Used Sailboat Hull Design, Evolving Opinion:

When reviewing blue water sailboats for sale, know your heart’s position on Cored-Hull vs Solid Glass.  

Traditionally, I preferred sailboats with a cored hull as if it were Integrity’s hallmark.  Cored hulls have been the practice of solid names like Southern Cross, Pacific Sea Craft, and Gozzard (although other quality builders use solid glass).  These proven sure footed ocean going sailboats, if maintained, are worthy options in the used sailboat market (trumping opinions on core vs solid glass).  

By “cored hull” I am referring to one layer of glass at least 3/16 inch thick fiberglass pressed against a synthetic layer of core .5 to 1 inch thick.  

I say “synthetic” because, despite it’s weight, stiffness, and cost benefits, balsa wood (common core material) has no place on a blue water cruisers- Not even in the deck (although hard to avoid).  There is no balsa aboard Shannon or Island Packet Yachts.  When balsa gets wet, and it will (despite what the sales person says), it turns to mush.  So Balsa is great when new but this article is for used sailboats buyers and we like synthetic core.  

Cored hulls have benefits. Simply put, they’re thicker.  Cored hulls offer insulation from temperature and possibly sound.  It’s almost like having two hulls so when a floating object lacerates your outer hull, your boat keeps sailing if your inner hull remains uncompromised.  Lastly cored hulls present fewer condensation issues inside (most applicable in extreme temperatures).

While these benefits are real and hold value, cored hulls, present an opportunity for moisture to collect where it can’t be dried.  Even if owners use proper methods to fill holes when adding fixtures, the two layers of glass create a chamber which, over decades, traps moisture. What happens when that collects and freezes? What is it’s impact on the glass and the core it self?  These are unknowns and when helping customers find a 25+ year old used sailboat to carry them over the horizon, I prefer fewer unknowns below the waterline. 

My current boat has an air-x cored hull.  I feel safe with her integrity but if privileged to buy another boat someday, I’m drifting towards ocean going sailboats with solid glass hulls.  There is simplicity in it.  You have fewer unknowns as the water meter readings really tell the story.  You know what you’ve got which inspires confidence in your boat.  When far from land and help that confidence is priceless.  John Kretschmer (sailed over twenty Transatlantic crossings) refers to the value of “confidence in what your boat can do” as essential to successful storm sailing.

Lastly, I’ll leave you with some quotes from sailors I respect.

“I prefer solid, un-cored hulls below the waterline.  I appreciate the advantages of cored hulls, especially in the topsides and deck, where they reduce weight and offer strength in certain applications.  But down south (below the water line) I want solid glass.”

-John Kretschmer:  Sailing a Serious Ocean International Marine. 

Boaters’ Rules of Thumb #72

Hull thickness, solid fiberglass: The general rule is that skin thickness in inches should equal at least 0.07 plus the waterline length in feet divided by 150.”

- John Vigor: Seaworthy Offshore Sailboat: A Guide to Essential Features, Handling, and Gear (Mar 21, 2001)

Successful Head Repair for Blue Water Sailboats

My blue water sailboat is a  1980’s cruiser but her head is less than one year old. Yet, a few minutes after pumping, “stuff” fills back in the bowel.  This repulsive issue could intensify if witnessed by paying customers.  Fortunately, there is a simple answer.  Most cruising sailboats have heads that use a joker valve to prevent back flow.  Joker valves are typically soft rubber valves the size of an espresso cup.  They wear-out annually (most likely by design) and while only $13, Joker valves help keep marine stores in business. 

Jabsco, owned by Xylem, makes the heads found on most American blue water sailboats.  However, the Joker valve is ubiquitous across manufactures.  The following list provides all you need to solve this problem plus some advice from recent experience.

