Your 27 - 32 ft story...

[Lexi22]

Contessa 32 / 28 / 27

[Group9]

Originally Posted by Lexi22

Contessa 32 / 28 / 27

Tania Aebi took a Contessa 26 around the world.

ABOUT – Tania Aebi

[jlcarreiro]

My first boat, purchased last summer is a Sabre 28. So far I'm happy with her.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Group9

Tania Aebi took a Contessa 26 around the world.

ABOUT – Tania Aebi

And those boats look great on the water, but they are tiny.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3pcXWUZ5Pk

[nwdiver]

For that size up here in Canada it would most likely be a C&C 27, 30, 32 or a Bayfield 29, 32 or a Nonsuch 26, 30........these are all common here and available in the US....

[roverhi]

Stationed in Hawaii in my mid twenties bought a new Columbia 26. Kept the boat in a non live aboard private boat club. Already owned a VW Camper bus so split my time sneaking aboard the Columbia and the bus. Had a locker and shower facilities at the squadron hanger to clean up and store uniforms. Sailed the crap out of that boat, cruised to all the Islands in Hawaii except Kauai either on an extended holiday or one week or more leave. Day sailed every weekend and often a day or two during the week. Wouldn't recommend a Mark 2 Columbia 26 as it had some wicked handling traits in gusts and was lightly constructed but it got the job done for what I used it for. Put every cent I had coming in towards the loan on the boat and paid it off before I was transferred to Norfolk after 2 years.

Used the money from the sale of the Columbia as a downpayment on a new Morgan 35. Took delivery at the factory in St Pete and sailed it up to Norfolk. Once again lived aboard and put every spare nickel into paying off the loan on the boat. Unfortunately owning the boat wasn't a happy experience. Morgan made a major screw up in laminating the hull and ended up in a 2 year lawsuit with the boat unusable except as a floating condo. Settled for getting the purchase price of the boat back and legal fees covered so was only out interest paid. Had picked up a wife in the interim and convinced her to pump the money from paid off Morgan into a Westsail Power Away Kit. Used those funds, profit made on a triplex that I'd bought with a no money down GI loan, unemployment insurance as a newly minted civilian and wife's teaching salary to finish out the Westsail. Lived in our VW bus parked in front of the Westsail at the boatyard and slowly moved aboard as parts of the W32 were finished. After 2 years of construction and cruising SoCal left for SoPac for a year. Somehow my wife got pregnant which put an end to our cruising. Sailed the boat up to Hawaii and around the corner to Kona where the anchor ended up lodged in coral and we're still there 40 years later. Eventually sold the Westsail to a couple who took the boat to SoPac twice.

Currently have a Sabre 28 which I really like. Easy to maneuver in the harbor, reasonably fast in light air, averaged better than 7k for 24 hours on a reach until the main blew out delivering the boat. Yanmar 2GM20F has done yeoman work. Have stayed aboard in a marina for more than a month at one time and found it comfortable though living on the hook cruising might be a challenge.

[fxykty]

Just found this photo of our Great Dane 28, under spinnaker about 12 years after we sold her.

[coz]

Back in the late '80s I bought a Clipper Marine 30 for 3k because I was fed up with room mates and apartment living. That did the trick! I worked short order cook at a bar in San Pedro, CA and started taking it to Avalon or Two Harbors on my days off. Short rig, heeled alot but I seriously tried to kill myself in that boat and it always made it! Sold it 2 years later for the same price. My dock buddy who had one got a trailer and I guess gunkholed it but to me it was just an escape.

[Lucky Luke 1]

Its 34..But a Sparkman & Stephens 34 is a proven safe blue water boat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otHpPUABTBk

[RRJames]

Originally Posted by Lexi22

This will be my last thread here - until I'm back in the market for a sailboat. I'll still post replies and join the fun, but appears to be summer of 22 will hopefully be my time. In the meantime, sailing-wise, I'll be reading, taking classes, and renting boats as much as I can; Covid 19 likes to change plans. So this thread is NOT about which boat to buy...

