Hi Jim & Rosy. Welcome to TF.
Bess and I have sort of binge-watched all the refit video in the past few days. Interesting stuff and surely helpful to lots of people here. We are hooked now for sure.
I have one GLARING question that we have asked ourselves while watching (and you COULD answer this on your vblog instead if you like). What prompted, or what was the mentality, to commit to putting $112,000 into a boat that old? Possibly 50% of the boats value (guessing)you have now put into upgrades. Considering the combined investment, could you not have almost just purchased a boat to more fit your needs?
Tom and Bess,
Thanks for the welcome and watching our video's. It has turned into somewhat of an out of control hobby!
Great Question - and your not the first to ask.
Previously, we had a 45' trawler that we cruised between Puget Sound and South East Alaska for 15 years. It was great. We decided we wanted to do more long range cruising.
In looking for true ocean going power boats we had a few choices.
First, we wanted to stay with boats that had been designed and built specifically for ocean travel - not modified and / or just doable.
We saw Nordhavn's - specifically the 55 was inviting. They ran anywhere from $1M used to $4.5M new and have a range of about 2,000 NM. We know some cruisers with a 52' Nordhavn that circumnavigated and had to modify the boat by adding fuel bladders in the cockpit to make it work.
There are also Selene's, Diesel Ducks, and some other boats out there as well. All were very comparable, with both strenghs and weaknesses.
We then started looking at some older boats. In looking at older boats we wanted a proven blue water cruising boat that had been very well maintained and updated over time.
We came across Sea Venture (not her name at the time). She met those needs. The prior owners had spent 10 years traveling 60,000 NM throughout North, Central, South America and the southern Pacific.
They had maintained her very well and kept very detailed records since new.
In the era when Sea Venture was built, there were very few ocean going trawlers out there. Her sister ship, Chartwell, was one of the first owner/operated power boats to ever circumnavigate in the 80's.
With a 4,000+ NM range, and meeting all the guidelines detailed in Robert Beebe's Voyaging Under Power, she met all our requirements.
We knew when looking at her that one her stabilization was weak - she was equipped with a steading sail that was not very useful. She also had teak decks in 4 areas originally, of which two areas had previously been removed. These items were reflected in the price when we bought her.
We knew the stabilization was a comfort issue. Sea Venture doesn't really care how much she rolls along while cruising. But for us, we wanted the comfort that the stabilization would provide.
Yes, the refit is expensive - about 1/2 of it is going toward rebuilding the upper deck and making it strong enough to hold the 800' dinghy and about 1/2 if it toward the new superstructure / paravane system. We could have spent less without the crows nest, but we thought that would just be fun to have. We also wanted to make sure the whole system was up to the task, so it was all designed by a navel architect with extensive experience in paravane systems. He designed a larger / stronger system then many boats are equipped with. The stronger it is, the longer the poles can be, and the longer the poles, the more stabilization the system provides.
There would be no purpose is doing this refit if we only wanted to coastal cruise, either from Seattle to Alaska, or down the coast to Mexico. These are all fairly short distances and you could just live with the rolling for those trips. The prior owners did. We just decided we wanted to be more comfortable in both good and bad weather. Of note, the prior owners on one occassion got caught 1,000 NM from shore, going from the Galapagos Islands to La Paz, Mexico in 50kn winds and 30 ft seas for several days. They said you could not stand up due to the rolling, but at no time did they feel the need to deploy the sea anchor and wait for the storm to pass. They did slow up a little to stop the bow from being buried, but that was it. Lets hope with modern weather tools available we can avoid that, but it's nice to know Sea Venture is up to the task, and hopefully, the new paravane system will be up to it as well.
When all done, we think we will have a great ocean going power boat for under $400K. The value of the boat when completed was not a factor in our decision making process. If it had to pencil out, no boat would be worth owning.
I hope this answers your question. I know lots of people might think we are crazy, but that's ok. Many of our relatives think ending our careers in our early 50's, then living and cruising full time is crazy too. But for us, compared to the high stress corporate world we came from, it's a dream come true.
Thanks,
Jim and Rosy Addington
M/V Sea Venture
