One of my favorite CAL Lapworth designs is the CAL T2-27 one of the CAL 27 variations.
I've written about the design before.
Anyway, I mention this because there's a T2 for sale that I've been keeping my eye on and the price just went from 1.5K to $1000.
Well worth a look if you happen to be in the neighborhood.
Back in the dark ages, when I was living on a CAL 20, I went to a lecture by Herman Daly who really blew my mind with his thoughts on economic growth. Sadly. he passed away recently.
I mention this here because his take on economics has a whole lot to do with my thoughts on living within a finite resource envelope, growth for growth's sake, and the process of swimming against the prevailing current.
I'm pretty sure that if I had not found myself in a economics lecture all those years ago I'd be going along with the great unwashed hordes thinking that one can buy one's own slice of happiness by spending more for a bigger boat. Which makes Daly one of my major influences in terms of boat mindset.
I'd seriously check out some of his books and lectures if you have the chance.
There's an interesting forum thread on the current asking price of a Pearson 367 on the Junk Rig association forum you might want to check out.
Sure fixing up an older cheap boat might seem like a lot of work but, done with some care and a prudent budget, will greatly increase the value of the boat in question.
Better yet, it recycles materials that would not be recycled and just windup as landfill.
A little sensible sweat equity makes a whole lot of sense/cents.
The issue with most 27-foot sailboats is they don’t have a lot of dedicated water stowage. The Catalina 27 has a 20 gallon water tank. Considering that the average family in the USA uses 300 gallons of water a day, we find ourselves in a problematic territory.
The “average family” only uses 70% of that 300 gallons for indoor use, which still leaves us with 210 gallons of water. Since we’re only talking about a couple, rather than the average family (3.13 people), that’s a kiss over 67 gallons a day per person.
There are ways to get by with less water. Use water sparingly, using seawater when possible, and being careful, one can get by with a couple of gallons per person a day. That gives us ten days of cruising until you need to replenish your water supply.
Suddenly that 20 gallon water tank is looking kind of meager.
Add a couple of small (2 1/2 gallon) Jerry cans plus bottled water as a fudge factor, and you’re doing great for coastal cruising.
What if you need to cross an ocean?
A small watermaker, though pricey on a VolksCruiser budget, is a possibility. Watermakers require power, which is problematic as well. Since a watermaker can fail, you still need to sort out a means of carrying enough water for your intended voyage.
I speak from experience. Being caught in a no wind situation for a couple of weeks will play havoc with your water supply as you drift towards the Caribbean.
If I were fitting out a 27-foot sailboat for an Atlantic or Pacific crossing, I’d add another twenty gallons of installed tankage. Then carry as much extra water in bottles as prudent. Providing I could deploy enough solar panels to run a small 12-volt watermaker, I’d consider a used one like the Power Survivor. I could then run it on solar for an hour to make a gallon of water a day.
As a side note, I keep thinking about the design of a small, AC-powered, DIY watermaker that could produce five gallons of water per hour. Powered using a 1000/800 watt generator that would be small enough to stow on a 27-foot sailboat would fall right into the Goldilocks zone.
Sadly, it's a simple answer...
Not enough.
Which, for me at least, is the big downside of every 27-foot boat you're likely to come across in that they just don't have a lot of space or weight carrying ability.
Which is not to say you can't live and cruise on a 27-foot sailboat but with a finite space you'll have to make some serious life changes to make it work.
Now while I use guitars as an example, the needful stuff is more about things like water, provisions, and the various tools one needs to live your life in a way that does not equate with a prison sentence.
Where most people get it wrong with small boats is assuming they can just keep adding stuff with no regard to the fact that boats have a waterline for a very good reason. Adding a couple of inches to the waterline every couple of years is just stupid as well as being plain bad seamanship.
If your boat is designed to draw five feet then that's what it should draw.
When I think about it, you could really do a lot worse in choosing that as a mantra.
Anyway, living and cruising on a small boat successfully requires one to adapt to living within the constraints of your chosen vessel and embracing its finite nature. Which, considering we live in a hardcore consumerist society, is never going to be an easy task. Since the answer to all problems is to "buy more stuff" you're not likely to get much help in the "How do I do what's needed using less" zone.
That being the case, you'll have to get creative and realize that most of the time you'll be swimming upstream without a whole lot of atta-boys from fellow cruisers. Which I'll add is actually a bonus as it gets rid of the whole "Keeping up with the Jones's" element in the equation and makes a lot of decisions easier.
Next up is we'll take a look on how to sort out that finite space in a way that makes some sense...
The thing to keep in mind when thinking about boats in this particular size niche is that, for the most part, they all fulfill the same needs. Which is hardly surprising when confronted with a 27ish by 9ish foot envelope.
Take the Catalina 27 for instance. It pretty much sets the norm for what you can do with a boat this small and it does it pretty well. More importantly for us it was a very popular design and they built lots of them which means that today (fifty years on) there are lots of Catalina 27s for sale.
Lots of boats for sale in a given market brings the price of a boat down and makes it that much more affordable. Which, I'll think you agree is no bad thing.
Of course, the problem with a 27ish foot boat revolves mostly about the fact that it is a 27ish foot boat. While Frank Butler shoehorned an amazing amount of livability into such a small boat it is still a finite amount of space and most everyone is going to have to make concessions to the fact and adjust their live to that fact.
I often hear the advice that going up a foot or two will make for a better, more comfortable, and easier to live in situation.
The Catalina 28, the boat that replaced the Catalina 27, is a good example of how a slightly bigger newer design can improve things. I'll go on record and say that I'd much rather have a Catalina 28 than a Catalina 27.
That said, there's a catch.
