My wife Sue and I are from Youngstown, NY. I learned to sail on the Lower Niagara River and Lake Ontario when I was 14. I did some college racing at Purdue in 1960, but never was very good at it. I sailed off and on over the next 25 years. I owned a Snipe for two seasons and cruised with friends and relatives on Lakes Ontario, Erie and Huron as well as the Pamlico Sound. Sue and I owned a 12' Zef when we lived in Chippewa Falls, WI and Los Alamos and our boys were 4 and 6. Years later with no boat in between, Sue and I bought a Coronado 15 to race in a local small sailing club. We wanted to learn to sail better together. We took the C-15 to two NA championships, (we weren't last). We also earned charter certification and chartered and sailed on friends boats. Last summer, I finally convinced Sue that we were not getting any younger and should get a good cruising boat. So we started a search. We wanted a well built boat, that looked right to us, and had a decent interior. We planned on following the "This Old Boat" philosophy. I read extensively about characteristics of sailboats, and have sailed a fair variety of boats.
We looked at boats in Maine, Connecticut, North Carolina, and locally. We subscribed to "Soundings" and other publications. By this time, I wanted a Pacific Seacraft 31 or a Morris Annie for a MacGregor 26 price. I figured that this was not possible, so decided on classic style boats from the 60s. We set $20,000 as our upper price limit, and 25' LOA as our lower limit. Our first cruising ground was to be Lake Pepin, a lake 30 miles long by 3 miles wide in the Mississippi River south of the Twin Cities. Since we planned to travel in the boat, we wanted a coastal cruiser that could take us in comfort down the ICW, and to the Bahamas.
Offshore construction (hull to deck joint, solid glass hull,bridgedeck,secure lockers, and companionway, etc.)
Good sailing ability, Good maneuvering under power, V-berth big enough, Double lifelines, Tiller steering
White hull, Diesel inboard, Standup galley, Galley all on one side, Table not fold down from bulkhead
Propane gimble stove, Head w/ holding tank, Aluminum spars, External halyards, Hank on jib, Jiffy reefing
We began looking during our vacation in Maine. That's where we saw the Annie. A fine example was for sale at $59,500 - a good price for an Annie, but not for us. On a trip to Connecticut over Labor Day, I had a chance to see a Pearson Triton, Vanguard, and look over a Tartan 30. We continued looking in Bayfield, WI and locally. I thought the the Rhodes Meridian was a good looking boat. So was the Cape Dory 25. We liked the construction of the Bristol 27, and it seemed about right for us. For many boats, a 10 second look was enough to turn us away without a survey. We made the observation that the much touted statement about freshwater boats being better than saltwater boats was just hogwash. What is really important is the maintenance of a boat.
As we looked, the twenty five footers' began to be too small. We didn't fit comfortably in the V-berth, the galleys only offered sitdown cooking. With the onset of fall, it seemed like the brokers and sellers went into hibernation. We subscribed to "Soundings", "Sail", "Cruising World", and "Coastal Cruising". We reviewed our criteria. One item, appearance, became much higher on our list. We had seen a number of boats that just didn't look right to us -- the Ranger 26, Pearson 30, Olson 27, Ericson 25.
In early April, a business trip to Raleigh allowed Sue and I the chance to visit my parents and brother in North Carolina. I made appointments with several brokers to look at boats in Oriental, Beaufort, and Morehead City. My father looked at a 1978 Intrepid 28 and suggested that we look at it carefully. We hopped on the plane with tape measure, clipboard and tapping hammer. We made up a 6 page check list to follow. The Intrepid looked fine to me, but Sue didn't like the galley arrangement with the athwartships cooktop. Also, the diesel engine seemed small to me. However, the boat was really well built. The asking price was $18,900 and the broker said to try $15,000. We looked at a Cape Dory 27, then a Cape Dory 28. For the same asking price and condition, it is no contest - the 28 is a better buy. We checked out a sadly neglected Alberg 30, our favorite boat for looks. A newer style Tartan 27 in boat show condition, including silk flowers in the cabin, left us cold.
Just before we left the area, we went to the "Coastal Cruising" office to pay up our next subscription. We told the office people about our search. The advertising manager said that his son was selling a Bristol 29.9. We said that at $30,000 they were out of our price range. He insisted and drove us to the boat. As we looked over the Bristol, Sue exclaimed "I like this boat!". It seemed like we found something. The boat failed our criteria is several respects: wheel steering, internal ballast, and fin keel.
Back home, we combed out all the Bristol 29.9s from the magazines. We decided to push up our budget to afford one. At the time, 14 boats were on the market ranging in price from $26,000 to $42,000. We checked over one in Superior, WI. It was well maintained inside, but I was suspicious of the structural maintenance, because of a disconnected headstay, and a large gash in the keel that penetrated the fiberglass.
Because the boating season was about to start, we decided to stop the big search and concentrate on the boat we have.
Two weeks later, we were talking to Sue's brother. we asked him "If you wanted to buy a boat, what would you do";. He said that he would talk to his old friend Don Finkle back in Youngstown, who owns RCR Yachts. Sue called RCR and got their listing. To our surprise, we found a 29.9 listed at $19,900. I called the listing broker and requested the complete listing. I asked what was wrong with the boat that made the price 30% less than other boats? The broker said that it was in good condition, but it was hard to show. The seller lived in Scranton, and wanted to do the showing. The boat was in a volunteer run storage area only open on weekends. He said that another person was going down to Erie, PA to look at the boat that weekend. We waited until Monday, and called the broker. The other person was thinking about making an offer and suggested that we put in our bid. I made an offer of $19,100 contingent on us inspecting the boat and a satisfactory survey. The seller countered with $19,500 and we accepted. We made an appointment with the seller and a surveyor for two weekends later, the soonest that the seller could get to Erie.
