Moody 37/376 as bluewater yacht?

[Pär1]

The Sharki is on the list. Do You know their samling abilitys? Is it more like a motorsailer or is it a "real" sailor?

 

[theoldsalt]

Thank's for suggestions. We wan't to stat below 12 m length due to marina costa etc.

That's a real shame. I have just moved from a Moody 346 to a Moody 425. I did consider a Moody 376 but the small jump in size did not justify the change; added to which the difference in price betwen an M376 and an M425 is relatively small. However finding a good 41/42 Moody in the UK is very difficult. I was very lucky.

If you are limited to 37 feet then you would be hard pressed to find better at the price.

 

[GAJ]

Par, I have a Sharki if you wish PM me I will endeavour to answer any question you may have.

The Sharki is a sailing yacht and not a motorsailer, sure it is not a fast or close winded as my old First 405 or many of my previous boats but the performance is more than adequate and very easy on the crew, plenty have circumnavigated and more than one cruised to Cape Horn. We viewed one that had circumnavigated and had completed 12 transats,
I am now more concerned about sea kindliness, ease of access to essential systems for maintenance, comfortable sea berths, strength of build, ease of handling, 750 lt of water, 350lt fuel than outright performance.

Coincidentally a friend came to stay over the weekend, he has a Moody 376 it's been in his family from new but it would not be his first choice for a blue water boat. That said he has no intention of changing it because it is a good boat in many ways. One complaint he does have is over the cockpit which he feels is rather high up and small particularly for family use.

The only real issue he has had with it in the last 25 years is the cast iron keel cracking vertically and breaking into two pieces which has proved to be expensive to replace as insurers will not cover a manufacturing defect. No grounding or other impact damage was involved in the keel failure.
We are lucky here in the NW that we have a foundry that casts keels and the new one it is now ready for fitting.

 

[Pär1]

Thank's GAJ, good information, we will still havet the Sharki on our list, if some specific questions comes up I will PM you

 

[AndrewB]

An Amel Sharki is definitely one of the more sensible suggestions you've had, Par. I can recall seeing them around the blue water circuit in the past, and at one time sailed on one. They are within your budget and length constraint. Getting quite old these days though, and so presumably would demand good maintenance skills. Not great performers, close to motor-sailors, but strong and would look after you. Inside they are cosy rather than spacey, like most blue water cruising designs sacrificing accommodation to storage.

Won't meet your 1.9m headroom requirement though. For a suitable yacht under 12m that might, you'd have to be looking at a cat.

But just how serious are you about long distance blue-water cruising? Would a voluminous Mediterranean cruiser perhaps suit you better?

 

[Pär1]

We are two, and maybe the seriousity about long distance blue-water is kind of depending who you ask, my wife or me . The Atlantic circuit at least I would say for now, even though I want to go further...

 

[BurnitBlue]

Hi gaj
There was or still is a 37 or 376 in Ionion Marine with a vertically cracked keel in two pieces. Is that yours or is this another occurance. Local rumour has it that the keel broke while removing it to change the keel bolts.

 

[GrahamM376]

Hi gaj
There was or still is a 37 or 376 in Ionion Marine with a vertically cracked keel in two pieces. Is that yours or is this another occurance. Local rumour has it that the keel broke while removing it to change the keel bolts.

Strange, the keel studs can be replaced with the keel in place and I've never heard of one leaking.

 

[Tranona]

Hi gaj
There was or still is a 37 or 376 in Ionion Marine with a vertically cracked keel in two pieces. Is that yours or is this another occurance. Local rumour has it that the keel broke while removing it to change the keel bolts.

Expect it has been dropped (literally) at some time in the past. Saw a similar thing on an earlier Moody 39 a few years ago when the strop of the crane broke and the keel smashed onto the hard. Broke the keel and the skeg when the rudder hit. Not the sort of thing one would expect in normal usage though - as Graham says the keel and fastenings are pretty robust even if they do often look manky.

 

[BurnitBlue]

Expect it has been dropped (literally) at some time in the past. Saw a similar thing on an earlier Moody 39 a few years ago when the strop of the crane broke and the keel smashed onto the hard. Broke the keel and the skeg when the rudder hit. Not the sort of thing one would expect in normal usage though - as Graham says the keel and fastenings are pretty robust even if they do often look manky.

The two equal halves of the keel were lying on the ground. GAJ reports that it was manufacture failure and not covered therefore by insurance. Warranty obviously ran out. Most of the keel bolts were still embedded in the keel. Frankly I cannot understand such a manufacture failure. I actually made enquires at the marina office because I thought it would be an inexpensive purchase. The marina would not talk about it. I reckon the two halves could have been bolted back on and sailed to UK via the canals for a replacement keel. The boat was still there last year but not checked this year.

Surely a split keel that was not the result of grounding would still be under some warranty as not fit for purpose. Fascinating for me as it sparked my interest.

 

[GrahamM376]

Surely a split keel that was not the result of grounding would still be under some warranty as not fit for purpose. Fascinating for me as it sparked my interest.

I've no idea who cast the keels for Moody but there's no way a warranty claim could be made on a 25 year old boat even if Moody were still in business.

 

[Tranona]

The two equal halves of the keel were lying on the ground. GAJ reports that it was manufacture failure and not covered therefore by insurance. Warranty obviously ran out. Most of the keel bolts were still embedded in the keel. Frankly I cannot understand such a manufacture failure. I actually made enquires at the marina office because I thought it would be an inexpensive purchase. The marina would not talk about it. I reckon the two halves could have been bolted back on and sailed to UK via the canals for a replacement keel. The boat was still there last year but not checked this year.

Surely a split keel that was not the result of grounding would still be under some warranty as not fit for purpose. Fascinating for me as it sparked my interest.

That is really all guess work without knowing the cause of the failure. It is unlikely that a grounding would cause it - the one I talked about was dropped from a great height - and was an insurance job - on the crane's insurer.

The casting may well have had some fault in it but unlikely to result in that size of fracture without some external force.

As Graham says, 25 years on "not fit for purpose" does not come into it. The law sets a limit of 6 years, and even then it is very difficult to get any comeback unless you have a sound technical case, and good lawyer and endless patience with the courts!

Pointless speculating on the whys and wherefores without having the details of what happened. There may well be a valid explanation but doubt you will get it. Expect the keel was cast by Iron Brothers and no doubt the MOA would know where the pattern is to get a replacement cast - if somebody thought it was worth the time, money and effort.

 

[rickym]

Just seen this

We are cruising the Caribbean in a Westerly Corsair, Sailed from the UK 2 years ago. A good choice for us but would have a slightly larger yacht. If you are considering under 12m then the choice is limited. We were very fixated on the atlantic crossing but this was only 2 weeks out of the other 110 weeks aboard.

Centre cockpit is great with an owners cabin aft but no bathing platform (we swim every day)

 

[Pär1]

Thank's, we've been looking at the Corsair to. A bathing platform would'nt be hard to retrofit, would it? And the headroom is very good I think.

 

[KACopus]

We have a 1999 Moody 36 cc for sale. She is in the UK at Weymouth on the Dorset coast. Email arcadiahooligans@hotmail. com for details. A brilliant boat, we lived on her in the Med for eight years. Brilliant sea boat and a great live aboard.