Want To Buy: Steel Dual Keel Sailboat

[SailingFree123]

Me and my partner have spent many hours now pouring over information on boats, we're new to the sailing lifestyle and are finally ready to take the plunge. We are looking to make it our home for the next few years atleast.

Looking for a 30-40ft dual keel steel hull sailboat anywhere along the west coast of North America. Happy to put in sweat equity, and interior doesn't matter. We're pretty capable, and kinda want something to make our own. As long as it sails.

Any tips or help on finding a boat would be lovely. We've scoured numberous classifieds online, and at marinas.

[hpeer]

Just to clarify hour request….you are seeking a “bilge keeler”, one that can “dry out”?

If that is the case w you may also want to look for a Damien type with a sufficiently retractable keel.

Bilge keelers if this size range, let alone steel.

There may be a Brent Swain design that fits, not sure.

[Pete7]

Hmm, not steel but in GRP the British built many up to about 36ft. Later the French firm RM took over and build some super sexy very fast yachts with twin keels.

In steel Brent Swain had some designed for DIY builders based on twin keels. Results were variable depending on the skills of the amateur.

Can I ask why you want twin keels for the PNW? I get the huge tidal range you have which twin keels are useful. However, it leave the propeller exposed to deadheads and will you be sailing in ice, again a risk.

Ours has aerofoil shaped keels and I think toe'd in to provide lift, but its tricky to measure.

Pete

[Don C L]

Welcome aboard SailingFree123! I too am a bit puzzled by your choice and I am guessing that as you gain in experience your tastes in boat design will change. Steel in that size range is rare because steel's weight in that size boat becomes a real setback in terms of weight. And bilge keels on top of that, so rare that I think you'll have to talk with a local boat builder, and you may want to look into aluminum instead if you are going to have one custom built. In your area there are builders in aluminum I know, of fishing and sport boats. Good luck in your adventures!

[TrentePieds]

SailingFree:

I gather you are hoping to escape the mountains and even Okanagan Lake :-)

So as a Vancouverite who has sailed the Salish Sea for a half century, and a former sailing instructor, let me make a coupla comments that I hope will cause you to at least give second thought to your present specifications.

That steel is a material intrinsically superior to fibreglass simply does not hold up to analysis. Quite the contrary. Steel has a great number of DISadvantages that should only be tolerated if your particular use-case speaks forcefully against the use of any other construction material. If you would like to "drill down" into that subject, we can come back to it, but only if you'll be kind enuff to tell me with some precision what has driven you to even contemplate steel.

The long and the short of it is that for GENERAL use by a coastal cruiser in the Salish Sea nothing, but nothing, beats "frozen snot" for strength, durability and ease and low cost of maintenance!

Should you be intending - long term - to go where steel MIGHT have some merit, do not select your first boat to take you there. Get some experience first, THEN consider what the operating conditions are likely to be where you might want to go, and what YOU, as well as the boat, need to be capable of :-)

As for twin keels: Why on earth would you choose twin keels in waters where two boat lengths off a precipitous, craggy shore you often have 300 feet or more under the keel? You aren't going to be "drying out", and even if you were, if you are hoping to save yourself the hauling fees by doing such jobs as bottom painting on a remote shingle beach, you can expect to be "spoken to" if you are caught at it. We don't HAVE tide grids any more due to the concern over pollution!

Let us, rather than get sidetracked into a discussion about steel v. glass or fundamental desiderata for hull design, help you get off on the right foot by discussing more immediate issues such as how a coastal cruiser is best arranged and equipped to be a suitable home for man and maid for many weeks, even months on end.

You speak of "anywhere along the west coast of North America." Be aware that the west coast of NA has some of the most dangerous waters in the world! It is not a place for a sailing novice to be! BUT - inside that ginormous breakwater we call Vancouver Island, you'll find some of the finest cruising waters in the world. And inside that breakwater you will find a great selection of proven boats, at reasonable prices, whereon a novice may learn the fundamentals of seamanship and skippering.