1. Watch this Jabsco video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqYkXa5AWe8  Note: The factory supplied screws are self tapping so when refastening, be sure to patiently spin the screws gently till the original threads catch, otherwise you carve new threads that will fail. 
2. Clean the area.  You’ll likely be positioning your face and hands in some badly forsaken places.   Also pump fresh, clean water through your entire head system.  This provides peace of mind during this otherwise messy task.  
3. Use a portable hand held bilge pump to empty the bowel.  Keep pumping until it stops refilling.  If the water looks dirty revisit line two.
4. The video displays  a brand new head, on a table, bright lighting, and ample work space.  Your blue water sailboat's head is probably wedged tightly between dimly lit bulkheads. This is why man invented the socket wrench. I recommend replacing the factory’s screws with identical brethren, except with socket heads.  Please note: Jabsco doesn’t provide “socket screws” because it’s very easy to over tighten- indicated  by the sound of crunching, cracking, plastic followed by swearing.  Be very gentile and remember you are working with fragile imported plastic. 
5. Lastly head lube keeps the pump working like new.  I’m hopeful it also  delays indefinitely the otherwise inevitable rebuild.

I hope this article helps keep your repair quick, hands clean and a head clear for sailing.

Wild Departures

This spring’s been busy with sailing charters.  I love this work, this time of year.  The wind, temperature, tides, even the dolphins cooperate.  I especially enjoy the people appreciating the area, the boat, and sailing. 

When busy, my boat handling skills improve.  It’s cyclical-- Successful dockings, impressed customers, improved confidence, more experience, more skills etc. But every market self corrects.

My wife and I went for an after work, dinner sail.  The tide runs parallel to the dock and was coming in.  My bow was pointed out and the wind was blowing us off the dock-- circumstances for easy departure.  The wind however was unusually strong and angled such that the boat was practically sailing at dock.  The sailboat slid forward on gusts and the tide carried her back in the lulls.  I only have 5 feet fore and aft before I hitting expensive neighbors. 

My hastily drafted theory/experiment was to keep both the stern and aft spring lines attached.   This will keep the blue water cruiser steady while I release the bow.

I could have asked my wife for help.  I could have brought the stern in closer.  I could have used a mid-ships cleat.  We could have eaten at dock.  I could have done many things.  But I am a charter captain with sharp skills, confidence, and a soon to be deflated ego.

I untied the bow, jogged back, untied the stern line, through it aboard, and noticed, the current was loosing to the wind.  The boat didn’t drift back onto the aft spring line, which would have swung stern toward the dock (Making it easy to board).  Instead, the entire boat was simply sliding away from the dock.  I grabbed the aft spring and tried to pull the stern in.  This only spun the  bow, now broadside to the current, further down stream.  The boat was perpendicular to the dock.  I held the aft spring which served as a piviot while all 25000 lbs of blue water cruiser drifted (fast) towards the boat neighbor.

I yelled Vivi give me shot in reverse!  Normally this request is accompanied with hand signals signifying which way to pull/push the transmission.  Without the hand signal, we have about  a 50% chance that she’d remember “reverse is up.”

  She leaped into position and thankfully her mental coin landed up as she pulled on the transmission and matched my urgent tone with assertive throttle. The boat responded, I coyboy’d on to the Wind vane self-steering.  As she returned to neutral. I quickly pulled the dock line out of the water.  The bow swung past 90 degrees to the dock and my neighbor stern was two feet away.  “Now a shot in forward, HARD!”  At full throttle, the only thing that collided was exhaust smoke which plastered my neighbor.  Our sterns cleared by only a few inches. 

Yahhh Hooo.  I climbed aboard - more lucky than good but exhilarated, humbled, and slightly wiser for next time.

  

Replacing Head Discharge Hose Aboard a Used Sailboat

In my experience, every used sailboat pluming project requires creativity.  Standardization hasn’t matured like it has for home pluming projects.  Here is one simple lesson that I hope will save you frustration. 

The most common cruising sailboat head is the Jabsco or Wilcox-Crittenden manual head.  These call for waste discharge hoses (The hose you really don’t want leaking) with an 1.5 inch inner diameter. 

