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 Post subject: What was your last boat?
PostPosted: 19 Sep 2010 17:42 
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Skipper

Joined: 27 Oct 2006 10:32
Posts: 827
OK, this post is really just a curiousity than anything important like an engine discussion. Very Happy
Did you upsize, downsize or was the T-37 your first? My last (and first) was a 1972 Cal 27 which I brought back from a poor state in 1992 and enjoyed sailing her around the Chesapeake for a couple of years. She was a fast, stable boat, but she was never to be our "ultimate" boat.
I got bit by the sailing bug pretty badly and started "the search". My wife and I must have looked at 50 boats, all between 35 an 40 feet. Almost went for an Irwin Citation 40, but it had issues. Looked at the C&C 38 Landfall, liked that one, but the ventilation was poor and I didn't like all the plastic down below.
We were shown a T-37 that was in fair shape but the deck coring was compromised and we continued our search. The broker must have been getting tired of us by now and took us to see another T-37, but this one was in decent shape and was very, very stock. No customization or additional "goodies" were added. We had a clean slate. This was 1995 and we have been smitten ever since Splice
Every now and again, I get the "three-foot-itis" but then I come to my senses, I mean, where can you get a vessel capable of sailing the world, beautiful lines, and fun to sail, for around 50K?
So, What's your story??


 
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 Post subject: Re: What was your last boat?
PostPosted: 20 Sep 2010 15:04 
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Rail Meat

Joined: 24 Jun 2007 20:30
Posts: 19
I took a sailing class at the University of Kansas (don't laugh) and ended up in Rochester NY on the shores of Lake Ontario in 1973. A colleague of my wife's took her and some other grad students at for a sail in his Grampian 23 and let my wife helm the boat under power (there was no wind). That was all it took to get my wife excited so a week later when another Grampian 23 was for sale in the paper we bought it in a flash. Two years later we moved up to nearly new Ericson 27 and after cruising summers all over Lake Ontario my wife got a sabbatical at New College in Sarasota FL so we took the boat south one summer and brought it back the next. That was the trip of a lifetime and I think the best part was the Erie Canal and the Hudson. We kept the boat on Siesta Key and rented a condo there but did get a months cruise down to the Keys between semester break. Then we felt like we were wasting our cottage and not sailing enough so we went without a boat a few years. So naturally we missed sailing so found good deal on a Shark 24 and bought it. After about 5 years with that great little boat a Tartan 37 that we had known on our bay for 25 years became available so we bought it about 5 years ago with intentions of taking it to Florida for Winters. I have come up on the list at Daytona Beach Municipal Marina twice but we just aren't ready to go, maybe never, so I just ask them to put us back on the list for two years from now. Cruising Lake Ontario is hard to beat even if we never go south again on a boat. Our next boat will likely be something like the Shark again. Ciao for now ...


 
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 Post subject: Re: What was your last boat?
PostPosted: 22 Sep 2010 06:15 
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Skipper

Joined: 27 Oct 2006 10:32
Posts: 827
Rhetc....
Thanks for the reply, sounds like a real epic. I've heard good things about the Grampians as a decent all-around boat. Have you made any modifications to your T-37 for living aboard? Once your in Florida, will you be using Daytona as a hub and head south (islands) for the winters?


 
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 Post subject: Re: What was your last boat?
PostPosted: 22 Sep 2010 20:38 
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Rail Meat

Joined: 24 Jun 2007 20:30
Posts: 19
Ha! Our T37 is not ready for a long cruise but until we commit to it we are basically sailing her as is. We kept a list from our cruise down and back 25 years ago and a windlass is near the top of the list. Also near the top is a light air sail and we do have a spinnaker in a sock but it has seen better days. The main is a little old too. And the rudder is full of water. Some of the bunk foam is old and the upholstery is still original. The engine has about 2100 hours on it and I love it but I would want to get the injectors cleaned/rebuilt before leaving. The dodger is about wore out. I upgraded the batteries to AGM and that was good, but eliminated bank 3 (two batteries) for the time being so the Inverter and Fridge (which we never used up here) are off the circuit for now. Have a great new OWL anchor light from Bebi in Fiji and have updated some other lights to LED but more to go. I picked up a Walker Bay 8 RID with a sail and it is a blast. We had a hard dinghy last time and wanted to have one again. We can be ready pretty quick and just need to spend some money when/if we decide to go. We would plan to go down for 18 months (two winters) and bring the boat back for more summer cruising on the great Lake Ontario. Ciao for now ...

Richard on "invictus"


 
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 Post subject: Re: What was your last boat?
PostPosted: 24 Sep 2010 14:23 
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Skipper

Joined: 19 Mar 2007 16:40
Posts: 195
[quote="Tortuga's Lie"]
. I mean, where can you get a vessel capable of sailing the world, beautiful lines, and fun to sail, for around 50K?quote]

Got no idea! Very Happy

Our previous boat was a 1977 Tartan 30 aft galley. We bought her in Portland, OR and trucked her to San Francisco. We found that Catalina sent new boats up to Washinton state and the truck came back empty so we got a killer deal on shipping. We sailed and upgraded that boat for 7 years and just when I had her the way I wanted we sold her to get the 37. The Admiral wanted more room to take out family and friends.

