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Old 17-09-2010, 09:08   #91
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Originally Posted by barnakiel View Post
BCC a POCKET cruiser ???

but hardly a pocket cruiser
A pocket cruiser for those with deep-pockets...
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Old 17-09-2010, 09:34   #92
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I am looking to buy a seaworthy, bluewater pocket cruiser (25-27 feet). No longer than 28"

No mention of displacement, I imagine they are "Blue Water" and they are listed as 28. ????
I do not understand.
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Old 28-03-2011, 15:16   #93
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Re: Seaworthy Pocket Cruiser - Advice ?

I owned a Contessa 26 and sailed it down the St. Lawrence, around Nova Scotia and down the eastern seaboard of the US and ended up in the Exumas in the Bahamas back in 1977-78. We encountered another Contessa there that we sailed with. Our Contessa was the JJ Taylor Contessa with the larger cockpit non Lazerette built in Toronto. It was a wonderful boat in our youth. It was very wet. It leaked prodigiously until I rebedded all the opening ports and hatches. It was quite tender as it had a Lake Ontario rig that was higher than the original British design. That just necessitated earlier reefs, probably around 15 kn which made us more like the Brit rig. It had a key hole companionway with no bridge deck. The floor of the cockpit had airplane fasteners to access the engine (Petter 7 hp diesel) which were a half turn to open. The floor had gaskets for water tightness. The cockpit scuppers were less than a foot from the waterline. I sailed in company in the Bahamas with a C and C 27 which I regarded as a superior boat in construction and speed. It was the boat of my youth and I loved it. Nevertheless, I don't regard it as a suitable offshore boat (despite Taenia Aebi's success in circumnavigation). I am very susceptible to marketing and was originally in the market for a Contessa 32 but had to downsize my deposit to the 26 because of my relative poverty. The Contessa brochures were breathtaking literature (the Royal Marines in Britain used them as a training boat). I had a wonderful and definitely instructive time on my Contessa 26 John B II. I currently own and sail a C and C 38 ( I was in the market in 1980 for a C and C 30 but was fortunately steered into the 38 by a persuasive salesman who in retrospect was right).
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Old 28-03-2011, 15:25   #94
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Re: Seaworthy Pocket Cruiser - Advice ?

Thread drift, but welcome aboard Cruisers Forum Jonathan!
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Old 29-03-2011, 05:44   #95
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Re: Seaworthy Pocket Cruiser - Advice ?

Johnathon, its great to hear from someone who has actually owned and cruised a Contessa 26, it pretty much confirms my take on them. I have noticed that if someone sails any boat around the world it becomes a "bluewater boat" in the eyes of many regardless of obvious shortcomings while many suitable boats get ignored because nobody has yet made them famous.
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Old 29-03-2011, 10:31   #96
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Re: Seaworthy Pocket Cruiser - Advice ?

I also owned a contessa 26 - canadian model; shorter rig. I sailed it heavily in same waters as Jonathanw except also bermuda / VI. I also agree to not recommend it for RTW maneuvers, as much as I loved sailing her. large cockpit; no bridgedeck; keyhole companion; poor and cramped storage; low drainage; poor windows and weak walls; leaky chainplates. Unlike Jonathanw, my fasteners were screws and the engine access seals needed a lot of work to keep water out. There were also problems in the deck core which seem to be quite a common problem.

But, as I said I loved sailing that boat, and I always compare sailing characteristics of other boats to that experience.

Remember also that Tania's boat was brand new when she took off, and they modified it quite a bit. I took a close look at that boat when she came back in NYC in the 80's - met and talked to her there. It was quite a wreck.

Generally, I would recommend a larger boat up around 30-34 feet. For one, you will have enough room for supplies and fuel. Secondly, you will make more speed.

Brands:

Pearson
Cape Dory
Bristol
PSC (NOT the flicka or the dana - too &#(&#@( slow)
Tartan
Sabre
Shannon
Southern Cross
Yankee
Vancouver

In my own research, I always come back to Mahina which I think is pretty good. Main reason is the consistency of value and quality in the list. True, there are other boats worth considering, but the poor consistency of quality between boats and/or models/years makes for a tougher decision process, as well as the likes of storage, and other parms.

Mahina Expedition - Selecting A Boat for Offshore Cruising
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Old 30-03-2011, 17:40   #97
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Re: Seaworthy Pocket Cruiser - Advice ?

1. There is a lot of old-time appeal in small cruisers. (27' used to be big). You'll be sailing alone?
2. You don't seem to be looking for one of the Winnebagos. That's good, at least in terms of motion comfort.
3. Don't limit your search to the local market. You don't want to kick yourself for missing a great boat because it was a truck-haul away.
4. As another poster said, take all answers, including this one, with a couple of grains.
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Old 06-04-2011, 07:23   #98
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Re: Seaworthy Pocket Cruiser - Advice ?