Most folks here have owned a 27 - 32 ft monohull at some point in their sailing careers. I wanna learn about their experiences with those boats. Good, bad, or what ever they wanna share. I think this thread will help many newbie sailors out there. Real life experiences of yacht owners tell much more than photos, specs, 'ratios' and that kind of stuff.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When my younger brother died an untimely death, I inherited his 1968 Liberty 28 which he had built from a bare hull and deck in 2 years while in our parents' front yard. It has a heavily laminated fiberglass hull, standing rigging appropriate for a 45 footer, and is cutter rigged. Displaces 14,000 lbs. It's a heavy displacement, blue water cruiser. It has no prop in the water and did 10.2 knots the first day it was in the water and still does 10.2 knots. He won many bets about 10.2 knots.

Again, does not drag a prop. It's sisters probably all do.

It sailed from Florida to Granada in hurricane season (dodging 3 hurricanes), bounced off a few coral heads and rocks with only scratches. Which were repaired with Marine-Tex epoxy.

I suggest adding Liberty 28s to your list of boats. Though the rest of them probably have inboards and a prop. And are not cutter rigged. They're long out of production, but I do believe this one will be in service into the next century. Easily.

[jknight611]

When I was 16 in the summer my dad had a policy that is kids had to “do something “ in the summer. I chose sailing classes that summer. My instructor made a statement to “sail the smallest boat you can afford”. After 50 years of sailing various sizes of boats I have come to realize that the mid 20s is my size. The sailing/work on ratio is better and while everyone thinks they are going blue water, most won’t. I now have a Core Sound 20 Mk3 and that is a blast. Easy to trailer, fast, light, inexpensive, and sailed more than a previously owned 37 PSC. I have seen a lot of new sailors get “rapture of the deep “ and buy some totally unsuitable boats for their area and ultimate use. So, try the smallest boat you can afford technique, bet you will get more sailing experience and enjoyment.

[Rackman]

I also have a caliber 28 and love it! I’ve had it for three seasons so far and have sailed it from Newburgh NY (60 miles up the Hudson River) to Bristol RI. During the summer months the family spends extended time on board and sail all around Narragansett bay. We got five of us on board!!! The separate aft cabin is awesome!

[StuartWeibel]

I've spent a dozen years voyaging in my 26' gaff cutter, a traditionally-built wooden boat without plumbing, hot water, or standing headroom. I have three trips to Alaska and numerous other sojourns into BC in her. She has been a safe, reliable mentor of marine skills, the smallest vessel at most every anchorage, and pretty enough to turn heads everywhere she takes me.

Find a well-found boat you can love, and let her teach you what you need to know.

[SRQsailor]

I hope you'll excuse a slight divergence to include a couple of 26' boats by way of contrast and comparison. I “graduated” from a McGregor 25” (large interior volume, lightweight, but not suitable for open waters) to a Herreshoff designed Chrysler 26”. The Herreshoff designed wine glass hull and high aspect rig provided the damnedest self tending experience I've ever had on a sailboat. You could set the sails, tie off the tiller, and she would literally sail herself for hours. On nearly any point of sail and any wind, she would head up a bit in the gusts and fall off in the lulls, better than most helmsmen. We lost her when she was out of the water on a trailer for new bottom paint and a micro-burst / mini tornado picked her up and smashed her on the ground.


My next cruiser was an Oday 26. She was light and nimble, a joy in light air, shoal draft, and great for Florida's West coast's bays and inlets with their shifting bars and channels. One evening we had a delightful sail from Sarasota to Cayo Costa, at the mouth of Charlotte Harbor. We broad reached for 40 miles in a fresh offshore breeze that gave us smooth water for the whole trip. We approached the light at Boca Grande on the southern tip of Gasparilla Island at 10pm and prepared to enter the pass. The cool offshore breeze had freshened significantly, but sailing close to the beach all was calm and smooth. We lowered the transom mounted outboard planning to motor into the wind as we made our entrance.


Charlotte Harbor is a massive bay nearly as big as Tampa Bay and the whole thing fills and empties through the Boca Grande channel which is narrow and 40' deep. Currents can easily run 4 to 6 knots and the 10hp outboard could only push the boat at 7 knots on a good day. But we probably had 5 knots of current flowing into the channel to help us along our way. We thought we were good to go, but remember that freshening off shore breeze? It had become a significant wind blowing across 20 miles of open water... against a 5 knot current. We rounded the point in the dark, to find ourselves in the spin cycle of a washing machine. Square waves rolled westward into the pass with that 20 mile fetch of strong wind, while that 5knot current fought to enter the pass from the other direction. It didn't take long for our hobby horsing boat to dunk the outboard and kill the engine.