Previous to the 1977 we were non-equity partners in a 1976 Tartan 30. This was a real rag tag boat but we got to sail her when ever we wanted including a week up to the Delta in the summer. We got some good experience sailing and I learned how to keep an Atomic 4 alive. When it came time to buy our own boat we looked at a lot of other makes and always seemed to compare them to the T-30. So we searched until we found a nice one.

Before that we had a Lido 14 that we kept on a trailer on the side of the house. We belonged to an active fleet and race one design on the 'Lake Ciruit" and locally for about 10 years.

Our 37 we bought in Racine, WI and trucked her to the West Coast. This time the trucking company was not so charitable though. For 7 1/2 years we have upgraded her with new holding tank/toilet, charging system/batteries, windlass, electronics, port lights, fuel tank, engine, canvas and upholstery. We've tried to do most all our boat work ourselves as it saves money and I think we get better quality work than we would having the yard do it. When we retire I'll have to figure a way to make all the parts too. Snicker

-Jim


 
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 Post subject: Re: What was your last boat?
PostPosted: 03 Nov 2010 17:11 
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Skipper

Joined: 29 Dec 2006 09:38
Posts: 656
I had a Ranger 23 on San Francisco Bay for 14 years--the boat broker I had asked to help me find my next boat had asked me "why do you want another boat?" Well, he had a point. The Ranger is a sturdy, reasonably well-built boat that performed ridiculously well to weather and is slightly more modern that a T37 with a flatter bottom for down wind performance. But he suggested the T37 on a list of boats that could do what I wanted to do (some offshore work and possible cruising and more spacious amenities without giving up superior pointing and sailing characteristics). I have had my T37 for 18 years and sailed her more than 20K miles--many of those more than 100 miles offshore and have never regretted the recommendation of my broker. The guy who stores my boat in Maine comes from a long line of boat builders and likes to put my boat right up front in the storage barn because, he says, it reflects what a good sea boat should look like (I have the deep fin keel) and he wants others to see it.


 
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 Post subject: Re: What was your last boat?
PostPosted: 08 Nov 2010 07:48 
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Skipper

Joined: 27 Oct 2006 10:32
Posts: 827
Valera,
Good story. In your 20k miles, where's the furthest you've ventured?


 
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 Post subject: Re: What was your last boat?
PostPosted: 12 Nov 2010 17:58 
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Skipper

Joined: 10 Dec 2006 15:14
Posts: 213
Location: London, Ontario
My first boat was a Biloxi Dinghy 10'6" which I built at the age of 12 in my mother's garage. Then at 16 I tried to design a hard chined 420 as I had no money and again my mother could not park her car in the garage for a few months. I taught sailing every summer of my high school life in Oakville under the direction of Ted Haines the then world Snipe Champion
In my adult life I have had an Abbott 22 (that got my wife hooked on sailing 18 years ago) then a Hunter 30 (which we won almost all PRF races we entered. We had Kokopelli Too for 7 years and sold her to buy our Tartan 37, Our Lattitude, upon which we will retire in 5 1/2 years. Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy


 
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 Post subject: Re: What was your last boat?
PostPosted: 13 Nov 2010 21:30 
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Skipper

Joined: 29 Dec 2006 09:38
Posts: 656
Tortuga's Lie wrote:
Valera,
Good story. In your 20k miles, where's the furthest you've ventured?

Longest trip was San Francisco to Castine, Maine via the Panama canal: 2 years, about 7500 miles. There is a short article about the trip in the T37 commemorative book. Most of the rest was coastal in California to Mexico and the last few years in coastal Maine.


 
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 Post subject: Re: What was your last boat?
PostPosted: 20 Jun 2011 20:21 
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Midshipman

Joined: 05 Apr 2011 17:27
Posts: 66
My first boat was a 12', 65 lb vinyl-covered-styrofoam scow that came in a cardboard box, and we carried it on the roof-rack of the car. Having never sailed before, I took it out and set it up in the front yard, and practiced with the lateen sail by pointing the boat in different directions -- just like the little instruction book suggested. That was until people started honking at me as they passed by in their cars.... and I moved to the back yard. The next day we launched on an inland lake (in Michigan where we live) and fell in love with sailing. We then bought an Alberg designed 24' and then the boat before our T37 was an Islander 28 on Lake Huron. The I-28 was a great boat with 10' beam, and pointed with the C&C's. I soloed her many times, including a trip across Lake Huron in mid-October in 6-8' seas (on the Great Lakes, 8' seas are more square). We fell in love and I had a really hard time selling her. But a friend who solo raced his C&C 27 moved up to a T37 and invited my wife and I to an "open house". It only took a few minutes aboard before Nancy and I agreed that this was our next boat. We traveled to Lake Erie, Lake Michigan and Lake Superior looking for the right T37. We too, looked at a Landfall 38 and C&C 37 and did not like the plastic, a Morgan 38 and did not like the headroom or berth-length in the forward master cabin. We finally found our T37 at Bayfield, WI in the Apostle Islands. She was in need of a lot of TLC but I now get all kinds of compliments... like last weekend when a guy asked if I had replaced the teak. I love pulling into a new marina and having people tell me what a beautiful boat she is.

There is only one thing bad that I have found in owning a T37. It just ruins the boat shows. Every time I go on a new boat, I just don't see one I like better than my T37. What I do like at boat shows is that when I wear my T37 hat, the brokers ask if I would like to list it.... to which I smile and just say "nope".

Mark

_________________
Mark
Celtic Lady, Hull #315
Muskegon, MI


 
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