J. Dillon, 11 years on a 27 footer, WOW!!!

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  • Paul Pless
    pinko commie tree hugger
    • Oct 2003
    • 124858

    J. Dillon, 11 years on a 27 footer, WOW!!!

    Originally posted by J. Dillon
    Lived aboard for 11 years on a wood /glass home built Vancouver 27,for all four seasons. Cruised the eastern seaboard from Maine to Fla which included one single handed passage to Bermuda. It was tight living and if I had to do it again it would be a much bigger boat. It was like living in a walk in closet. Winters in the NE were the toughest . Heater breaking down, rats trying to get inside . Propane explosions and fires aboard and one near sinking.( Got skin grafts from that one) Warring with racoons for permission to board are among my unpleasant memories. The good stuff, all here that have done some cruising know all ready, but one I haven’t seen mentioned is snow hitting the deck over my head was a pleasant sound , if you’re snuggled in your sleeping bag and all systems functioning.
    Pictured below a calm day during my Bermuda passage& Inside the boat.



    Can we hear more? Please.
    Last edited by Paul Pless; 02-14-2007, 05:33 PM.
    Simpler is better, except when complicated looks really cool.
  • J. Dillon
    Senior Old Salt # 650
    • Oct 1999
    • 5756

    #2
    OK Paul ,what would you like to hear ?


    Just trying to put in one of the missing images above.
    Aboard Shaula en route to Bermuda.

    35 SH Bermuda inside Shaula.jpg


    JD
    Last edited by J. Dillon; 11-30-2017, 08:50 AM. Reason: replace missing image
    Senior Ole Salt # 650

    Comment

    • Hwyl
      Gareth
      • Jan 2003
      • 22229

      #3
      Originally posted by J. Dillon
      OK Paul ,what would you like to hear ?

      JD
      Not just Paul.

      Did you build her, where did you keep her, what did you do for a living. Don't leave out the "sordid" bits.

      Comment

      • Bruce Hooke
        Senior Member
        • Mar 2000
        • 14297

        #4
        Damn...11 years is quite a stretch. I lived for about 9 months on a 23 footer (Maine to Florida and back on the ICW) and at the end I was ready to get back to having a bit more living space!

        Comment

        • Paul Pless
          pinko commie tree hugger
          • Oct 2003
          • 124858

          #5
          JD, its no secret to most here that I'm a dreamer and I dream about living aboard a sailboat and doing some serious cruising in the future... Yet I've been unwilling and unable to give up my current lifestyle to do it. I'd like to live vicariously through your experiences. So yeah, did you build it yourself? When you chose the design, were you planning on living aboard for 11 years? or did that just happen? Did you work and/or have a career at the time? How old were you when you did it? Hit me up with a few of those 'good' and 'bad' stories. How'd your wife take it? Anything you'd like to share I 'd love to hear it.

          Thanks,

          Paul
          Simpler is better, except when complicated looks really cool.

          Comment

          • J. Dillon
            Senior Old Salt # 650
            • Oct 1999
            • 5756

            #6
            Ok Paul, tomorrow. It's time to bed down now.

            JD
            Senior Ole Salt # 650

            Comment

            • brian.cunningham
              Multihuller
              • Jan 2002
              • 2451

              #7
              Look forward to reading, would make a nice WB article.
              Brian T. Cunningham
              SWIFTWOOD - my schooner rigged trimaran sailing kayak
              http://members.aol.com/swiftwood/

              Comment

              • J. Dillon
                Senior Old Salt # 650
                • Oct 1999
                • 5756

                #8
                Memoirs of a Liveaboarder

                Living aboard there is both glamor and realities, pros & cons but it’s an experience one must actually do to find out if it suits you . Some here have far more experience then I and continue to do it, but no mater what size boat you have it is confining especially if a work shop is big in your life. I had a small one and a dark room both of which had to be shelved..