I have a Haida 26, take a good look at these. Many have thousands of sea miles. 45% ballast ratio, plus very sea worthy. Not easy to find, look in the north pacific. Michael
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Old 06-04-2011, 08:35   #99
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Re: Seaworthy Pocket Cruiser - Advice ?

Haida looks very nice. New one to me. Need to look into it.
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Old 06-04-2011, 17:01   #100
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Re: Seaworthy Pocket Cruiser - Advice ?

Love the look of those Haida's.
Steve.
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Old 05-09-2012, 17:11   #101
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Re: Seaworthy Pocket Cruiser - Advice ?

I built up a small Cal 2-27 you can see on my blog at jeanmondeau.blogspot.com see if you can get any ideas from that.
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Old 05-09-2012, 20:14   #102
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Re: Seaworthy Pocket Cruiser - Advice ?

It is intersesting that this thread has been revived. Having done a fair amount of miles in a 26 foot boat I will give my 2 cents worth. Something that seems to have been under mentioned in this thread is the ability to go to windward. Any barge of any length can go down wind, but if you need to claw off of a lee shore ,the design, the rig ,the watertightness become far more important than standing headroom or if you have a diesel or not. I am not familiar enough with many of the boats mentioned here, but in general the shorter the boat and the lower the ballast to displacement ratio means the poorer the windward ability. The fatter the bow is ,just means more interior room at the expense of windward ability. If you can not beat off of a lee shore in a blow, then your boat is not really a safe boat. I understand that enough wind can overpower any boat, but the more windward ability you have, the safer you are. I just read all 100 posts on this thread and must comment on the Contessa 26. I did about 9000 miles in a Contessa 26 and found the comments about maintainance issues to be a complete surprise. Mine was an English built one so maybe the Canadian boats were not so well built, but I never had any hull to deck joint leaks or any trouble with a cored deck becouse the Rogers buiit boats didnt use coring. Only one portlight ever leaked and that was only a drop or two when really pounding to weather. The key hole hatch was great in that there was never any leaking into the cabin from a sliding hatch. Chain plates, stantions, deck hardware never leaked. The lack of a bridge deck did worry me, but I made a safety bar that went on the inside of the doors to keep them from breaking in a pooping. The only unexpected maintainance that I had was to get ship worms in the rudder right at the waterline. I had the boat so overloaded that the waterline was above the bottom paint on the rudder, which didnt hurt the fiberglass hull but made rudder repairs on the beach in Tahiti a chore. When I sold the boat in Hawaii it was 10 or 11 years old, and had been in the tropics for 2 years and sailed hard for several more years, and the only real maintainance issues were that the sails were thrashed and it needed a bottom job. I pushed that boat hard and got very good passages out of it and it never broke. Would I recommend it for long offshore voyages? HELL YES, but it pays to be young and flexible since there is limited space inside. It makes up for it in pure sailing ability and a deep comfortable cockpit. And back to my original comment, it goes to weather as well or better than any other boat in that size range.____I guess this is more than my 2 cents worth, but I hope it helps someone in their decision making process.____Grant.
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Old 09-09-2012, 06:56   #103
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Re: Seaworthy Pocket Cruiser - Advice ?

Quote:
Originally Posted by jbosborn View Post
From the OP... Thanks for all the boat ideas. The more seaworthy boats seem to be mostly out of my price range or in a different corner of the globe, and I cannot take off work until the end of June. I was so excited to get a boat to start practicing on that I bought a 1974 Cal 27 last weekend. I am really happy with it and plan to do a lot of coastal cruising this summer.
I know this is an old post, but I've got to ask how she's holding up? Are you still happy with her?
-Bruce
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Old 10-04-2018, 09:29   #104
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Re: Seaworthy Pocket Cruiser - Advice ?

A couple of names are missing, a Vancouver 27 is a full blown ocean going boat with good speed unlike a Norsea 27, and of course a Catalina 27. Catalina 27's were never designed to sail the world but several with minor modifications have circumnavigated. Chuck Paine Came up with a couple really good designs that every so often can be found on the market. One is a Francis 26 the other a Carol 24. both are purpose built for blue water cruising and have excellent sea going motion. Another rare but excellent boat is a Montgomery 23. Montgomery 23's were built to be trailered to Baja for the winter and trailered up to Puget Sound for the summer. Excellent boat all around.
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Old 10-04-2018, 09:37   #105
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Re: Seaworthy Pocket Cruiser - Advice ?

Bruce be sure to look up Catalina Directs web page and check out the 27 section for ideas to strengthen the boat up. I had one named Tahoe Fox on lake Tahoe that had some excellent modification you may want to consider like a swim platform and ladder on stern, a bow sprit from the tall mast version attached and a dual backstay. great set up.
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