Many Flavors of Nomadness

[Microship]

Hi Folks...

I've dipped into this forum for research a number of times and have been a member for a year... time to properly say hello.

After pedaling a computerized recumbent bicycle 17,000 miles around the US from 1983-1991 and writing about it, I decided to transition to water... so spent the next decade on the Microship project. This is an amphibian pedal/solar/sail micro-trimaran with all sorts of gizmology, and is the central fixture in my lab.

Unfortutely, in practice it has been more of a sculpture than expedition substrate, for while all that extensive R&D was taking place I was getting older and slowly revising my ideas about what kind of boat I want for open-ended wandering. At 54, a canoe-scale yachtlet just big enough for a sleeping bag in the bilge is somewhat less appealing than it was when I was a hard-muscled gonzo technomad.

So last year, I bought what has been dubbed a "Microship on Steroids" - a Corsair 36 trimaran. 3 days after taking delivery, I single-handed to Desolation Sound (loving every minute of it). Great boat, wicked-fast, and even transportable to allow one to bypass the "marina tax" during the off-season.

But my needs have continued to evolve. Now I want a life of full-time voyaging, with room for two and occasional crew. I need lab space, a small music studio, and a huge solar array. So I'm shopping again, and the Corsair is for sale (in contract at the moment and freshly re-launched and rigged after survey). I think it's time for me to start hanging around here and listening to voices of cruising experience, since changing boats is expensive (amortizing 8% WA sales tax over 600 miles of sailing yields a dollars-per-mile figure that maketh the toes to curl). I want the next one to be with me for a while, and carry me thousands of miles.

Being 6'4" adds another factor to the decision process since I didn't get myself bonsai'd when I had the chance... it pretty much has to be a big boat (I've been looking mostly at pilothouse monomarans in the 45-55' range). I'll miss the ability to park it in my yard, but then... I don't really want a yard anyway, and besides, mowing around a boat is just... weird. It's time to move aboard and get on with life after too many years in the woods!

Cheers from Camano Island,

Steve

Nomadic Research Labs
S/V Nomadness

[cburger]

You might want to look at the Westsail line of boats. See WESTSAIL - CRUISING BOATS FOR SALE. Good luck on your quest it is anoble one.

Cheers,

CB

[Pblais]

Being 6'4" adds another factor to the decision process

Never own a boat you can't stand up in or sleep in a bunk where your feet hang over the edge. Aside from suffering the indignity of getting old you now have to pay the price of being too tall. I wouldn't let any of that deter you in the slightest. You are changing ways of operation as well as vehicle transport.

You need a big heavy boat that can haul lots of stuff. Being different in appearance may be a shock only to give way to familarity. I doubt you will need to give up more than you will carry with you. You can find a lot about such boats here.

[sluissa]

Skimming over your website, it seems like your life has been full of unique experiences.

I wish you luck in finding what you want/need and I can only wish that I manage to have the same kind of experience that you've managed to have.

[Microship]

Paul - thanks for the comments... and I sure agree about headroom! The broker who first caused me to become cynical about the whole breed (perhaps an excessive generalization, but that's another topic) actually told me that standing headroom was unnecessary in a cruising boat... saying that it's overrated and that a more confined space can actually help to stabilize yourself in a seaway since you can brace against the overhead when your hands are full. My neck hurts just thinking about it.

(One head for yourself, and one for the ship?)

CB - thanks for the pointer to Westsail; will take a look. There's a 43 near me; might be smallish as the specs only say 6+ headroom, but Crealock is good lineage and I have to balance the need for space against handling difficulty. Has anybody figured out how to fit the accommodations of a 65-footer into a 36-foot LOA?

Sluissa - very kind words; thank you! I sometimes get so caught up in the current challenges that I forget to appreciate the fun that's gone before.

Fair winds,
Steve

[delmarrey]

Hi Steve,
Welcome aboard after your introduction. I thought your Corsair might be the one parked over in Lk. Forest Park but I see your up on Camano by your sign off.

As for the head room, Yeah, get something tall. I went through a cervical operation not to long ago and I believe part of the problem was too small/short of boats added to my occupation.

Space is important up here in the PNW when one spends most of his time indoors.

Then there's power boats

[Microship]

Hi Delmarrey...

Interesting; I don't know of another around here... would enjoy finding out to update my Corsair 36 directory.

OUCH on the cervical operation. Yah, that's a spec on which I'm inflexible (in more ways than one!). And I hear ya about power boats... every time I wander through a Nordhav'n I get all misty-eyed (but then remember fuel costs and long-term self-sufficiency). Beautiful and roomy, though.

Cheers,
Steve

[ssullivan]

Welcome, Steve!

I had stumbled upon your site many years back when you were doing the recumbant thing and was thoroughly impressed. It was long before I became a perpetual wanderer myself. We're very lucky to have you on this forum.