The most common, easily found, smell proof, 1.5 inch ID discharge hoses is the spa hose found, in Lowes, Home Depot, and Ace hardware etc.  Yes, I have driven to all three to verify.  However, their inner diameters aren’t exactly 1.5 inches- they’re closer to 1 9/16.  Given pressure or just time, the spa hose leaks.  Of course sealants and excessive clamping all help but if you want to do this right and, just once…  It’s worth the extra drive and few dollars to buy the hose from West Marine.  Perhaps other marine supply stores use the same suppliers as West but I can’t promise.  Meanwhile, the WM hose fits all my Jabsco 1.5 inch OD fixtures snugly and no leaks- critical aboard any blue water cruiser.

Turning Your Sailboat Into a Business and Make Cruising More Affordable

Done! I highly recommend it.  As of 2014, all my boat’s expenses are legitimately tax deductible. The process was long but, for boat enthusiasts, it’s enjoyable.  

Could you benefit from this?  “Going corporate” worked for me for four reasons:

     A.  I have an old, but seaworthy blue water cruising sailboat.

     B.  I’m not rich.  Whether walking the docks or the isles of West Marine, I’m frequently reminded that most yachtsmen live beyond my means.  When sailboats stopped delivering passengers and mail, sailing in America became a privilege for the privileged.  For me, every discount is greatly appreciated so making this year’s dock fees tax deductible was motivating.

     C. Sailing provides a growth path.  Living aboard a 1981 used sailboat inspired me to study and practice: Electricity, wood, fiberglass, engines, and plumbing. Boating instilled the courage to attempt repairs before hiring experts and to disassemble broken things before tossing.  Such learning felt more like exploring and is exciting.  Having an eagerness to learn, serves me well on the path towards professional sailing.

     D. My real job.  Working for a large conglomerate involves knowing that layoffs are often pending.  Preparing “plan B” eases that worry.  It also feeds a longstanding vision of retiring (in my sixties) and teaching Sailing. 

Turning Your Sailboat Into a Business and Make Cruising More Affordable

These steps outline my meandering path- You can plan faster routes

1. Purchase a seaworthy sailboat (more about that later)

2. Obtain a Captain’s License

I found a school online, paid the money, attended class, and passed the Coast Guard test.  For me, this was the only way.  The schools teach you to pass the exam.  This sounds obvious but often higher education uses class time to engage students in theoretical discussions.  This leaves the “passing exam” task to students and their books.  My school had a select range of the USCG’s questions to administer and they taught us to answer them.  The course was around $1,000 and a significant time investment. However, I enjoyed the learning.  Unlike school, this was not a chore. The other option is to self study and challenge the USCG proctored exam.  This was not realistic for me. 

After passing the exam, I started the hoop jumping, red tape cutting, and bureaucratic back & forth required when working with the Coastguard.  If you’re patient and follow the process, eventually you’ll receive a certificate (now a passport like booklet) that you can fax to your insurance company for your first payback.  For me, this was a few hundred dollars off of my annual insurance bill.

As a certified captain consider also these options for supplemental income.

• Provide sunset cruises – Check with your insurance company.
• Teach sailing
• Lease your boat to a local school.

About four years after earning my license, I finally contacted a local sailing school and, after flashing my USCG license and passing a sailing interview, I started providing the occasional weekend sailing charters.  This was tremendously satisfying- a passion turned profitable…  Well, the boat costs more than the occasional charter earns, but it still feels good to see dollars flow back the other way.

3.  Establish a Business

The new income prompted me to register a company with the state.  A Limited liability company (LLC) does two things:

• Lowers Taxes: The boats’ expenses become business expenses and are deductible from our house hold’s income.
• Secondly a boat related lawsuit could only result in loss of the  LLC’s assets so, our land home is safe. 

On January 1, 2014, Access Freedom Sailing LLC was born. Filing the “Articles of Organization” In Florida costs $125 and was easy compared to the coastguard’s credentialing.  See your state’s website for an application for a Limited liability company.  

I also opened a business account at a local bank with a credit/debit card to help track income and expenses.  For cash purchases I save receipts and plan to count them with a good cabernet next tax season. 

