Classic live-aboard able to dry out.

G

grahambaines1987@outlook.

New Member
Joined
8 Aug 2019
Messages
13
Visit site
Hi all, new member, first post.

I'm a professional motor-yachtie, recently taken up sailing. I'm researching the possibility of a live-aboard sailing yacht and have a few preferences. I would appreciate any advice/suggestions.

Looking at (but swayable):
- Classic styling.
- Wooden hull.
- Coastal cruising.
- Able to regularly dry out on sand (bilge keel?)
- Able to sail alone.
- Berth >4.
- Up to 46 feet.

To get a bilge-keeled classic yacht, would I have to sacrifice massively on maneuverability?

Any recommendations would be appreciated.

Thanks
 
DownWest said:
Perhaps something by Morris Griffiths? Golden Hind? Triple keel,so drys out.
Click to expand...

That's some interesting further research thank you. I do love the stern overhang inherent to some classics, but there don't see to be any bilge keel options in this field.

Another question: Would a bilge keeler cope well drying out on sand/mud twice a day for 8 months of the year, or would that duration be too much stress for the hull?

Thanks again.
 
Ohlin Karcher said:
Drying out level is a big ask, it cuts down your choices by about 95%, how about legs?
Click to expand...

Local bloke bought a Jeaneu 'Flirt' (Don't ask, but it has a big kiss on the mainsail..) Wanted legs to moor at Fouras Nord ( drying slightly soft area, not in a direct swell area. Locals said 'Don't' it might break the boat up.
Inference is that it is OK up tidal creeks, but not where you might experience sea effects.
 
DownWest said:
Local bloke bought a Jeaneu 'Flirt' (Don't ask, but it has a big kiss on the mainsail..) Wanted legs to moor at Fouras Nord ( drying slightly soft area, not in a direct swell area. Locals said 'Don't' it might break the boat up.
Inference is that it is OK up tidal creeks, but not where you might experience sea effects.
Click to expand...
I've got legs but never use them in case they hurt the boat. It would have to be a known flat sandy bottom and guaranteed smooth water, and when does that happen.
I was tied up next to Flirt in Ramsgate several years ago, pink painted hull? made everyone smile!
 
You might find something like a smack, or a bawley , converted to a yacht would work. They are massively built and do dry out with legs. But I reckon it might be a lot of work rigging and removing the size of legs a boat like that would have. If you can live with grp take a look at yachts built by Terry Heard, but not as big as you are looking for.
Maybe look at boats in the Netherlands? I do actually know a really nice wooden barge yacht for sale, but she’s about 32 feet approx. Dries out flat and has leeboards. PM me if you want to know more, she’s in Kent
Graham
 
DownWest said:
Local bloke bought a Jeanneau 'Flirt' (Don't ask, but it has a big kiss on the mainsail...)
Click to expand...

Good grief, it's true!

48513389277_49ae58fb73.jpg


Sorry, not much help to the OP's question. I suppose the trouble is that most of the pretty classic designs are from a time when the convenience of drying out upright wasn't even considered. Maybe a centreboarder is the answer - although they're more common since GRP. Would a fibreglass reproduction of a fairly classic design, suit?

48513327011_1cd816e1b9_z.jpg


The maximum length is unusually specific, at 46ft. That's pretty big, especially for a boat that might be asked to dry out. It does sound more like a barge than a yacht.
 
A splendid array of responses thank you.

This is early stage research and I'm stumbling into interesting new ideas daily. I'll happily run a 70m M/Y and its tenders but know next to nothing about small S/V's.

The idea of legs is interesting. It sounds like it would work well on a f+a mooring, sheltered tidal estuary, muddy sand flat bottom.

Would a long keel be the safer option when regularly drying out with legs?

Just saw this on the wooden ships brokerage and fell in love a little: https://woodenships.co.uk/sailing-yacht/bjarne-aas-sloop/
 
Undoubtedly, she is dazzlingly beautiful. The key question is, how much expense and trouble do you want in your life?

There are quite a few long keelers with 'legs' built in, which are extremely rugged. Fibreglass, I'm afraid, but very cheap, and after a season or two of not having to worry about wood, you may be glad of that decision. Take a look:
https://www.yachtsnet.co.uk/archives/seadog-30/seadog-30.htm

48513682241_d1300518b9_z.jpg
 
Last edited:
dancrane said:
Undoubtedly, she is dazzlingly beautiful. The key question is, how much expense and trouble do you want in your life?

