Our New Boat!

[MikeTurner]

We closed yesterday on our 'small boat to sail far' - a Lazyjack 32 schooner, built by the Ted Hermann Boat Shop (now closed) in upstate New York in 1978.

Hermann built 32 of the boats in the late 70s/early 80s.  She's a fiberglass hulled, centerboard boat, 32' on deck, 39' overall (with bowsprit and bumpkin), 2'10" draft with board up, 6'6" down.  "Mary 'Lis" is rigged with a Bermuda main and gaff foresail on keel-stepped aluminum spars.  The original sailplan called for a working jib on a jib-boom; our boat has been fitted with a 130% genoa on a roller furler.

On deck, there's a bronze manual windlass forward and twin anchor rollers on the bowsprit.  In the cockpit there's an offset companionway with swing-out teak doors, teak sole grate, a traditional team spoked wheel (made by the former owner) on a rack-and-pinion steering system, dodger and bimini with clear zip-on enclosures.  There are two cockpit lockers, which also contain the fuel and water tanks; and a large lazarette on the aft deck, underneath a boom gallows.  There's also a pole-mounted wind generator on the bumpkin.

Below, forward is an enclosed stateroom with v-berth.  Coming aft, to starboard is the enclosed head, then the galley with sink, ice box and Origo stove, and then a quarterberth.  To port, there's a hanging locker, dinette, another hanging locker and quarterberth.

Auxiliary power is a rebuilt Perkins 4.108 diesel, 50 hp, accessible via doors behind the companionway steps, fold-up panels in both quarterberths and a screw-down panel in the cockpit sole.

We're the third owners.  I don't know anything about the original owner; the 2nd owner had the boat 17 years and sailed out of the west coast of Florida as far as Central America and the Bahamas.

We plan to cruise for the first year or so in home waters around Mobile Bay, Mississippi Sound and Pensacola.  Our longer range plans include the Gulf, Keys, Bahamas, Mexico and Central America, Cuba (when it opens up) and up the East Coast ICW.

Our current boat, a Rob Roy 23 yawl, is up for sale; we've had her seven years and sailed extensively in San Diego, Mobile Bay and Mississippi Sound.

Once I figure out how to post pictures, I'll post some of the new boat.

Mike Turner
Rob Roy 23 yawl "Fiddlestix"
Lazyjack 32 schooner "Mary 'Lis"
Mobile Bay, Alabama

[Delezynski]

CONGRATS! ;D ;D

Looks like you are in for some fun. :)

Greg

[Frank]

I read a great review on your boat in "good old boat' mag a few years back. They seem to sail really well. Good for you. Have fun.

[ThistleCap]

Mike, that's a fine boat.  Congratulations.  So what's on the project list?  I know you have to have a project list already.

[jotruk]

congrats on the new boat, its always fun learning about a differant boat.

[MikeTurner]

Frank - I found the GOB article on-line and downloaded it, thanks.  I've also got Don Launer's book, "Lessons from my Good Old Boat," which has some of his articles from GOB, including a couple of other ones about the schooner.  I'm still trying to find some websites/books that talk about schooner sail trim - I've got some sailing books from the mid-30s that talk about it and I bought Tom Cunliffe's book on gaff sails, but it doesn't talk much about schooners (see below).

Thistle - Well, project #1 is going to be learning how to trim the sails on a schooner - I expect the foresail will be a new wrinkle, and there's also a fisherman staysail that sets between the masts - that should be interesting.  There are some deferred maintenance items on the diesel that we'll be attending to.  My wife wants me to put together an insert for the v-berth, there isn't one currently.  Other than that, I plan on taking some time to sort the boat out before I start in on anything major.  I do think I want to relocate the battery banks - one is in the foot of the wet locker, and the other is in a locker - I'd like to see if they can't be relocated to the engine room, which is pretty big.  Also probably install some lights in the engine compartment to aid in maintenance work.  And play a bit with rigging - for example, the jib sheets to blocks clipped to stanchion bases, they've been like that for awhile so it must be strong enough, but of course that doesn't allow for any adjustments for light air or roller reefing the jib (except  I suppose for clipping to stanchion bases further forward).  We plan on spending a week to ten days in Florida doing familiarization sails in mid-January, then taking about 10 days to sail her home to Mobile in mid-February.  I expect those shakedowns will show me some things I'll want to tackle ahead.  I also want to get the bilge dried out, there is some standing water by the centerboard pin, the former owner says that the automatic bilge pump seldom runs and both times I've seen the boat the water level was the same so I'm not sure what the story is but I'm used to drier bilges in my boats.

And I suppose a related project is installing the re-fabricated rudder assembly in our Rob Roy and finishing cleaning that boat up to get her sold - don't want to go for too long with two boats in the water...