The Catalina 28 is a lot bigger than the lowly 27. The Catalina 27 has a length 26.83 feet with a beam of 8.83 feet and a displacement of 6,850 pounds.The Catalina 28, on the other hand is 28.5 feet with a beam of 10.17 feet and a displacement of 8300 pounds.
That 1450 pounds of added displacement is a huge difference. As I've mentioned often that the real size of a boat is more about displacement than length. Well except when boats of a certain length becomes a design niche.
While the Catalina 28 is a good choice for a VolksCruier it is also going to be a lot more expensive then the Catalina 27 as only 620 of the C28s were built compared to the 6662 of the C27 it's safe to say that the cost of a C27 is going to be cheaper.
The whole idea of this 27-foot boat series is more about how to make a boat better within a certain size envelope than to suggest that a 27-foot boat is the best boat to go voyaging with. I chose this particular size niche simply because it is the most bang for the buck due to the greater number of boats for sale within it and the simple fact that most everyone wants something bigger. Which makes it your best bet for getting a good boat cheap.
More on the subject soon come.
Apparently, some folks don't agree that a bog standard 27-foot production boat can be a capable cruising conveyance.
I get the fact that a boat in this size range is not everyone's cup of tea but they are capable and well within most peoples means. Sure a 44-foot Swan might be better but it also costs $90K or so more than that CAL 27.
In my defense I'll also add that I never said cruising in a CAL 27, Catalina 27, or a Cape Dory 27 would be a cakewalk. A small boat comes with some issues that you'll have to adapt to as well as a certain amount of roll with the flow Zen moves to make it all work.
Still, it's been done by many and just knowing it's possible means that you're not setting out on some impossible task and that's a goodly thing.
So, the next dozen or so posts are going to be about making a 27-footer into a sailboat able to cross oceans in a modicum of comfort, safety, and style.
No consumerist BS, no rocket science, and nary a boat buck in sight.
Of course, if you find the idea of creative frugality doing things, a bit old-school, and swimming against the current trend of out-of-control consumerism a bit off-putting you might want to go elsewhere more within your comfort zone. I highly recommend the Sail Life channel as it's both entertaining and an excellent way to pass the time.
We'll get into the first installment come Thursday...
As someone who's managed to survive three category 5 storms at anchor with minimal damage, I'll be the first person to say that the only safe/sane way to deal with a major storm is to be somewhere else when it's happening. Which has a lot to do with always having at least a sketchy plan to make tracks and, if the odds catch up and I wind up losing the boat, to buy a cheap boat elsewhere..
So what sort of boat and where would I look?
During "H" season I keep my eye on a variety of areas. The PNW, Hawaii, Maryland, and France are the places where I know the boat markets and am reasonably certain that I can sort out a boat with minimal bother. They are also places I happen to like and face it, after losing your boat and most of one's earthly possessions, why would I want to go to some red state armpit?
OK, maybe Louisiana because the food and a lot of good people can really make a big difference.
Anyway, about those boats...
I know for a fact that I can live quite comfortably on a 27-foot boat and there are always a lot of them for sale and it's no longer a popular size (too small for most and too big to trailer easily). It's the sweet spot in the affordable cruising boat size range.
These days, everyone considers a 27-foot boat too small but back in the 70/80/90's there were a lot more people doing serious cruising in them than there were in fifty-footers which people keep telling me is the bare minimum for voyaging.
The other day when I was looking at possible boats in France, I counted 39 Sangrias and 19 Fantasias for sale. They were mostly in the less than $5K price bracket which I could board after a flight to Paris and a train ride to get me there.
In Hawaii, there were a couple of Catalina 27s, and a CAL 27 under $5k that would do the trick. Admittedly, while Hawaii is even more expensive than the USVI, it's still a very good place to start out from. I might add that it's been years since I've had a proper spam musubi.
The PNW has a lot of boats for sale in the under $5K zone. As someone who no longer drives, the physical hassle of getting around to sort stuff out except by bike, becomes somewhat problematic.
I'm pretty sure that you could fly just about anywhere and find an affordably priced, 27-foot boat in good condition. They seem to be everywhere and most folk don't want them as they're too expensive to keep in a marina berth. Since marinas continue to gouge and be restrictive, there will be more and more on the market at low prices.
Cruising a 27-foot boat, on the other hand, makes a lot of sense as you can anchor just about anywhere you'd care to go. In the rare exception when you might have to spend a night in a marina, you can afford to since it's a helluva lot cheaper than the fifty footer that the cruising press keeps saying you need.
Lastly, for me at least, the 27 footer would be a temporary solution as I'd either build or buy something a kiss bigger once I'd got back on my feet after losing my boat and most all of my stuff. More than likely the boat I'd build would be a 30ish foot scow or a sharpie. But that's another story entirely...
Whenever a hurricane looks like it might ruin my day/week/month/year I do a quick CraigList search of possible boats to buy because, you know, shit happens.
Call it my plan B but in the event of losing the boat in a serious storm my plan is to get out of Dodge on the first available flight in a hurry. I'll be honest as the very last thing I want to do is be boatless /homeless in the aftermath of a storm.
For the last storm my short list of possible boats consisted of cheap boats that looked OK and floated right side up that were cheap enough to pay cash (under $5K) for and small enough to make any needful repairs quick and affordable. The bottom line is that the boats had to be able to cruise and flippable to sell at a profit when I'd had a chance to sort out the next So It Goes or Loose Moose.
In other words, all the boats on my list were VolksCruisers in the 24-30 foot range.
Lucky for me that there are lots of cheap boats in that size range which are not in bad condition and are inexpensive because the market is saturated and the cost of keeping a boat one is not using is a financial black hole the owners just want to escape.
More on a few of the boats I had on my list next time...