There are quite a few long keelers with 'legs' built in, which are extremely rugged. Fibreglass, I'm afraid, but very cheap, and after a season or two of not having to worry about wood, you may be glad of that decision. Take a look:
https://www.yachtsnet.co.uk/archives/seadog-30/seadog-30.htm
Click to expand...

A triple keeler? Now you've gone and thrown a spanner in the works.

I work a 10/10 week rotation so I have the time for maintenance, and cost is negotiable. I guess something ready to sail around 40K that I can work on here and there would be doable.
 
Given that this is the "Classic and Wooden" section of the forum, I mustn't discourage your open-minded enthusiasm, especially as I haven't wholly owned a wooden boat for at least 35 years, and that was a pram dinghy. Although, when I dropped it on a garden gnome, I had a chap repair the hole for me, and it wasn't cheap work, even then.

Griff Rhys-Jones said something very acute about owning a beautiful wooden boat (he's had several) - to the effect that however many days, months or years of work you put in, and whatever you spend, hundreds, thousands, or hundreds of thousands on her restoration or maintenance, you'll only ever be bringing her back to being almost as good as she was when she was new.

I think this is his yawl, Argyll.

48514221262_9de5fa4e09_z.jpg


I'm not saying you're doing it to profit from it, but even just keeping the boat from losing value means investment of cash and effort. Most people aren't into that, hence the popularity of glassfibre, which (believe me!) isn't maintenance-free, but is less work than wood.

Me, I don't understand the huge popularity of single-keel yachts which cannot easily dry-out upright in so many attractive UK ports.

Legs are quite a rare solution, widely mistrusted, I don't know whether that's fair. Most people buy fin-keelers for the performance, and simply accept that places they might have wished to go, are out of bounds...and that a deep water mooring is an inescapable necessity. If you are a purist, and dream of racing lines and glorious traditional styling, good luck to you, and bless your poor wallet.

But it ain't necessarily so. If a boat is built like the Seadog 30 pictured earlier, you won't be worrying about which way the wind and tide are moving on stormy nights, because the design allows her to dry out upright. She won't win any races (they really are slow) and they're not especially elegant. It'd be my choice though, because I think the boat should primarily look after you, not vice versa.
 
Last edited:
grahambaines1987@outlook. said:
A splendid array of responses thank you.

This is early stage research and I'm stumbling into interesting new ideas daily. I'll happily run a 70m M/Y and its tenders but know next to nothing about small S/V's.

The idea of legs is interesting. It sounds like it would work well on a f+a mooring, sheltered tidal estuary, muddy sand flat bottom.

Would a long keel be the safer option when regularly drying out with legs?

Just saw this on the wooden ships brokerage and fell in love a little: https://woodenships.co.uk/sailing-yacht/bjarne-aas-sloop/
Click to expand...

Don’t look at Sandeman Brokerage then....
 
dancrane said:
Undoubtedly, she is dazzlingly beautiful. The key question is, how much expense and trouble do you want in your life?

There are quite a few long keelers with 'legs' built in, which are extremely rugged. Fibreglass, I'm afraid, but very cheap, and after a season or two of not having to worry about wood, you may be glad of that decision. Take a look:
https://www.yachtsnet.co.uk/archives/seadog-30/seadog-30.htm

48513682241_d1300518b9_z.jpg
Click to expand...

That is a very practical design of boat. I can see a lot of advantages to owning one.

But how does she steer astern? I ask as the owner of a Twister, a yacht which gives rise to uncertainty, and occasionally a degree of anxiety, when driven astern.
 
I wasn't claiming personal knowledge of the Seadog, only hoping to describe the broad difference between a design that reliably looks after herself, and others that need a fair bit of pampering.

There's a fairly detailed report on the Seadog here: https://www.sailingtoday.co.uk/uncategorized/seadog-30/

You're right to question her controllability astern, very dubious I'm sure. On the other hand, I wonder how many people's choice of yacht has been based on that characteristic?
 
dancrane said:
.... On the other hand, I wonder how many people's choice of yacht has been based on that characteristic?
Click to expand...
Well I certainly never gave the ability to steer astern a moment's thought when I chose my yacht (a Twister). I had a rude awakening when I first tried it. I did wonder for a moment whether the rudder had fallen off! :D
 
There are rather few good looking classic wooden centreboarders in Britain in the size that you are after.

However, there are quite a few in the States, and given your profession, arrangements for shipping one will hold no terrors for you.

Philip Rhodes is the outstanding designer of the type.

Might be too small for you but I had a friend who lived aboard a Maurice Griffiths «*Kylix*» .
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top