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steveg wrote:It seems this general topic has received quite a bit of interest, perhaps it is due to the weather.
And soon we may be discussing free-wheeling & foot-loose...
I have wheel steering, my staysail and my yankee are both roller furling, I have a Spade and a Mantus anchor, I have battens in my mainsail which is not loose footed, I lock my prop, my exterior teak is finished with Cetol, and when offshore I do not maintain a 24 hour watch.
That should be enough fodder to keep this thread active "ad infinitum".
steveg wrote:It seems this general topic has received quite a bit of interest, perhaps it is due to the weather.
And soon we may be discussing free-wheeling & foot-loose...
I have wheel steering, my staysail and my yankee are both roller furling, I have a Spade and a Mantus anchor, I have battens in my mainsail which is not loose footed, I lock my prop, my exterior teak is finished with Cetol, and when offshore I do not maintain a 24 hour watch.
That should be enough fodder to keep this thread active "ad infinitum".
Your points about re-routing and re-building the CD 25D plumbing configuration are excellent. Ans frequent pumpouts can indeed keep "that smell" from taking up permanent residence in a boat, any boat. But alas, over the years, I've inspected too many boats whose owners were just not as diligent as you. And that can lead to a holding tank that is hopelessly endowed with the proverbial "boat odor." I prefer a holding tank that is fully removable and can be put through all sorts of washing and rinsing procedures. And obviously, I do NOT advocate the use of a porta-potti in any cruising boat. In rehabbing my CD 26, that was the first to go. Thanks for including that information for CD 25D owners and potential owners.
mgphl52 wrote:
And soon we may be discussing free-wheeling & foot-loose...
I have wheel steering, my staysail and my yankee are both roller furling, I have a Spade and a Mantus anchor, I have battens in my mainsail which is not loose footed, I lock my prop, my exterior teak is finished with Cetol, and when offshore I do not maintain a 24 hour watch.
That should be enough fodder to keep this thread active "ad infinitum".
Synthetic Oil?
Mobil 1 in my Corvette, everything else gets Dino oil
Jim's comments necessitate the following reply in order to further perpetuate this thread:
I do not need to know how to navigate because I have a road atlas and a small chart plotter. Marine charts are way too expensive. A danforth is a good all round anchor and the only one aboard. Sails are largely for appearance so it does not matter loose footed, full or no battens, as motoring is much easier. Perhaps most importantly I am in favor of global warming as the winter lasts far too long here in the north.
Here is another question. If the 26 does not have an inboard what’s under the cockpit sole? How big is the bilge area?
So, to keep the conversation going here is what I’m thinking.
Boat’s purpose: Extensive costal sailing to include offshore work of up to two weeks. Range increased by trailering if desired. But primary purpose of trailer is bring boat home for maintenance and storage. Boat capable of sailing to Maine and Nova Scotia. Bahamas and Easter Caribbean via the thorny path. Cuba and western Caribbean.
I’d want a beat up CD 26 at a rock bottom price. I’d cut the head liner out. Put a simple removable overhead in it like on the FR. I’d glass the hulls deck joint together and then either reinstall the toe rail or small 4” tall bulwark.
I’d have two settee combo berths but the aft 1/3 would extend back under the bridge deck on each side. I might flush deck the forward third of the cockpit foot well leaving the rest normal depth—that would increase storage under. I want a method to convert at least one berth to a double for in-port sleeping. That would keep it cool for summer sleeping with the breeze doing down through the middle of the boat. The area under the cabin sole would be open for storage like on the Far Reach. I’d skip the table and put the galley at the front end of the saloon with chart table/icebox opposite. The boat is wider there. I’d have room since I relocated the settees slightly aft. I’d put a head in the forward cabin along with a small sitz tub and the rest storage. No holding tank. Bucket and chuck it and wag bags for in port and coastal sailing. Max storage under the settees and outboard of the settees. The cabin sole would be 3/4” BS 1088 installed in square sections. I’d glue 1/4” thick cork to the ply then varnish over the cork. The sole would be completely removable.
I’d have a single sink with foot pump and a one or two burner kero stove. Maybe something like James Baldwin uses on his Triton Atom—a single burner gimbled.