1977 Bristol 29.9, 22HP Yanmar diesel, main and 130% jib on Harken roller furler, knotmeter, depth, VHF, pressure alcohol cooktop, 63 gal. water, 18 gal. fuel.
Sue and I drove to Erie, arriving Saturday evening. Our appointment with the seller was Sunday morning. Of course we couldn't wait, so we went to the Yacht Club. We saw the boat through the fence, and inspected her with binoculars. A member came by and we explained our behavior. She let us in, and we walked around the hull. The keel was smooth with no soft or blister spots; the topsides were original gelcoat with hardly a mar. The hull was in great condition. My worst fears did not materialize! We got back to the Yacht Club and met the seller. Sue and I inspected the boat with our check list and mini cassette recorder in hand. (We record our conversation to supplement the check list.) Four hours later, we verified that we were buying a good boat. The next day, the surveyor spent three hours and came to the same conclusion. A mechanic from the yard next door helped me start the engine. The engine ran well, but he said that he had planned to replace the head gasket. It was blown out to the air side, which I could feel. Also, he planned to replace the worn cutlass bearing that I and the surveyor noticed. I arranged with the mechanic to have the work done by him, since he already had the parts. During our return drive, we used the time to make up our to do list. We had found all the minor problems that the surveyor noted. (I did not pound the hull or deck). Many of the items on the list are Wouldn't It Be Nice Ifs.
We returned home and made plans to have the boat trucked to Lake Pepin. We signed up for a slip and bought insurance. Because of the Erie storage scheme, the boat would not be available until May 30, and finally had to be launched and moved to the yard next door to be loaded on the truck.
The boat arrived Friday June 11 at 5:00 PM. The marina people lifted the boat off the transport trailer using two fork lifts - one straddling the keel from behind, the other holding up the bow. The hauler drove his trailer out from under the boat, and the marina workers pushed their trailer with cradle under the boat. They parked the boat and cradle for us to paint the bottom, rig the mast and finish other preparations. We inventoried things, threw out tattered lines, and worked out how to fix the bow pulpit which broke its welds on the trip here. We spent the night aboard.
Our younger son, Ned, and I sanded the bottom Saturday morning. I fixed the mast lights in the afternoon while Sue and Ned cleaned and polished the topsides. We spent the night aboard.
Sunday brought rain in the morning, so I puttered with the mast rigging. We came back to attend my older son Steve's graduation from the University of Minnesota in the afternoon. I brought all the halyards back to wash them in the machine.
Monday, Sue and I drove down and I painted the bottom. Sue filed and ground burrs off the emergency tiller. She also cut the access hole to the rudder for it. Before she did this, the emergency tiller would never have worked. The wind was 25 35 MPH most of the day the paint practically dried on the way to the bottom. After the painting, I replaced the halyards and finished the mast wiring. With the high winds, no one was interested in stepping the mast and launching. So, I found some more minor chores. We spent the night aboard.
Tuesday, I waxed and buffed the topsides. Sue repaired the companionway hatch lock. I repaired a ding in the transom gelcoat. Ned and I installed and broke an eyebolt for tieing off the anchor rode bitter end. About 3:00 PM, Sue suggested that I stop puttering and look ready to launch. (I suspect that they thought I was busy - I thought they were busy... "a Scandanavian stalemate" said my son.)
They moved the boat and mast to the launch area. Pete, the marina owner got on the boat. His son Steve got into the crane and they stepped the mast. They use handheld transceivers with hands free headsets for communication. Pete went below to guide the mast into the step while Steve maneuvered the mast with the crane. It was beautiful to watch! Steve had amazing control over the mast. Pete attached the upper shrouds, the forestay and backstay. I then took over to attach the rest and tighten the turnbuckles.
While I finished up, they took hull patterns for the winter storage cradle. Then they lifted the boat with a forklift to touch up the bottom paint where the pads were. Now down the ramp and into the water! I jumped aboard and checked for leaks. Boat dry, pull the trailer out, and start the engine.
The boat is in the water! Its 5:50PM Tuesday. The engine started right away and I, the skipper managed to reverse the boat away from the launching ramp, turn around, and motor to our slip without even hitting anything.
When we tied up at the slip, Sue decided that we should rig the sails. I put the topping lift in backwards, but it still worked. We got the main on and covered, and the jib up and furled. This complete, we straightened out the boat and had our first meal aboard and afloat. We drove back home, tired but happy.
Sunday, June 20. Sue, our son Steve and I left the dock at noon under power. We motored out into the lake (Mississippi River). The weather was drizzle with little rain showers, so we put our foulies on. When we got out of the channel, we increased speed. The Yanmar pushed us up to 8.0 knots on the knotmeter. (I suspect that we needed to calibrate the meter, a job for next week.) We tried maneuvering in reverse. Even with a head wind, we were able make this boat go in whatever direction we want.
Mainsail up at 1230, and engine off. It handled well. After a few tacks and gybes, we unfurled the jib. We sailed down the lake on a broad reach, gybing from tack to tack to keep the sails full. We could use a whisker pole and a boom yang. After about an hour of this, we turned around and beat back up river. Soon, I tried to let the boat sail itself, and it did so for five minutes upwind. We tacked and let it continue to sail itself. Needless to say, I was pleased with the handling under sail.
We have found a boat. The boat's name is "Winds Way". I like the name "Surprise" after Jack Aubrey's "HMS Surprise". At first, Sue was not pleased with the name, but after some thought, she decided that it was an appropriate name because she's been a surprise at each step of the process. But only after adding the '!' - "Surprise!"