This boat can be found at the web link below - a yachtworld listing. I’m looking at possibly buying a BCC. Its a long ways from North Carolina to California.The listing broker thought the boat is about a 7 out of 10. It has no coaming and it looks like it has a boom on the staysail. Its a Canadian built boat. Also, it has a compost toilet - not sure if this was original or somebody wanted to go this route afterwards. Maybe the plumbing and holding tank are still there. I would sure appreciate any comments. I know BCCs are great boats but this one I don’t know - but then the price is perhaps not bad.
Hi Brent,
The price looks good, but it is an older boat with teak decks. The one thing that would concern me the most would be the deck. Very expensive to replace or rip up and re-fiberglass. While I was in Florida to bring my BCC to the islands I ran in to a very nice fella who had just purchased a Canadian built BCC w/teak decks. They were not in good shape and he had to spend a lot of $$$ to take the decks back to fiberglass and non-skid. Plus the teak adds a lot of weight to the boat above the center of gravity.
Also, with a boat of this age careful attention has to be made to the stainless fittings. Stainless is a horrible metal for sailboats. I had to replace the boomkin fittings and chain plates on my Falmouth when she was about 8 years younger than this one. The remainder of the fittings like the stem fitting etc were not far behind. I went with bronze fittings, but again very expensive. You or you surveyor will have to make a careful check for crevice corrosion.
Of course I am just looking at photos. But with the age, decks, stainless and all the other little things that an older boat presents I would figure on another 30K to drop into this boat. I know its not cheap, but they are great boats and well worth the expense for fun and piece of mind at sea.
Gary
s/v Shanti
US Virgin Islands
Thanks Gary,good words of advice. I think I’m going to keep looking. There is 1995 Falmouth up in Vancouver area that looks very nice. Seller wants 60k for it. Its probably a boat that would work for us though I’m not sure I want to go this small. Of course the trailerable feature is nice. Did you enjoy your Falmouth? Thanks again
Brent
Brent:
I have seen boats with teak decks that are in very good condition because they were maintained. In the case of IDUNA’s deck, our Canadian built BCC, the teak decking was bonded, as well as screwed. The seaming and bungs have been maintained throughout its history. The decks are in excellent condition and dry. Granted teak decks require more work than a “straight” fiberglass deck but they provide great footing when the deck is awash with spray and all H… is breaking loose. It is no different than the wood bulwark stanchions on SLM boats. Unless these are maintained, they are subject to rot. The key with any boat, new or old is maintenance.
Based on our experience of buying boats, completely rebuilding a boat and being on other boats over “n” number or years, most buyers pay a fair price for their boat. There are very few “good deals,” the buyer either pays for the boat up front or in the end after they have fixed up an initially lower priced boat. As we were told in the Army, the drill sargeants either get you in the washing or in the drying. It’s the same with boats.
Rod
BCC IDUNA
Brent,
In our run through the wickets of boat ownership we owned a Falmouth Cutter. Here again is a very nice boat but small. As you know bigger is not better and this boat packs a lot in a limited amount of space. We enjoyed our FC and the way she sailed. A lot of boat in a neat little package. Here the quality of workmanship speaks for itself. This is a boat that will do it all as long as you are a little creative with below deck accomodations and can get by in what she lacks in size. This past summer we refinished the wood on a FC and got to see the boat up close. This particular FC has no engine and the amount of interior space that opens up is incredible. My dad used to say of really well built furniture,“there is time in there that you can"t see” The same goes for the FC and BCC that the attention to detail and quality was always on top of the list. The FC may be your answer. Good luck in your search.
Bob & Lois
BCC Jolie Brise
Don’t let the teak scare you away. I have a Canadian BCC and I removed my teak decks. It was a big mistake. Not only were the teak decks beautiful to look at and walk on, they were not in that bad of shape. It was only after I was urged by surveyors and boatyards that I decided to pull them in order to “save the core from getting wet and rotting!”. At the end of the day, or rather three days of pulling up teak I was left with a truck load of teak lumber, all of it about 3/8" thick!. On the fourth day I hit the deck with the moisture meter and found that 90% of it was dry and the parts that were wet had nothing to do with the teak decks. I found rot around the deck prisms and the fuel cap. The teak decks on my boat were probably 20 years old, sure they needed a larger screw here and there and the occasional bung, but in no way were they effecting the structural integrity of the boat. If anything they added a lot to it. I hope one day I can afford to replace them.