Please Note:

• The IRS will be checking:  I know a sailing Instructor that filed his boating “Losses” against his income three consecutive years and on the fourth year, he was investigated.  The business has to be real.  Fortunately for him, it was (and is)
• When gazing at new “nice-to-have” boat devices especially electronics, the seductive thought that “It’s tax deductible” can warrant some pretty bad decisions.  

4.  Instructor Certification

My chartering work was for an organization called Windward Sailing – which also has an excellent school and talented sailing instructors.  They use the American Sailing Association’s (ASA) curriculum and credentialing process.  It was a natural next step to start accumulating instructor certifications.  I’ll be 65 someday and will to retire ready to teach ASA classes. 

Instructor certification costs nearly $1,000.  However, once paid, the classroom and sailing experiences were exciting. I was learning from other sailors, reinforcing the concepts from the captains license course, sharing sea stories, exchanging used sailboat tips and tricks and getting acquainted with a national organization of sailing instructors.  Like most passions, the better you get, the better it gets-- and sailing is no exception.  Weekend instruction revenue will help feed my boating habit in the winter, when classrooms are warmer that sunset cruises.

5.  Yacht Sales

This is not for everyone.  Becoming a yacht sales person is easy. Surviving as a Yacht sales person takes intense dedication, a broad skillset, resourcefulness, and a passion for boats.  I am lucky to know such people and luckier still that they’ve taken me aboard.  Mike and Mary founders of Paradise Yachts bring honesty, an impressive network, and an impressive results to customers looking to buy sell or learn. I am glad to be learning from them (on weekends and evenings).  I won my first boat for sale and I look forward to posting more, so if you want a good, used day sailor with a cabin and popup roof, let me know, I’ve got an option for you.  

Do you remember step one above (purchase a seaworthy sailboat) I’d be a fool not to mention that, I’d be glad to help find the right sailboat to carry you over the horizon.

Overall, turning my boat into a business was not the result of master forethought-- just me, doing what I enjoy, and taking the next logical step.  Thankfully, they’ve made yachting more affordable and more importantly, I’ve grown better, safer, and smarter at sea.  I wish you the same.

Ghosts in the Machine: Used Sailboat Adventures

My otherwise faithful Balmar Alternator and external regulator recently sound as if they’re revving-up and then down.   Two to four seconds pass, then it reoccurs. The sound corresponds with: 

• ·      The battery voltage moving up and down
• ·      A green light flash on the regulator (May not be 100% correlation).
• ·      A Tachometer that waves at me.

These used sailboat symptoms appear less noticeable while under load and after the engine runs for a few hours.  Both devices are quite old but I don’t have dates.  They didn’t always make this sound.   The alternator belt is in good condition and doesn’t appear to slip.  

Questions: 

• What would cause this?
• Are my Batteries at risk?
• The alternator is charging a bus which is connected to three different banks is that an issue?

I look forward to posting my solution soon.

Measurement Details and Pictures Below:

Engine Run time (.3=30 sec)	Battery	Measurement tool	Low Voltage	High Voltage	Delta in volts
Off	Starter	Volt Meter	12.4	NA	NA
Off	Starter	Gauge	12.7	NA	NA
Off	House	Volt Meter	12.9	NA	NA
Off	House	Energy Monitor	12.96	NA	NA
Off	House	Gauge	13.2	NA	NA
Off	Regulator- Blk&Red	Volt Meter	12.9	NA	NA
0.3	Starter	Gauge	13.5	15	1.5
0.5	House	Gauge	14.5	15	0.5
2.4	Starter	Volt Meter	13.2	13.8	0.6
3.5	House	Volt Meter	13.9	14.3	0.4
4.57	Regulator- Blk&Red	Volt Meter	13.8	14.2	0.4
14.36	House	Gauge	13.6	15	1.4
15	House	Energy Monitor	14.1	14.5	0.4
17	Starter	Volt Meter	13.1	14.6	1.5
18	House	Volt Meter	14.1	14.3	0.2