Coastal sailing

[Wansworth]

……never thought much of this class the Vivacity but looks like it makes a fine coastal cruiser

 

[Adios]

When most 20 somethings are happy to watch life on youtube its great to see someone out there doing the living. Even if his evening consists of editing and uploading the days video to youtube. I hope there are some out there just doing it to do it, not vlogging it, disconnected from the screens and spending their evenings with nature and a book.

 

[LittleSister]

I believe it was in a Vivacity 20 that a couple I knew lived on while doing a slow circumnavigation of Britain, taking several years, stopping in various places and working, etc. On completion of the circumnavigation they had a baby but continued to live on the boat. That phase didn't last long, as you can imagine, and they sold the Vivacity to get a bigger boat to live on, but that boat turned out, I sensed, more of a project than they could handle on top of work and the baby, etc., and they eventually moved ashore. Some years later they wanted to get a boat again, and specifically sought out another Vivacity 20! They spoke very highly of their attributes.

They would never have had the money for a video recorder, even had they been available at that time. Somehow they managed to have the adventure of a lifetime without one.

 

[alahol2]

Vivacity 20 was our first cruising boat some 40 odd years ago. Fine little starter boat.

 

[lustyd]

Mine too, excellent boats with a good community on Facebook these days. Great little cruisers if well looked after and I miss the ease of sailing her compared to the new bigger boat.
That’s not a Vivacity 20 in the video though

 

[veshengro]

What type of mast compression support did the Vivacity 20 have? A single post or arch/beam/ Bulkhead in the cabin? The reason I ask is that some times ago while small boat 'Shopping' I went to view a 20. It was advertised by one of the sales companies that appear as a Network, with local, not necessarily very knowledgeable people doing the selling.
It was a rainy day and as we walked towards the boat which was ashore, the Agent was giving me all the speal, however at about 25 paces I could see a large puddle on the cabin top abaft the mast. On closer inspection I saw that the mast actually sat in about an inch of water. I also noticed that the cabin windows were completely opaque with fine crazing.
Whoever owned the boat had progressively tightened the bottle screws on the standing rigging, probably wondering why one side went bar taught and the other flapping in the wind as he wound them ever tighter.
I don't know if permanent damage was done to the cabin top, whether the fibre glass layup was banjaxed, but it is the only boat I have ever seen with a concave cabin top.
The Agent couldn't work out why I didn't even want to go aboard for a look, and I didn't tell either, I just said.."Ah! not quite what I'm looking for thanks"...

 

[alahol2]

I'm fairly sure the Vivacity 20 relied on a moulded beam to support the mast, no post, no bulkhead. The mast actually sat on the lower part of the cabin top. Immediately abaft the mast the cabin top 'stepped up' to the main cabin top.
It had a Ballhead loo below the mast between the V-berths,
I think the boat in the video is actually a Jaguar 21.

 

[lustyd]

Yes that’s correct. Mine had a post fitted and the loo removed but the post was unnecessary, I think a previous owner had been worried the roof was caving in but in reality a previous previous owner had replaced the bottle screws with slightly longer ones. I replaced the standing rigging and all was well.
It would certainly have been possible to overtighten and break the support though.

 

[veshengro]

" It would certainly have been possible to overtighten and break the support though."

Thank you, I was curious, because I think even had there not been a puddle on the cabin top, it was painfully obvious that all was not well.
Shame really as a Vivacity was high on my list, if I could find one.

 

[lustyd]

As you can see here the tabernacle sits on a raised section of deck, so should be impossible to have a puddle anywhere near it. It's all GRP so not terribly hard to fix for anyone with a desire to do so. When looking at these it's very likely the bilge will be full of freshwater. Don't let that put you off, the hawse pipe and cockpit lockers both gradually leak rainwater in due to some design issues, but it's only a problem if left for months. The windows will also likely leak if not regularly maintained but are easy to re-seal with a little bit of black goop.

 

[ylop]

When most 20 somethings are happy to watch life on youtube its great to see someone out there doing the living. Even if his evening consists of editing and uploading the days video to youtube. I hope there are some out there just doing it to do it, not vlogging it, disconnected from the screens and spending their evenings with nature and a book.

Posted by someone on an internet forum without so much as a hint of irony!

 

[oldharry]

The Vivacity in the op is a 650, not a 20. Both good boats though.

 

[veshengro]

Oops! Apologies, my mistake... I had the wrong boat it was a Vivacity 650, not a 20 that I looked at. Her standing rigging went to the cabin top, she had no side decks and there was definitely a puddle at her mast foot.