Alabama, with a Banjo on My Knee . . .

[Piglet]

Originally Posted by capngeo

I was using the sarcasm font!

LOL...you would think Bill Gates would have figured out how to do this by now.

[capngeo]

[Lee Jerry]

Stede,

I delivered our boat from Ft. Lauderdale to Mobile a few months ago. About 6ft draft and 68ft air draft, so went down around Key West and the Dry Tortugas and then headed for Mobile. Wind was variable, but lighter and too far aft a lot, so ended up motoring more than expected/desired (rough schedule to keep). Light winds were threatening to continue, so ended up taking a pit stop at Panama City for fuel. The breeze filled in and we may have made it without stopping, but it probably didn't cost much time since the detour gave us a better angle for a nice reach to Mobile Bay from there. Planned on five days, actually took 5.75 days dock to dock, including into/out of Panama City and waiting for marina to open for about 1.5 hr.

If you will be living aboard in Mobile summer, strong AC is a must. So factor that into your boat decision.

Finally, if you care to share, what do you do and who might you be doing it for?

Cheers,
Lee

[Stede]

Thanks to all for contributing some very useful information here. I'm a little troubled at considering living aboard in such a miserable area though.

Lee: I have a pretty good arsenal of skills. Mostly in the maintenance realm. I'm a licensed electrical contractor, but can do pretty much anything in the skilled trades.This particular job is for a predictive maintenance technician to perform vibration analysis for a large company.If you're not familiar with vibration analysis, it's basically collecting data on a variety of machinery using some specialized equipment, analyzing that data, and then predicting failure before the equipment fails, or also providing recommendations for maintenance as needed.Kind of like detective work without the "gumshoe." ha!ha!

[Orrjames]

We sailed/motored the ICW east from mobile bay all the way to Pensacola over the July 4th holiday. It was a nice trip as we were underway during the fireworks and saw just about all the different communities blowing them off. We anchor on the south side of the ICW near the South wind Marina, nice and calm there and you can swim to shore, walk across to the gulf side and have miles of white sand to yourself. From there it is a short jog to get out at the pass, just make sure to watch your depth as it can be tricky around there. On our way back we spent a few days at Pirate's Cove. You can tie up to their dock and spend a rough night, or you can go back into the cove and anchor. We anchored off to the side of the channel inside the cove and enjoyed it quite a bit. The Bushwhackers and burgers made the trip really nice. Our way back to Dog River was fast and wild, 15-20mph SW winds with a following sea (2-3') on the aft quarter( forecast was light chop with 5-10mph) good times. No problem on a 365 ketch.

[Stede]

"Orrjames"

Thanks for your comments.I'm curious about your Pearson 365 ketch. I had looked at a Pearson 365 cutter.The boat had a very "stout" feel to it, and I really liked it.The ratio numbers/PHRF rating on the boat indicated it wasn't a "race horse" but would be a comfortable boat in heavy seas. I've never sailed a cutter before, nor a ketch.The cutter sail plan is attractive to me as I can foresee a variety of options per weather/wind conditions.Like most everything, I've heard pros/cons concerning the cutters.I think pretty much everything in life is a trade-off.If you live in a house, it's comfortable inside, but the maintenance gets annoying,etc.Since the layout of your Pearson Ketch is pretty much the same as the cutter, I would like to hear your comments on the build quality, layout, or any other pertinent information you would like to share.Thanks in advance.

Stede

[Orrjames]

Yes we really enjoy her. It is a 1979 and is very sturdy , it does not flex at all like the newer boats do. The lay out is great, the bathroom actually has a separate shower stall in it which is a nice feature, also the galley is nicely laid out with lots of counter space . I have never seen a cutter rigged 365 but there are many sail combos we can use on the ketch. A lot of the time we don't raise the main and just use the mizzen and jib. We could put up another two sails off the front of each mast giving a total of 5 with the jib. Another nice feature is the cockpit, tons of storage on both sides and we have a generator in the aft lazzerette with enough room to work on it or even pull it right out with the mizzen boom. It handles like a dream and does not slip sideways much considering we only have a 4'6" draft, the shoal draft keel let's us get into places others can't go.
It is a smooth, quite sail. Not a lot of creaks and squeaks . I would buy another one in a heartbeat! People constantly ask if it's a Pearson and seem to love to talk about it.

[Stede]

Thanks "OrrJames" for the information on your Ketch. I know the 365 has several sail configurations: Sloop, Cutter, Cutter Ketch, and Ketch. The cutter I went aboard had the same great features you mentioned: Solid build, tons of storage, nicely laid out galley, and head. A lot of desirable features in a cruising boat. Do you ever single-hand your boat? What ever boat I get will be handled by my fiancee, and me. It's important to me that what ever boat I get can be handled by either one of us single-handed if need be. Your thoughts, or others?

[Orrjames]

It is just my girlfriend and I on the boat as well, and we are both able to handle the boat by ourselves . If you plan ahead a bit, like keeping the main somewhat centered and make sure you have your mizzen boom adjusted right, then all you have to deal with is the jib. I am going to change the position of our jib winches, a previous owner moved them forward of where they were originally. Not sure why he did that, but at the moment we have to leave the helm to operate them. There are "witness" marks on the wood where the first placement was, which looks about right to me. We also have a Simrad auto helm that we can use to help if needed.

[River Cruiser]

You may consider a freshwater boat, they seem for the most part to age slower. My boats previous owner made 2 trips from Chicago to Mobile Bay on the inland rivers. Good Luck