A little personal history with an honest question....

[DDabs]

Whatever holds your boom

[Greaph]

Originally Posted by John DeLong

Greaph,
Can I ask you about your Shannon 38 - you mention that your roll resulted in a cracked hull? Can you describe the particulars of the damage? Did this vessel have a keel or the keel/centerboard?


Thanks.

She was a 77 Shannon 38 long keel cutter/ketch.
As far as I can tell, when the rig filled with water, the mainmast flexed. The chainplates held until the bowsprit lifted, sending the dolphinstriker through the hull. The mainmast then displaced 22" to port, apparently placing a severe offset load on the keelson, causing it to crack, either as she was going over, or possibly as she righted. The chainplates held until she righted, then failed. The cracked keelson worsened after I repaired the known damage to the point that once discovered, I felt was irreparable. I have somewhere, documentation of the original damage, and the found damage in Kemah. I'll look for it (its on a drive somewhere).

Hope this helps you,

David.

[Roger L]

Instead of powered winches, I used a Milwaukee V28 portable right angle drill with a winch bit.
That drill is variable speed and turns very slow forward & reverse with tremendous torque.
If a big man can turn the crank on a winch, that drill can enable a small person to turn it even easier.
rScotty

[Greaph]

Now THAT is something I'd never considered.....so simple in hindsight....

You sir, are a genius.

[Greaph]

@ John DeLong,

The above is only my reconstruction of the overall damage. The event happened while I was in sleep deprivation, so I didn't actually reliably witness it. There was a loud crack when we went over. Righting seemed to take a very long couple of minutes. Swindapa was well maintained, and the standing rigging had been checked and tuned before leaving Anchorage. The keelson could have had a pre-existing fault. I don't know and the insurance inspector didn't bother to do much more than take my report and a visual examination.

[John DeLong]

David, thanks for this description - and thanks for looking for additional details.


I was unaware that this boat was ever rigged with a dolphin striker. I'm particularly interested in the damage to the keeson that you described. It sounds like the rig survived the roll - at least until the chain plates failed on righting - that's a strong extrusion-mast (or two)...!



Thanks again for your response. Glad to hear that the boat got you home ;=)

[Roger L]

Originally Posted by Greaph

Now THAT is something I'd never considered.....so simple in hindsight....

You sir, are a genius.

The downside is that that particular rt. angle Milwaukee drill is heavy and expensive. But of course you can use it for other things. The WinchBit is available online.

If you think this sounds like genius for handling sheets, just wait until you use it to bring in an anchor...

[Greaph]

John, per the previous owner, he extended the bowsprit 20" to move the center of motion forward (he felt she squatted to much) and installed the dophinstriker to compensate for the extreme new angle of the bobstay. I've never seen another Shannon 38 with a dolphinstriker. But TBH, I've only ever seen 1 other Shannon 38 in person.

EDIT: Swindapa was my favourite boat that I've had the priveledge to own. She was light and sprightly. Quick with very good manners. Her favourite point of sail was a broad reach with almost 18° of heel. It broke my heart to let her go.

[waterman46]

Originally Posted by Greaph

As beautiful as that Tayana 37 is, my wife will not go for it. She is deadset on a vessel in the 41' to 51' range, preferably with an aft cabin. Layout is not as important to me, as I am more than passing fair at cabinetry, plumbing, electrical and design. I would, however prefer to stay under 51', as my wife is not a big person, and she needs to be able to operate all sheets while standing watch.

37' would also be too small for my wife and I. If you like center cockpit ketches, you might like the Morgan 46 ketch. Aft cabin, etc. tons of room. Most will be well under $100K. Old and super solid. Lots of them in FL I think.

The sailplan is simple - no spinnaker rigging unless added by owners, so only two large jibsheet winches but there is a heavy duty spinnaker pole for poling the jib. I added a staysail - it is much needed since the furling jib is really huge and when rolled partway in does not make for good sail shape upwind.

The cockpit is huge, which is good for making more living space - but when completely covered the mainsail is hard to furl. So look for, or add, Dutchman or lazy jacks with a full battened main.

[Greaph]

@waterman the Morgan 46 is undoubtedly the crowned king of interior space, and well maintained they are very long lived. Most of the ones in the Florida area are old charter boats and used hard, from what Ive seen. I'm also skeptical of their blue water ability and course keeping, but that is admittedly an opinion I've formed from second hand (at least) information. I do love the slightly older Morgan classics and cruising ketches. I will, of course keep your endorsement in mind and not discount them out of hand!

Thank you for taking the time to give me your input.

[Greaph]

I want to thank everyone that has taken the time to help me with what is proving to be a more difficult decision than I had thought it would be. This is the first time I've had to look for a boat and keep another's needs and desires (and limitations) in mind.
Balancing seaworthiness with interior space, sailplans, handling and ease of use is driving me to distraction. Added to this is the shear number of worthy hulls in the target range... I'll keep looking and researching and then probably make the completely wrong decision and buy what I fall in love with.....



Sigh. I just want to go sailing.....

[floydmiami1]

Take a look at the CSY 44.Probably one of the most affordable best built production boats ever built.there's a 120 page book floating around the internet about it's design and construction.Be careful though owners love of these boats including myself are almost cult like

[Greaph]

@floydmiami1 sigh......another fine looking boat to consider...[emoji3][emoji3]

However, in just looking at a few of the examples currently listed, I am forcibly reminded of another question:

Just who the hell is putting all this ceramic tile in boats? And why, of all the places to not put ceramic tile in boats (IMHO, 100% of the interior and exterior volume), why does it seem so common to find large ceramic tiles covering the countertops? Is there some new mastic that allows tile to flex without shearing? Maybe a new tile that doesnt weigh so much and offset your trim.

I must have missed an evolution of marine design somewhere. I clearly need to update my ideas of what is desirable I guess.

[Eleuthera 2014]

Hello Greaph, welcome to the forum. Remember ... Internet forums may contain nuts.

We are a retired couple (75 & 69) more than halfway round the world. We’ll set off again when this present fiasco is over.

Meanwhile, our boat has everything electrical: sails, furling, winches and windlass.. the lot. EVERY PIECE OF ELECTRICAL GEAR HAS BEEN TOTALLY RELIABLE FOR THE LAST 5 YEARS. ( I rebuilt all motors this year) She’s 53 feet and totally self sufficient.. if you live aboard, our boat would fit your needs incl cruising the S Atlantic to S Africa.

Amel Super Maramu. :-)

[Greaph]

@euluthera:
A well cherished dream of mine, alas, unrealistic at this point (and for the foreseeable future). But certainly one I hope to maybe upgrade to in a decade or so! I wish you safe journeys in your beautiful vessel.