Boat brands that are not seaworthy?

[Maine Sail]

Originally Posted by David M

Get rid of the Westerbeke. More than one diesel mechanic I have talked to has not had pleasant things to say about them. I had them as original engines on my boat as well.

I don't know mine has 2865 hours on her and runs like an absolute top. The only failures have been wear items like water pump">raw water pump seals. She has not had one oil leak from an engine gasket, has perfect compression and burns not one drop of oil.

Finally, at almost 2900 hours of use the rear main seal, between the tranny and engine, is weeping ever so slightly her first minor oil leak. I will replace it over the winter and it's an easy job.

Based on my successes with our Westerbeke I'd buy another in a heart beat. I'd also buy a Yanmar, Nanni, Beta, Vetus or Universal as they are ALL marinized Japanese engines these days. Some of the earlier Westerbekes came from marinized European engines which were reportedly not as reliable as the newer Mitsubishi's but I have seen many older ones with high hours. Ours is a 4cyl Mitsubishi..


I don't know too many sailors that will ever even get to 2k hours of use let alone almost three. Our boat has done the ditch a number of times and also has engine driven refrigeration and that's where the hours come from..

The only engine I personally will not buy again is a Volvo but only because I owned one and parts availability kept me out of commission for an entire season over a $30.00 proprietary part. It's more of a grudge thing than they are "bad" engines..

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

Err... where did you find that $40K Bristol Channel Cutter? I'd appreciate a link and so would some other folks, I suspect.

I couldn't find one in halfway decent condition for under $100K.

Yea, I blew that one! No doubt about it, although I am surprised they are that high now that I've checked. FYI: There is one in Ft Lauderdale listed for "$74k offer"

[Curmudgeon]

Yeah, and if you call the phone number in the add for the BCC in Ft. Lauderdale a lady answers and says she knows nothing about the boat, and doesn't understand why people keep calling her. Been there, done that.

[TexSail]

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

Yeah, and if you call the phone number in the add for the BCC in Ft. Lauderdale a lady answers and says she knows nothing about the boat, and doesn't understand why people keep calling her. Been there, done that.

Maybe it was just a prank. When I was growing in Texas and it hit 100 degrees, we would make signs with air conditioner window units for $25 and put the number of someone we didn't like on the signs. Put ten of those around town and the phone won't quit ringing for a week.

[Thermal]

Not seaworthy.

[First Mate]

I wasn't really concerned about the Westerbeake engine, just the shallow draft combined with really heavy displacement and a tall rig. I just thought 100 HP was a lot of muscle to push all the displaced weight.

oh well

[roblanford]

Originally Posted by rebel heart

I'd never cross an ocean on a multihull.


/runs away and never comes back to this thread

One would have a long gray beard by the time they got across an ocean in a HC36

[shadow]

I'll restate the same thing I did when I first joined. I saw a boat, I think a sloop, located at the Auckland, NZ marina that was well under 18 feet (5 metres). There was 1 guy that lived on it full time and the thing was falling apart!!! And he's sailed it around both islands of NZ!! I wouldn't even sail it from the marina to the next slip over.

I personally would classify that boat is unseawothy but, this guys had it the way he wanted and loved every second of it.. I'm still amazed to this day and he just inspires me to think that as long as you have confidence in your boat and know every square inch of it. Who can tell you that it won't work.

After seeing that boat and that guy, I have the fullest confidence in any new boat regardless if its production or not..

Just my .000000000002 cents

[perchance]

There are many more seaworthy boats than seaworthy sailors

[forsailbyowner]

Originally Posted by rtbates

Any vessel that does NOT have a real bilge, ie deep and narrow so it's contents stay put till you pump it out. 6" deep 'dustbins' are not bilges. Last summer I spent a bit of time on a Pearson 28 with a 4" deep 'dustbin' for a bilge. Water was constanly sloshing around the cabin sole. That's NOT sea worthy.

I beg to differ. My first sailboat was a 23' aquarius that I highly modified. Including, 3 bulkheads that were watertight to 12" above waterline, 100 gallons fiberglass resin 4 rolls matting to stiffen hull, raised companionway 12" deleted bottom board, added 2 yards reinforced concrete ballast and beefed mast and rigging upped rigging 4 sizes.Boat had no bilge but had 4 bilge pumps. Weathered hurricane force winds during no name storm, crossed gulfstream during north gale force winds.Was definately seaworthy with NO bilge.

[Kanani]

Think twice before building your boat out of bamboo:

[BambooSailor]

Kon Tiki was seaworthy enough to make it from South America to Tuamotus. As for original question: you can argue that nobody builds vessels seaworthy enough to survive everything Mother Nature can throw at it. Vessel like that would be extremely impractical (for analogy think providing fully contained ejection seats for every passenger in an airplane or car that survives being hit by train). You should ask: how seaworthy is each particular boat?

[sabray]

I thought Kon Tiki was Balsa and Ra was bamboo.

[Paul Elliott]

Originally Posted by sabray

I thought Kon Tiki was Balsa and Ra was bamboo.

Kon Tiki was indeed balsa, and Ra was reed (papyrus or something similar). Each was about as seaworthy as a coconut, and not much faster, but they got Heyerdahl and crew to land, more or less. The book Kon Tiki is certainly an enjoyable read.

[Kanani]

Originally Posted by Paul Elliott

Kon Tiki was indeed balsa, and Ra was reed (papyrus or something similar). Each was about as seaworthy as a coconut, and not much faster, but they got Heyerdahl and crew to land, more or less. The book Kon Tiki is certainly an enjoyable read.

It's been a 100 years since I read Kon-Tiki but I thought that they made the first one out of bamboo and it failed. Maybe I'm confusing the 2 books.

A friend of mine made a replica of the Kon-Tiki. When I was in Panama, I sailed to one of the outer islands and collected some Balsa branches for his project.