                My wife at the time decided to fly after nearly 25 years of marriage our two offspring just about had left the nest as well. Like many here I also had tinkered with the idea of “living aboard”. Well into my 50's it was time to put a suppressed dream into reality. My boat at the time was a 24' F. glass yawl designed and built by a friend and editor of a leading boat publication. She was a dream to sail, fast and responsive but no blue water cruiser . I needed something bigger. Poking around the local yards, brokers and marinas in CT, I finally spotted what looked like a suitable boat . It was designed for ocean sailing and enjoyed a good reputation. I was not inclined at the time to start from scratch and build a suitable cruising boat. I knew how time consuming that can be having built 5 sail boats from 8' to 26'.. Some dreamers never achieve their goal .bogged down by repairs and the long building process further complicated by numerous lifestyles and responsibilities Besides I wasn’t getting any younger. The Vancouver 27 I was eyeing was home built with a balsa core FG hull but wooden decks and cabin made of plywood but unfinished inside. The interior seemed quite compressed but I could stand tall in one area. Essentially it was sailable but lacked the refinements needed for cruising. No wiring DC or AC ,no wind vane or any self steering devices no battery or wiring for the engine. A unfueled propane stove hung in gimbles with no tank or supporting plumbing The starter wasn’t useable. No lockers. or mattresses. Basically an unfinished interior . A small inadequate kerosene heater hung sadly on a bulk head. The absence of a holding tank made the head up in the forepeak almost unuseable. In short a good buy but it needed a lot of work to make her four season liveable. Her owner was anxious to sell her and also embroiled in a divorce with the boat value part of the settlement.

                Aboard one cold December night the broker hovered near by as the owner inserted a hand crank, pressed the decompression lever, turned the engine over several times and that little Faryman 1 cylinder 12 HP diesel coughed into life. Tropical islands and bikini beauties seemed a lot closer. A survey, cashiers check completed the deal. I now owned a world capable cruiser.

                I was working as a general carpenter and did everything from concrete forms to fine trim. Also wrote a few articles supported by photography and drawings. So the task at hand was not daunting but did need time. By the summer of 83 I closed the house door shut and hauled my seabag aboard “Shaula” I was now a live aboarder It was what you dreamed about, golden sunsets, cries of the sea gulls, gently lapping waves, secluded anchorages the whole dream coming true. Sailing and cruising occupied my time along with fitting the boat for some more serious blue water sailing. Week end ladies aboard looked at me strangely when I hinted at more distant shores. They could see there was barely enough room for my own gear. IMO extensive cruising in a 27' boat isn’t for most couples over 50.

                The months whisked by and coolness settled in. Winter approached I and the boat were not ready to embark oceans. Financial responsibilities demanded continued working. I bought what I thought to be good heater. It was made in Sweden. They ought to know about such things right ? It turned out to be the worse conceived knuckle buster one could imagine. Constantly breaking down and demanding complete disassembly. Some components had to be bent 90o to remove which eventually broke. Laboring on the demon I was covered in fine black soot, freezing and itching where one cannot scratch and keep looking civilized.. There was no internet to cry for help. I even bought aviation kero thinking the best grade would do but to no avail. It was a loser. Other live aboarder’s advised but I had to make do for this season enduring the whims of this loser of a heater I stayed aboard and survived the first winter.
                to be continued
                JD
                Last edited by J. Dillon; 02-16-2007, 06:38 PM. Reason: Giving it a title
                Senior Ole Salt # 650

                Comment

                • kc8pql
                  Senior Member
                  • Sep 2004
                  • 3510

                  #9
                  Thanks! Looking froward to the next installment.

                  Comment

                  • AngWood
                    Senior Member
                    • Mar 2000
                    • 642

                    #10
                    Totally.