Suddenly, we were powerless and at the mercy of wind and current. Things looked desperate as we drifted toward the pilings of the old terminal south of Boca Grande. It took a while, but finally we remembered we were a sailboat and could raise sail. We unfurled a bit of the genoa and headed downwind back the way we came and out the channel tail between our legs. As we rounded the point into the lee of Gasparilla Island the idyllic calm returned. We dropped the hook a hundred yards off the beach, caught our breath and spent a quiet night anchored in smooth water.


That was the night that I decided my next boat would have inboard power, preferably a diesel. And that brings us to my present boat, which I consider to be one of the best all around boats in the 27-32 foot range. The Island Packet 27 is a true ocean cruiser, built for anything the ocean can dish out. At 27' on deck, 30' including the bowsprit, 10 ½' wide, and 8000 lbs, she's a wide bottom girl built for cruising comfort and durability. Seaworthy features include a cutter rig, double lowers, twin back stays, and the inboard diesel engine I deem necessary for salt water work.


My boat has a roller furling genoa, four reef points in the main sail, wheel steering, comfortable cockpit, and the flexibility of rigging a stay sail for heavy work and a big cruising chute for light air. Main sheet tackle on the coach roof allows for a massive bimini to shield us from the Florida sun. I have the shoal draft version with centerboard that makes many of the shallow bays and islands on Florida's West coast accessible. In fact I often worry about other craft following me across shallow shortcuts assuming I must have a deeper keel then I do.


The Island Packet is a single hander's dream. Wide decks and 3000lbs of ballast provide a stable platform for working on deck. The short stout rig makes sail handling simple and easy. With an autopilot, to hold her into the wind, I can go forward to reef or hoist sails with confidence. All that ballast and the wide beam makes for a comfortable ride that pleases the “Admiral” greatly. At the dock, crew can walk around the deck without any awkward leaning of the boat. Even the addition of davits, dinghy and outboard hardly changes the trim.


I like to say when asked, “ how many can she sleep?”... Two lovers, four friends, or six drunks. Two in the V-berth, one in the quarter berth, two in the pull out double settee, and one in the other settee. Additional accommodations for cruising include a galley with spacious refrigerator, built in stove, stand up head with it's own sink. The built in cabinetry is first class with actual silverware drawers, cabinets for pots and pans and extra storage under and behind the settees. Full electrical panel with 12v and 110v service. The 27” Island Packet has all the amenities of a full featured cruising sailboat packed into a small and sturdy package.


With bowsprit and davits my LOA is probably 34', but when I'm calling the dockmaster for a parking place for the night, I can say the boat is an Island Packet 27 and usually get the cheaper rate. The Island Packet 26, 27 and 32 are all very similar boats and all sturdy little pocket cruisers. The Island Packet factory in Largo, Florida is still in full production. Parts and support are readily available and the owner's community is very active. I can't say enough about how pleased I am with my IP.


Mike
K9MLT
s/v Island Princess
Sarasota, FL

[Lexi22]

Alajuela 33, Allied Seawind Mk II ketch 32, Bayfield 32 / 29, Bodega 30, Bristol 27, Cal 28 / 25, Caliber 28, Cape Dory 31 / 25D, Cape George 31, Catalina 30 / 28mkii / 27 / 25, C&C 32 / 30 / 27, Cheoy Lee Luders 30, Chrysler 26, Clipper Marine 30, Contessa 32 / 28 / 27 / 26, Columbia 29 / 26, Compac 27, CSY 33, Endeavour 32, Eventide 26, Hullmaster 27, Gaff Cutter 26, Great Dane 28, Hartley RORC 32, Herreshoff H-28, Hunter 31 / 27, Irwin 27, Islander 32, Island Packet 32 / 27 / 26, J30, Karmac 30, Kingscruiser 28, Liberty 28, MacGregor 25, Mariner 28, Mirage 27 / 26, Nicholson 32, Nonsuch 30 / 26, O'Day 27 / 26, Pearson 323 / 30 / 26, Rawson 30, Sabre 28, Shipman 28, Tartan 27-2, Thunderbird 26, Trintella 1A, US 27, Vancouver 27, Watkins 27, Whitby 25, Yankee 30...