As the old song says "This could be the start of something big."
My lady friend, Bev, and I have been living and cruising aboard our sailboat, Walküre, for just over 4 years now. You can see an extensive blog of our adventures here:
Walküre Voyages
Walküre has been good to us, and we have had many great adventures aboard this great little boat, but there are things she just can't do and places she just can't go. This past spring we were offered a chance to acquire "Queequeg," a 1982 Irwin 40 MK II which had been damaged by water flooding her cabin. The previous owner had left her on the hard in Marathon, FL and left on a business trip to Turkey, planning to return. He never did come back and the boat just sat in the yard for two years. Last fall, he tried to sell the boat but could find no buyers because of the damage. With yard fees mounting, he decided to give the boat away to someone who would fix her up and use her. Since Walküre is a boat that I had built myself, I figured that I could repair any damage that Queequeg had suffered.
I posted some of Queequeg's story on Walküre's blog. Here are the links.
Such A Deal
Update
The engine isn't seized.
After some cleanup.
Summer break.
I am spending the summer in New Port Richie helping a friend rebuild his boat. We'll return to Marathon in September and get Queequeg refit and ready for the water. I've purchased a new starter and alternator for the engine, some solar panels and solar controller and a few other upgrade items. Upon our return, I'll get the bottom painted and get the engine running. Then we'll splash the boat and take her over to Boot Key Harbor for the rest of the refit.
Wish us luck!
Hello! How seaworthy is an AS29? Would you take her out in the same seas as any other 29 foot boat with a deep keel? Thanks for your time and I enjoy keeping up with your adventures!
ReplyDeleteThe AS-29 is really a lake, inland and coastal cruiser. I have heard that one 29 was sailed from NY to Spain and back, but that rumor is unconfirmed.
ReplyDeleteThe boat has great stability, mostly due to its square bilge. It heals to about 15 degrees and locks in. If she gets overpowered, she doesn't heal more, she just rounds up and stalls.
The boat has a comfortable motion in a sea, but I am a chicken sh*& sailor and don't go out if the seas are more that about 4 feet. I was once caught it 6 foot seas and was NOT comfortable. The boat did fine, but I was a basket case.
The open bow acts like a scoop to gather water if the seas are running high. This will slow the boat down significantly but seems to pose no danger.
I would not take the 29 across an ocean. But we have made several significant crossings of the Gulf. At one point we were 100 miles from land and had no problems.
I hope this answers your question.
Yes, thank you so much for the helpful info. One other question: do you know roughly how much weight the AS29 can carry? Thanks again
ReplyDeleteThe PPI is 655. This means 655 pounds of added weight will cause the boat to settle into the water 1 inch. Walkure now sits about 2 inches lower than designed waterline, so we're about 1300 pounds heavy and boat seems to do fine. We carry 50 gal water, food for at least a week, clothing, guitars, 5 batteries, a gas grill, wind turbine, solar panels, etc.
ReplyDeleteI would not recommend much more weight than that as you'd have the bow and stern wells full of water all the time with the boat any lower in the water that we are.