Cavalier 39 v Van de Stadt 37 for a

[nzmal]

I'd appreciate any quick thoughts of the merits of each vessel for coastal cruising with some Bluewater trips in future.
I've had a look over a very nice cav39 very well maintained and love it... But... We have two teenage kids and accom will mean saloon sleeping for some. (Only berth and a single quarter berth)
Now I've come across a van de Stadt 37 that has two quarter berth cabins
Van de Stadt 37 steel cruising yacht | Trade Me

Any thoughts?


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[lamadriver]

The VDS looks like a nice boat . Could be a little small for your log term plans.

Do you have a budget ?

Do you want a steel boat ?

I've see a few other boats in Australasia that would be perfect for what I want but are a bit more expensive.



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[builder dan]

The cav 39s are getting on a bit now and are prone to osmosis I think they have a balsa core above the waterline too,still a good boat though.Offshore you would have too cover the large windows as they are a bit big.The VDS is a bulletproof boat as long as there is no rust issues,Check in the bilge and under the floor and around stern gland,if its clean it would be my preference.

[nzmal]

Thanks Dan
Survey emailed by owner front 2014 says min of 5.2mm steel in Hull. I'll still get a fresh survey if going ahead but that sounds pretty solid. 12 ton v 7 ton displacement between boats.

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[lamadriver]

Was that an ultrasound survey of the hull? Did they give you the sketch ?

Typically you will need to find a seperate surveyor as most marine surveyors don't do ultrasound . Pretty simple to do and the only correct way to measure thickness.Tons of info on utube


Lots of benefits imo to
Steel but requires constant maintaince that can't be ignored

Ld



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[katandseiorse]

Hi nzmal,
We have owned, lived aboard and travelled on our 1975 mk1 Cavalier for the last 3 years and have felt very fortunate to have this boat choose us. Perfect for a couple cruising and ok for shorter trips with four. Have had no signs of osmosis, I haven't had to make any holes through the hull above the waterline except replacing the exhaust in the transom which is inch thick solid hand laid glass. The window size is fine for offshore ours are saftey glass and passed NZ Cat 1 survey about a year ago. Overall a very strong and quality built boat. The layout of the Van de stadt sounds like it may suit you better? Every boats an individual, take into account the gear, upgrades and equipment fitted to each and whats going to best suit your needs. I personally wouldn't own a steel yacht after seeing friends chasing rust but im sure if its a tidy well maintained boat it should be fine...

[nzmal]

Thanks Kat
I see you are a filmmaker... have you documented your travels.on the cav on a YouTube channel by any chance? It would be great to see a perspective of living aboard a cav 39

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[katandseiorse]

Hey there, we have shot a lot of our recent travels in Fiji and Vanuatu and also when we first got the boat and started living aboard but haven't had a chance to edit and upload to YouTube. But you have given me an idea to make a short tour of our boat and how it is set up for living aboard and travelling 😊

[nzmal]

Thanks Kat. I'd love to see that. There isn't a lot of Internet presence for cav 39s...Other than a few for sale. It would be great to see your set up.
Here's the one we are looking at.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/y2w825t27...iRcd0JLTa?dl=0

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[nzmal]

Update. Bought the cavalier 39 and very happy with it.

[TravelingPuns]

Hey @nzmal - I'm looking at a Cavalier 39 in Mexico. How do you like yours after a few years? Thanks!

[nzmal]

Hi TP
The Cavalier 39 has turned out to be an excellent choice, we've done a lot of upgrades on her since owning her but she sails well and has handled some heavy seas well. She's admired by others and is well designed and set out.
Last haul out we dealt with her osmosis(around 60 small blisters which we ground out and filled with layers of glass... simple enough)
We've rewired the boat, rerigged, repowered (with a Beta 43) and repainted topsides so a lot of time and energy but she's a great boat. Have a look at the facebook site we run for her it details a lot of the work done and many trips taken.
fb site is "oursailingadventure"
cheers

Mal

[TravelingPuns]

Thanks, Mal! I'll check out your page.

[DoubleD]

Nzmal, with all the work you did on you're Cavalier 39, did you do anything with the chainplates? Of the Cavs I've looked at, many are embedded in fiberglass on the hull. Its concerning not being able to remove them for inspection.


thanks,
DoubleD

[nzmal]

Our chain plates can be visually inspected from inside cupboards. They appear in good order but it has always been something weighing on my mind. Not a particularly difficult task to replace and next rigging update likely a task to tackle. The rig is short and we'll braced so a single chain plate failure wouldn't necessarily be catastrophic ...but if it did fail it's likely to be in pretty tough weather so prevention is definitely the cure.