off for a good cruise. As for feeling like a Caddy those are the words I would use as well, one thing I have found she is like a woman likes to take her own heading at times and most times is the best for a sail

[johnar]

just go to my pic's MySpace.com - John - 45 - Male - GREEN COVE SPRINGS, Florida - www.myspace.com/johnsdutchtreat

[johnar]

Artful

I would love to talk with you more on how you added the weight and got more speed, what is your depth now? have you ever sailed other boats? your power plant, and so on.

I have some ideas that would help deploying the spinnaker. also easy to change to a cutter rig.

[DougAndJulissa]

I just ran across this thread. We have been living aboard a 78 OI 33 for five years and just returned from a year cruise from Miami to Grenada. We literally gutted the boat and did a complete refit for extended cruising. The boats will actually sail amazingly well if you replace the 30 yr old rigging and sails... We have been in some insane seas (funny how that happens) and the boat takes it better than us. I noticed someone in the forum was looking to purchase an OI. I will be glad to answer any questions If I can.

Doug and Julissa
S/V Starfish
Miami, Fl

[JeremyLembo]

Hello and good day; I have a morgan o/i 33, which I am putting up for sale. I have been living and fixing her up for the last 7 years and she is in pretty descent shape. She is currently docked on longboat key, FL, which is in Sarasota County and if your interested instill purchasing one feel free to look mine over. Most things are new and have been updated. I can give you more information if you like and can pretty much take her out with little notice. Would not mind bringing you and someone else out for a sunset jaunt. Feel free to contact me at jeremyl@didgrevolution.com. We did not necessarily outgrow her but I am rather busy and the wife does not want to be aboard by herself with 3 kids all the time. Back to the landlubber life. :-)
The boat I have is much better looking on the inside than most and is still in your price range.

Jeremy Lembo

[JeremyLembo]

Hey there.. With the rudder packing it is not a tapered packing. I think it takes 3 layers of 1/4" not spiraled. That is from memory but I can look it up if you need more information.

[fatherchronica]

I highly recommend pilothouses. Our dermatologist, we are old, told us we could not go cruising until I showed her our pilothouse. We just saw her after a year in the Sea of Cortez and she says we are doing okay. Plus if you are ever in big weather it is quite surreal to watch from the pilothouse. A few months ago we were in 40 kts, on the nose, with some breaking seas for 60 hours, in company with 2 other center cockpit boats of similar size. The other boats had their cockpits fill with water every now and then and eventually went 40 miles to shore to hide. We were pretty good and now my wife remembers it sort of fondly. My first charter in the USVI in 1978 was a Morgan OI 41. It was a tank, but it sailed okay, and we sometimes slept 10 aboard.

[Dave22q]

I live aboard my 33 OI and am very happy with it. Cannot beat the comfort and storage unless you trade up to a 40. Not a racer but a very comfortable sailor. If you want to heel until your rails are wet this is not your boat. Of you want to kick back and not sweat the occasional squall you cannot do better.

[Art Albertson]

I bought a 33' Pilothouse Out Island Morgan about 4 years ago before I really had the time to sail it much. it is my understanding that this particular model was made for only one year. Mine was built in Dec. 1979 according to the builders certificate. I believe most of these boats were built the same. It has a straight long keel and draws 4'. It has a furling jib and a furling mainsail. The main is loose-footed. The furling and control lines are routed into the main cabin just ahead of the wheel. It has a 4-108 49 hp Perkins diesel engine. My engine was supposedly overhauled shortly before I bought it and I believe it. It sit on the hard over the winter here in Minnesota for 7-8 months and starts right away in the Spring.

I had a lot of trouble with the main furler which lead to a lot of lost sailing time. The spring before last I replaced it with a similar one from the original manufacturer. The main furler is just a jib furler mounted on the forward edge of the mast between two anchoring points.

The boat is very susceptible to cross winds because of its high freeboard. For two years I had a slip which was 90 degrees to the prevailing winds. It got so that, when I came in to dock, several men would come running to help me. (I sail totally alone.) I sailed it in Lake Superior out of Duluth. The sailing that I did do confirms what has been already said. It sailed hard cross waves without the engine. I moved to southern Minnesota and & had the boat at a marina on the Mississippi at Lake Pepin. I could not sail the boat because of its inability to tack. I should have known that as I started sailing in Lake Pepin. I have moved the boat back to the same marina in Duluth and plan on living on the boat for lengths of time during the summer and sailing (or motor sailing) Superior. I have 105 gal fuel capacity and 100 gal water so I can go a ways motor sailing or motoring. I have a spinnaker but haven't tried it yet as you're risking your life to go forward on the side decks. I may have to invest in rigging to be able to sail the spinnaker from the cabin.

I should note that the ability to manage the sails from the cabin was the main reason I bought the boat as I get around on two canes from bad arthritis in my knees. I now am 71 years old and hope to have the joints replaced this winter.

I replace the aging head with an electric one, hope to install an electric capstan for the anchor this summer. I also have the necessary equipment for a bow thruster, but I am in a new slip next summer which faces into the prevailing wind.

The boat is a cruiser and not by any stretch of the imagination a racer. I have the original layout and in my opinion it is very good. The fore cabin has a huge bed and a small chest of drawers. In the galley I managed to get the alcohol stove working and it has a small refrigerator. On the port side it has an L shaped bench and a fold down table The main cabin is approximately 9+ feet wide and about 10 feet long. I think it was probably made for an entertainment boat, but the room is nice. It only has a captain's chair and a mate's chair so could use some more furnishings.

The boat is built like a tank. Very solid. Well built. This summer I need to do some painting and wood work. The parquet floor is still good and is a great attraction. I lived on the boat the summer of 2012 after my wife and I separated and I was laid up with broken ribs from a car accident and a cracked sternum from a fall on the boat onto a winch when the ribs were almost healed. That was not a good summer.

There is a group of 33' Outlander Pilothouse owner's out of Texas who could give you more info and maybe boats for sale to compare. I haven't been on-line with them for 2-3 years and can't give you the site address, but google it and go through the list and I'm sure you can find it. I think they had almost 40 members. I have the impress from somewhere that Morgan mad about 50 of these boats.

Good luck with your search.

Art Albertson

[Cloroxbottle]

Originally Posted by Arch Stanton

Haven't sailed one myself but I've heard lots of people recommend an Albin Vega 27 as a capable offshore, affordable boat.

One of the sailing channels, "Sailing Tarka" has extensive YouTube footage of their adventures in an Albin Vega 27. While it seems a little small for my taste, he has taken it a lot further than most of us have gone.