If you have anymore questions in regards to buying a Canadian Channel Cutter you can call me in NC at 919-740-2852. Take Care, Matt
Owning a sailboat is not a hobby, it’s a lifestyle.
In reality you were luck to remove your teak deck when you did, 3/8" thickness is insufficient to sink a larger screw and hold a teak bung. If you got your teak off in 3 days it wasn’t securely held by the bedding to begin with; it was only a matter of time before water made it way under the planks and into the screw holes, and subsequently into the core of the deck.
The big misconception about screws in teak decks is replacing the screws repairs the deck, the truth of screws in teak decks is, they are used to hold the planks down until the bedding compound, usually polysulfide has time to cure, the polysulfide is what holds the teak to the deck when cured, not the screws.
Marty:
I respect your experience and opinion. You may very well be correct but without seeing the teak decks on the NC Canadian BCC, I would have difficulty drawing the same conclusion. Granted I have seen teak decks that were “trashed,” as well as those that were very serviceable. Each boat must be considered separately from the rest of the fleet.
Rod
BCC IDUNA
Rod,
Your absolutely correct, each vessel must stand on its own merits.
We visited a cute copy of Sarafyn, glass hull, beautifuly crafted deck beams and cold molded ply decks and epoxy bonded 3/8 teak. Delamination of the teak caused the teak to move independent of the substrate, caulking cracked prematurely and water migrated into the beautiful ply laminates
We actually like teak decks, with the exception of in the summer in the delta and tropics, to hot for us to walk on bare footed.
I have removed many teak tecks do to thinning and delamination with the main deck. If you walk on teak decks and they have that crackle sound as you step, it because it has delaminated from the deck; these decks will flex, stress the caulking till it failes prematurely, allowing moistuer to penetrate the cauling seams and water will be trapped under the planks, eventually making its way through the screw holes into the deck core.
We bid on a teak deck repair job year ago on a Marine Trader 44, it had beautiful teak decks, only 7 planks needed replacing and the a re-caulk job. We were shocked to learn the owner decided to have the teak decks removed and deck glassed over. I talked with the guy doin the work, cusing all the way, seems the teak was so well bonded to the deck he had to chisel all the planks off in less than 1 foot chunks, took a month to destroy a 3/4" perfect teak deck, that only had poor grain choice in only 7 planks which caused them to crack, even cracked those planks took an act of god to get up. The big supprise with the teak off was it had already been re-planked due to a previous bonding failure and the deck hand already been pluged and re-glassed under new boat warranty.
Bottom line on teak decks, if you can counter bore the screw hole and install a teak plug without a screws and the plank stays in place the bond to the deck is good, if it comes up the bond is shot and it doesn’t matter how may screws you replaced, the deak is toast.
I removed my teak decks with the help of 3 friends, an air chisel, crow bars, sledge hammers, a reciprocating saw and I can’t remember how many 24 grit soft pads I went through to get all the bedding off the deck. It went fairly quickly, but was far from easy. Removing the bedding that remained stuck to the deck was actually the worst part. A sheet of sand paper would do about a square foot before it was useless. In the end I sanded the decks almost down to glass, drilled out every screw hole to half inch, epoxied a half inch teak plug in each hole, used west epoxy filler over each plug, recored any areas that were wet, glassed over the entire deck using 1208 biaxial glass with west and faired. I would never do it again and I firmly believe that even if I had to re-bed, re-place, re-caulk, or re-screw small portions of the deck, it would have been worth it. With teak decks, my Channel Cutter just felt like she was a real working boat fit for service in any environment. Especially environments where wrenches and winch handles inevitably get dropped, not all of your friends own proper boat shoes and crawling around on deck with your knees exposed happens frequently. Not to mention the environment in which being naked topside with a lover on a moonlit night is often a delightful impromptu thing to do. Why do you think Lyle Hess drew the Channel Cutters with such wide side decks, a cockpit that could be converted into a queen size bed and 8 inch bulwarks!? He certainly did not design the boat with making love down below in mind. That is to say, I’ve yet to see the layout that caters to the Casanovas among us.
Happy Valentines Day!!