No engine. Sculling oar—boat ways less than 6000 lbs. Might have some kind of removable outboard bracket if I needed it. Nesting hard dinghy. I might want a small dodger or just a pram hood. With a Cape Horn windvane—or a Norvane if money was tight. I’d want a 25 lb Spade anchor on 140 1/4” chain and the rest 1/2” nylon three strand. I’d need a back up CQR and a Danforth.
I would hand-splice the rigging (got to keep those skills up): 1/4” 7x7. I’d want a removable dux forestay for stays’l, like I have now. I’d have a main with three reefs. A 110 percent hank on Jib with reef point. A stays’l with single reef point. A big 140 percent drifter. I’d have a whisker pole. I’d want the mast on a tabernacle or some method of raising and lowering by myself. I’d want to be able to drop the mast with the boat in the water so I can get back under low bridges. I’d keep the end boom sheeting and look at a way of installing a gallows aft if the boom is long enough. Otherwise it would have to install it over the companionway hatch. All halyards and reefing remain at the mast.
No depth sounder or electronics. Maybe a single LED cabin light. Like the Alpinglow 7x7. The rest oil lamps. I might have LED running lights but I’d need at least a 50 watt panel and a 100 ah battery minimum. No chart plotter.
I’d need 30-40 gallons of water in two tanks. That might be located aft of centerline. Maybe 8 gallon kero tank with a small kero heater—like my refleks M66 MK.
I’d want a double axle trailer.
This is what I think about at night when I am not planning our next voyage on the Far Reach.
Hi Tim
Well, depends on the interior layout. Some of the smaller boats have too many berths or an inefficient layout. So, I'd want it to work perfectly for the way I'd want to use it. Also, a lot of the US built boats are flush deck I think. Sitting room only. If I acquired a flush deck boat I think I would look hard at adding a short trunk cabin top for standing headroom in the saloon. If done correctly it can look very pleasing and rugged. I have seen pictures of the British built boats and they seem to mostly have the short trunk cabins. I've read they are stiff and pretty fast boats. But, I'd probably want to eliminate the inboard to create more room. It would take some time to figure out how best to use that space. I think the designer Chuck Paine sailed the first one engine free but I'm not certain about that.
I don't know the Francis boats...just what I have read and the pictures I have seen. I'd have to see one to know what I'd want to do. But I think most of them are 30 years old. And a 26' boat is not that big of a project compared to a 36' boat. I'd think we are talking 6 months to a year to get it rebuilt and ready to go--if it were in a shed at my house and not in a boat yard. On the other hand, once I get a saws-all and wrecking bar in my hands I sometimes have trouble figuring out how to stop!
I also fell in love with the Frances 26--the deckhouse version. I used to motor past one whenever I headed from my mooring to Buzzards Bay. Alas, the boat is no longer there. Once, at the Newport Boat Show, I had a chance to chat with Tom and Cuyler Morris at their booth. Cuyler whipped out a brokerage book and said he had one available--at a listed price of $69,000!
Now Tom has crossed the bar and Cuyler sold the business, to Hinckley, I think.
Guess I'll stick to my old 25D.
--Joe
Former Commodore, CDSOA
Former Captain, Northeast Fleet
S/V Crème Brûlée, CD 25D, Hull # 80
"What a greate matter it is to saile a shyppe or goe to sea."
--Capt. John Smith, 1627
To answer your earlier question: Beneath the CD 26 cockpit in just a very large space, divided in two (port and starboard) by a large piece of plywood running fore and aft that could easily be replaced by something more elegant and practical. I haven't quite figured out what I'm going to do with all that space, but it's very nice to know it's there. My ambitions and plans for this boat are not as specific as yours. I tend to let boat projects and cruises develop organically. Too many plans have had a tendency to get changed by life's time and tide. But I figure starting out with cruising around the Maine coast is a pretty good first option. And keeping it all simple and straightforward does tend to keep Murphy's Law from asserting itself too often. I'll keep my eyes peeled for a CD 26. Cheers,
Tim
Thanks. It’s nice to know that space is there and it’s usable. We stow a lot of stuff in that space on the Far Reach. We call it the garage. I agree it’s best to know how you are going to use your boat before you start changing it. I need to see a 26 at some point.
Before buying my 30C I researched 25s and up and yes the 25 went to 3 evenly spaced bronze ports in 81. IMHO it is much better looking than the one long and 2 small plastic ports.