                    Comment

                    • paladin
                      Senior Senior Member
                      • Dec 2000
                      • 26475

                      #11
                      would like to know the general areas that you sailed, and the years and compare notes. I have noted the changes between visits just a couple of years apart when returning to specific locations.
                      I also looked at a vancouver 27 as being a bit on the small side although my first offshore boat was a plywood 27 footer and found it a bit tight also.....
                      Wakan Tanka Kici Un
                      ..a bad day sailing is a heckuva lot better than the best day at work.....
                      Fighting Illegal immigration since 1492....
                      Live your life so that whenever you lose, you're ahead."
                      "If you live life right, death is a joke as far as fear is concerned."

                      Comment

                      • Paul Pless
                        pinko commie tree hugger
                        • Oct 2003
                        • 124858

                        #12
                        Thanks for that intro!
                        Simpler is better, except when complicated looks really cool.

                        Comment

                        • J. Dillon
                          Senior Old Salt # 650
                          • Oct 1999
                          • 5756

                          #13
                          In the following years it soon became apparent that the boat was underpowered . That little 12 hp Farryman had difficulty punching through strong winds and or currents. High freeboard a tall 40 mast combined to make serious long runs against high winds in confined waters impractical. For now re powering was out of the question., I had to live with the deficiency. The wind vane was more important and the best one for this boat was the “Auto helm” . Without a shop I had to rely on the humanity of the marina owner/ manager to use his bench & vise. I had some tools aboard and in my van which is a usefull addition to any liveaboarders equipment. It was like a mobile store room . It became a challenge to slip into his working area unobserved and use his bench . He hated liveaboardrs and like most big marinas in New Rochelle NY., He preferred the big gas guzzling sport fishermen as customers. Even then this marina provided cable TV on the docks. They spent the bucks, paid handsomely and rarely questioned well padded bills. By winter the bloated boats were snug under tarps and only the live aboard sailors remained to need a heated wash room. He turned that off and had a timer on the lights. If you got your business done in 20,minutes you’d be ok but any more ,total darkness would be your fate. Soap in your eyes or not, you were on your own to find your way out of the showers. Soon all live aboarders included a wooden wedge in your toiletries bag to jamb the timer’s motion.

                          This new life style opened the way to new friends and opportunities, especially if you’re single and unattached . I found my self skippering boats in the Virgin Islands. for other singles with my traveling expenses paid for By this time I had a USCG license and in demand for deliveries south and north. The intra coastal would became a familiar waterway.

                          While in the Navy I bought an old vernier sextant when visiting Istanbul. The bazaar there is the crossroads of the world ( a place incidently one could easily get totally lost I did but that’s another story) I have never seen so many sextants in one place. Take your pick. The Navy encouraged any relevant navigation learning regardless of rate, at least on my ship. HO 214 was the method back in the 50's so I took a course using HO 229 to up date myself to 1982..

                          The Virgins islands were quite crowded during winter months in the 80's. All sorts of vessels were crowding the anchorages and swinging room was at a premium. You often had to put out two anchors. Some tourist windjammers would drop the hook never giving a dam how you were swinging. To intimidate you they’d just shout out “We’ll be leaving early so just watch for our bow sprit” It worked most of the time you’d move. Off Jost Van Dyke there were all kinds of beach parties some getting quite wild. My name was on the charter agreement and I often stayed aboard to keep an eye on things as the others went ashore. On one occasion a tropical rain squall came through. I went below to close the hatches only to find three other singles in the state room well entwined. They offered to make it a foursome. I declined and stumbled up on deck to check the anchor. HIV aids scares were very much in the news then.

                          Next episode The ICW with some pix
                          Senior Ole Salt # 650

                          Comment

                          • Paul Pless
                            pinko commie tree hugger
                            • Oct 2003
                            • 124858

                            #14
                            Good stuff. Looking forward to more.
                            Simpler is better, except when complicated looks really cool.

                            Comment

                            • Katherine
                              Too Young to be a Senior
                              • Sep 2004
                              • 13902

                              #15
                              Since living aboard and cruising is a dream for many of us, please keep posting.
                              Pet photography, the degree you get when you fail aromatherapy - Duck D.

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