Well, I did it, after 20 years of sailing and dreaming of owning a boat, I, after lots of saving and hard work have bought a boat.
I bought a Litton built, Perry 41. Let the adventure begin!
I had been looking around at lots of different kinds of boats and had decided that a reasonably “fast” cruiser would suit my fancy the best. I would love to own a racer, but can’t afford a racing circuit nor the cost of an mishaps that occur while racing. So might as well stick with racing other peoples boats. Although, I would foresee a Bermuda race and definitely a Figawi in the future. After a lot of research and liking Robert Perry as a designer for his off shore designs, proven designs, and nice balance between speed and seaworthiness; I started looking mostly at his designs. Most, in my price range, are of the Taiwan boat builder era, when it was a lot cheaper to build it over there in the 70′s and 80′s. I found a plethora of boats built in that range in varying conditions. Most were heavily over built and a contained more teak than you would know what or want to do with.
So, searching on the internet, mainly yachtworld.com, and found what I hope to be my diamond in the rough. I did a ton of research on it, I found out that the builder, Litton, was a Taiwan builder that is now out of business. They mainly built Trawlers but may have been contracted by Cheoy Lee to build this yacht. I have only found a few other on the owners site and am speculating that there were only a few produced. Next the designer, Robert Perry, know for starting the “performance cruising” movement in the late 70′s was one of my top choices for a designer. This yacht is said to have similar hull lines to the Valiant 40, which is a known circumnavigator and capable of 200+ mile days. I contacted some of the other owners that said they raced theirs on the west coast and said that their PHRF rating was 130, not bad considering I usually race on a J/105 that rates 96…
While at work, I called the owner, Bob, who turned out to be the owner/broker for Oriental Yacht Sales in N. Carolina. We talked and I got all the information possible about the boat. There was definitely some problems with it from the survey that was done, mainly the teak decks that were in poor condition. There was also some rotten liners on the interior of the yacht, caused by the leaky teak decks. So, minimally the decks would have to be replaced. After talking with Bob some more, getting quotes to replace the deck and core for around 15k; he said that there was a yard, with indoor storage that I could do the work myself. And it is only 250$ a month for indoor storage! So having 75+ days off at a time, not a bad deal to having something to do on my time off.
So, when I got home from work, I drove down to N.Carolina to look at the boat. When I first saw it I thought it looked huge! I spent all day going over the boat with Bob and then over to the yard where I could work on it. Upon further inspection the boat needs some work, most of it is cosmetic though, a light sand and some varnish will turn it around 100%. The big deal is the teak decks. The previous owner, a Canadian know as Dick, one of Bob’s friends who was in failing health and Bob took the boat to sell, had started to re-caulk the deck but didn’t really know what he was doing. Bob said he has been “De-Dicking” the boat for some time now. The deck might possibly be salvaged after it it removed to check the core for water ingress, but it would be much easier to rip it off and non-skid the deck, a lot cheaper to maintain although less pretty to some. The cabin top was already non-skid and in good condition, all the winches and running rigging was well maintained and not in need of much. Down below the wood work is beautiful. There is a few small carpentry jobs to do but a varnish, good deep clean, and new cushions will make the interior beautiful once again.
There is a lot of good too, which makes it a well equipped cruiser. There is a life raft (not cheap), new Raymarine chartplotter/radar, Icom SSB, Raymarine Autohelm, Monitor Windvane, 2 solar panels, wind generator (needs to be replaced), A/C, heater, Water maker, new oven/stove, plenty of space and over all in sound over built hull construction (survey found nothing wrong with the hull except a few dings in the gel coat here and there).
The bad makes the boat look like it needs a lot of work, which it does, but it is manageable. Being an over confident Marine Engineer, I feel that I have enough skill to fix just about anything, so to keep me busy and from just drinking my vacation away I decided that this would do the trick. It will bring a lot of hardship, work, and tough times but I am sure that in the end it will turn out to be an awesome adventure making new friends along the way and good times to be had with all. No one said it was going to be easy, but perseverance, hard work, and help from all sources will all pay off in the end either way.
You got a dream, you gotta protect it. People can’t do something themselves, they wanna tell you that you can’t do it. You want something? Go get it. Period.
To put the mast up I had help from the guys at UK Sail-makers / Sailfish Canvas , who ran the show on the stepping. They are the guys who are making the dodger, Bimini, and new sail cover. Thanks for the help!
