Pacific Seacraft 37 Diehards Question

[Offshore74]

Interested in a PS37 not for immediate offshore sailing but in about five years, has tons of upgrades and could be sailed tomorrow around the world but it's not the right time for us. Curious how these boats sail from other PS owners and what they can tell me about the boat's temperament, they're historically known as extremely competent off shore vessels however we might only be sailing this one locally for the next 3-5 years (preparing and learning) which could entail light winds. And it's clearly a heaver more fuller keel boat. Is this boat too much to start? or should we get a boat BEFORE the offshore boat of our dreams, I.E. something to just sail and flit around in? Curious what others think.

[deluxe68]

Have you tried the Pacific Seacraft forums?

[keepondancin]

We cruised on a 37. We stayed in the Eastern Caribbean and Venezuela, when it was safe, and along with the entire US coast. We sailed for about 10 years. One of the nicest sailing boats. Low initial stability, heels pretty quickly, but falls into it's groove. First reef at about 15 knots keeps it where it likes to be. Sea motion is very nice, doesn't pound at all, did my navigation at 6 knots. It is a fairly narrow boat, but being creative, there is a lot of storage for it's size. It isn't a light air sailer, but above 8-10 it is sweet. It sails as if it was designed for a windvane, I had a Monitor, and it balances out easily. I upgraded to a Bristol 41.1 because grand kids were on the way. With a life change, lost my wife, I now wish I had the 37 back. I single hand now, coastal cruising, and it would be a much easier boat for me to handle. It is very well built, really a yacht. The biggest complaint I had was engine access, you have to either go through the lazerette or remove the cockpit sole to access the back end of the engine. The fuel tank, if still an aluminum tank, has a tendency to corrode neccesitating removal and repair, but, it is easily removed once empty, takes about 20 minutes. Newer boats have a fiberglass tank but capacity is reduced to 36 gallons. Water tanks are molded in under the offset v-berth and under the quarter berth. It is truly probably one of the best designed cruising boats for the time when people cruised on boats, not floating condominiums.

[Offshore74]

Originally Posted by keepondancin

We cruised on a 37. We stayed in the Eastern Caribbean and Venezuela, when it was safe, and along with the entire US coast. We sailed for about 10 years. One of the nicest sailing boats. Low initial stability, heels pretty quickly, but falls into it's groove. First reef at about 15 knots keeps it where it likes to be. Sea motion is very nice, doesn't pound at all, did my navigation at 6 knots. It is a fairly narrow boat, but being creative, there is a lot of storage for it's size. It isn't a light air sailer, but above 8-10 it is sweet. It sails as if it was designed for a windvane, I had a Monitor, and it balances out easily. I upgraded to a Bristol 41.1 because grand kids were on the way. With a life change, lost my wife, I now wish I had the 37 back. I single hand now, coastal cruising, and it would be a much easier boat for me to handle. It is very well built, really a yacht. The biggest complaint I had was engine access, you have to either go through the lazerette or remove the cockpit sole to access the back end of the engine. The fuel tank, if still an aluminum tank, has a tendency to corrode neccesitating removal and repair, but, it is easily removed once empty, takes about 20 minutes. Newer boats have a fiberglass tank but capacity is reduced to 36 gallons. Water tanks are molded in under the offset v-berth and under the quarter berth. It is truly probably one of the best designed cruising boats for the time when people cruised on boats, not floating condominiums.

Great story thanks for sharing. Sorry to hear about your wife. I think it is great to hear that you are still sailing. Are you single handing the 41? Was just looking at some images and she's a beautiful boat.

[Offshore74]

Originally Posted by deluxe68

Have you tried the Pacific Seacraft forums?

Going to look into it again, I've heard that most of the PS owners hang out on Sailnet, the uptake to the official PS forums/website wasn't as expected.

[JPA Cate]

Offshore74,

Relative to your question about buying another boat first. Actually, i wouldn't. Your five year plan would give you time to both sail the boat and maintain the boat, to learn her very well. In that time, talk a lot with sailmakers about what will serve you best for light air sailing. You will need some experience with some light air sails before you select for the major voyage. There's a lot of light air in a circumnavigation, if that's what you decide you want to do, comes the time, and some of the nicest sailing you'll ever have is light air sailing, as long as you can get the boat to move. Start out with whatever the previous owner has, and then experiment.

Also, comes the time, you will benefit from using the heavy weather sails, too, learning where everything sheets to, heaving to, simply experiencing all that, while you still have hot showers to come home to, you may get pretty tired, wet, cold, and salty, but it is real preparation.

Ann

[Lantau]

We have Pacific Seacraft 37. You won't regret getting one. It's interesting how so many people doing lots of research find their way to the PS37. We did.

Our boat is for sale, but the forum administrators won't allow me to tell you here. In fact, they may even delete this: you can find information by going to the classified forum.

Good luck!

[DDabs]

the ps37 should do alright in lighter wind... It is a modified fin keel and doesn't weigh too much. I think it might be the perfect balance of a boat that could be sailed locally during the day, but yet ready to tackle some serious distance when you feel like you're ready.

[Lantau]

Originally Posted by DDabs

the ps37 should do alright in lighter wind... It is a modified fin keel and doesn't weigh too much. I think it might be the perfect balance of a boat that could be sailed locally during the day, but yet ready to tackle some serious distance when you feel like you're ready.

This is exactly right, and more or less quotes the designer: the PS37 is designed to be a great weekend coastal sailor but also a safe, sturdy and comfortable blue-water voyager. For it's size, it comes as close as being ideal for this mix as is possible.

In other words, if you want a boat to putter around in for a few years before going around the world, or just a boat to putter around in that can go around the world if it takes your fancy one day, the PS37 is an excellent choice, I would say among the best choices. That kind of logic is what brought us to our PS37.