Paul has it right above. If you are to have a proper lab at sea (I'm doing this in my next boat too!) you will need a huge boat. In my case, since I'm not traveling the globe due to financial reasons, I opted (or am trying to opt) for a large powerboat. Since it won't be going places very often, I don't have to worry about fuel costs. It will sit at anchor most of the time.

Whatever you do, you need BIG. 30,000lbs displacement? Larger? You will also need massive power generation capability not only to keep food cold, but to run the lab.

[GordMay]

Steve’s Corsair 36 (2004) is For Sale
Corsair 36 Trimaran For Sale

Steve,

Did you recently have your Corsair out for a survey at Granville Marine?

In dry storage they have a Westsail 42, Ketch, in the back that I think is for sale (under a trust or estate). GM recently did some exterior work on her. I think the boat is pretty much original as it came from the factory. It could use major system upgrades if you are one for tinkering (judging by your website looks like you might be the type).

Solid boat, lots of room (including headroom). I think the owners are asking in the $90k range. But probably could be had for less.

[Microship]

Paul... thanks so much for the warm welcome! Yep, it's going to have to be a biggun... back to the 50-ish range, methinks (I say "back to" because I almost bought a project boat, not quite represented as such by the broker, in the mid-50's scale just before springing for the svelte Nomadness last year). Lab space is a challenge, along with the data collection, comm system, and integration of a music studio with keyboard (at least most of that can interoperate as one workspace with a more-or-less integrated user interface, perhaps even rolled into the nav station to minimize redundancy if the cabin layout permits).

Learningcurve - the survey was at Cap Sante, involving a novel process of lifting the boat off the trailer, propping out the amas for the tappage, then splashing directly without going back on the trailer... followed by crane service to raise the rig. All quite exhausting. News in the next few days...

And thanks for the Westsail tip; might be a tad small, but certainly worth seeing!

Fair winds and following keys,
Steve

[Microship]

Update - Nomadness is now with her new owner (Canadian) and I'm shopping realistically for my next escape pod. Thanks for the welcome; I'm sure I'll have lots of questions for experienced cruisers as this develops...

Steve

[Steve Rust]

Steve
I remember meeting you at a rest area/senic overlook in western Montana back in the early 1980's when I was on summer long motorcycle sabbatical. At least I think it may have been you. How many guys were riding around the country on a recumbent computerized bicycle back then? I thought the year was 1982 but I took many summer motorcycle trips out west back in the 1980's so events/people/dates tend to get mixed up.

[Microship]

<creak> Ah, that sounds familiar. Though it would have had to be a little after 1982; I left Columbus (which inspires long-distance travel) in September 1983. I was on the road off and on until 1993, with about 3.5 years actually living on the bicycle and the rest in labs, book-writin' layovers, or speaking tours via mothership.

My old high-school guidance counselor in Kentucky never even suggested this as a career option.

I'm looking forward to full-timing again, though on a rather different (and comparatively cushy) conveyance!

Cheers,
Steve

[Microship]

Hi folks...

Wasn't sure where to post this, so I'll do it here where I have already started a thread. Now that my lovely Corsair 36 (Nomadness) has a new home, I can get a bit more realistic about shopping for a ship of full-time voyaging scale. This is fun and I love browsing listings as much as the next guy, but I am running into a problem...

There should be a big red warning on Yachtworld advising buyers to NOT contact the listing broker, for here there be dragons. Once they own you (like, the moment you send an email asking about headroom or any other basic question), you are in the weak position of doing business with the person who is working for the seller. Even a buyer's broker wants the deal to close and is thus, on some level, also working for the seller, but at least you have someone in your corner.

Over the past year or so, I have been:

• blatantly lied to in a narrowly-averted deal that ended up costing me $3300 in rig/engine/hull surveys, though it was a good education
• ignored by a well-respected brokerage that is apparently too busy to represent me
• told "I don't do email, so you need to call me if you have any questions"
• repeatedly urged to hurry as there is always "a guy" who is about to fly in with a cash offer (3 different brokers have pulled this one, and in 2 cases the seller knew nothing of such a guy)
• reassured that "I'm only here to facilitate" by someone representing both buyer and seller
• been handed off to a surveyor who is not in NAMS or SAMS, and turned out to be the selling broker's buddy

So my question for any Puget Sound folks here is who you would recommend as a buyer's broker when I want to follow up on candidate vessels that are not FSBO. My needs are fairly well-defined, there will be no contingencies other than survey and test sail, and the timing is now. I've been a bit surprised that it's so hard to find someone... I have an ex-broker friend who I trust completely, but he's not really in the business anymore, and the high-profile folks who seem to have the best reputation in town are spread so thin that I can barely get a one-liner email response to my questions.

I'd love to find someone who is experienced in blue-water voyaging, knows boats in the 50-foot range, and is hungry enough to take the time to work for a co-bro deal.

Thanks and cheers,
Steve