So kick back. Don't get prematurely locked into certain modes of thinking. In this forum we have every kind of expertise, and you will find that our members are not only helpful in regard to "technicalities", but also keen to help a novice to get off to a good start!

All the best :-)

TrentePieds

[Bill Garlick]

We have a twin keel, steel Laurent Giles for sale but it's located in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand. You can find the listing on www.yachtworld.com

[Lodesman]

Originally Posted by SailingFree123

Looking for a 30-40ft dual keel steel hull sailboat anywhere along the west coast of North America. Happy to put in sweat equity, and interior doesn't matter. We're pretty capable, and kinda want something to make our own. As long as it sails.

Any tips or help on finding a boat would be lovely. We've scoured numberous classifieds online, and at marinas.

That will be a pretty rare bird in North America, let alone the wet coast. You should be looking in Britain and northern Europe.

[Martkimwat]

The Dutch have successfully built boats as small as 28 foot in steel for quite a few years, I believe quite a lot of them are bilge keelers as well (Dutch sailing waters are quite shallow).

[grantmc]

It would be interesting to have more information as to SailingFree's thinking. I'm a big fan of twin keelers and have a German designed Reinke built of aluminium. She has what are referred to as asymmetric keels.

In respect to any tips to aid in finding such a boat I wish I had some. Once I'd decided on the design I scoured for sale listings all over the world. Yachts located closer to New Zealand, where I live, the better in my view. That was before covid hit, travel now of course might be much more difficult in many countries. But getting the vessel to where I wanted her was also a significant part of the buying decision.

It took well over twelve months once I'd decided to buy before I found what I wanted. And needless to say there were compromises.

Personally I'd be less inclined to want a steel twin keeled yacht and would lean hard towards yachts available relatively close to where it's required and of course meeting the budget.

[Scorpius]

There's quite a few Brent Swain steel bilge keelers still around in that size range. I too am in the Vancouver area and have owned Scorpius, (not a Brent Swain and not a bilge keeler - but steel) for 40 years and would take steel over fibreglass any day. The enemy is, of course, rust. It's important that the boat was properly coated WHEN SHE WAS BUILT - PARTICULARLY INSIDE in order to forestall rust. Scorpius was flame-sprayed, or zinc metallized (completely sandblasted and galvanized) or whatever you want to call it after the steelwork was completed and, 40 years later, she's still in great shape. However that is a VERY expensive process and rarely done.


Personally I'd LOVE a bilge keeler: the ability to sail right past everybody and anchor in six feet of water at the head of an inlet or bay would be fabulous. Let the tide go out and walk ashore. No, you can't scrape or paint, but you can check zincs, clear a line from the prop or a plastic bag from the water intake, etc.


The big downside of bilge keels is if you get hung up on a reef. It will be impossible to keep the boat upright as the tide drops because one keel will probably be up on the rock and the other off in deeper water. That could cause the boat to roll as the tide goes out and it would be tough to save her.


BTW, Brent Swain is alive and well and, I believe, is living happily on Cortez Island.

[JohnHolland]

These boats meet your criteria, designed & built on Vancouver island by Brent Swayne, many as kits
A friend finished one and sailed from Comox to Cape Horn & back
https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f152/brent-swain-36-pilothouse-248806.html

[Pauls]

As Scorpius said, Brent Swain designed a series of steel boats which can and frequently are built with twin keels. Brent is a Canadian, and up there the high tides make twin keelers, which can dry out comfortably, very useful and practical.

Brent has designs for 31', 36' and 40' boats. The 36 footers are by far the most common.

Properly built steel boats are very low maintenance. Properly built means that the inside and outside are sand blasted before coating with quality epoxies. The reports you hear about steel being problem ridden, rust, etc are based on boats which were not properly built. Stainless on wear points is also very helpful and is a mark of quality construction.

There are a lot of Brent boats up in Canada. They're popular up there.

[fstbttms]

Don'cha just love it when some noob joins the group to ask a specific question and days later (after many replies and clarification questions) still hasn't come back to answer or clarify?