As you may have seen Stravaigin is up for sale. Surely a bittersweet moment for its owners. Alas nobody can turn back the clock so it is with very mixed feeling we have decided to pass the baton onwards.
She has taken very good care of us over the years and we have had more adventures and stories to tell of our treasured time on
Stravaigin Bristol Channel Cutter hull 126
This was the last BCC to be produced at the Sam Morse yard in Costa Mesa California.
It was taken to near completion at the factory, with all exterior coverboards in Mahogany in place and all interior bulkheads set. The boat was shipped to Maine and completed at Apache Boatworks under the direction of Bill Bucholtz shipwright in Camden Maine.
The essence of the finish was to produce a boat that was as near the Morse factory level as possible. A blog of the construction was developed illustrating the full finish of the boat down to some of the exquisite detail.
This can be seen at [stewarthull126bristolchannelcutter@blogspot.com] scroll to the end of the blog as it is in reverse.
No effort or expense was spared to reflect the standard of Sam Morse extolling the design and detail of these iconic craft.
Where possible all suppliers for Stravaigin were identical to those used by Sam Morse. The mast was from Forespar and came as a complete package down to comprehensive rigging and furlers, the sails from Elliot Pattison, all bronze fittings were from Pete at Port Townsend.
The Sam Morse organization was now closed and all patterns had been bought by Cape George Marine, Todd Uecker at Cape George graciously supplied these patterns for the completion of Stravaigin, dimensions of the interior was thereby assured as per the design of the factory in Costa Mesa.
Interestingly, I believe Cape George have now completed two hulls from the moulds at enormous cost.
Our construction was completed on Stravaigin in 2009 and she was launched in 2010 in Camden Maine. She sailed the Penobscot for a summer and then moved south to reside in Florida where she cruised the Bahamas for a number of years returning each season to Florida. Following this she has moved down to the Lesser Antilles for a number of seasons. The boat has been lightly used over its life as the owners have only spent about three months each year sailing due to work commitments. Much of that time she has been stored inside or under a custom designed full cover for protection from the elements.
Stravaigin has tested her mettle in the Caribbean and has delighted the owners with her seaworthiness, she has been continuously improved throughout her life and the boat is willing and able to take her new owners on new adventures. She is complete in every way and has countless spares on board.
Engine Yanmar 3YM
Engine hours - about 1000
Fitted with a serpentine belt for use with high output alternator specifically designed by electro max as a kit with oversize pulleys. No more fan belt issues.
There is a spare brand new back up electromax alternator on board.
Ample Power Smart Alternator Voltage Regulator.
Fuel supply follows the design of Roger Olson
Xantrex 40 A charger
Xantrex Inverter 1800 pro series
Xantrex Link 20 battery monitor dual function for house and start batteries
Paneltronics electrical panel with separate AC and DC boards.
Sony dc radio and cd player
Bose speakers
CO monitor
PYI shaft seal
Wind instruments ST 60
There are two electric bilge pumps forward and aft. Two whale gusher pumps for the main bilge and the holding tank.
The cockpit compass is new and see through from the salon underway. There are two sets of instruments in the cockpit. Wind and airmar depth tri instrument.
Two Racor filters allows redundancy in case one goes down. In this event one can simply open up the second filter isolating the first which can now be serviced with no shutdown of the engine. Fuel system has a pressure gauge in place to alert the operator of fuel filter restriction.
There is also a fuel pump connected to the system which is capable of fuel polishing diverting the fuel through an independentt centrifugal filter in the port locker. By changing the valve selector this can also be used to purge/bleed the system, and can also be used to empty the fuel tank or pressure the fuel in the event of critical reduced flow.
Engine cooling system has a three way valve to simplify flushing the engine with fresh water /antifreeze at the end of the season. The engine space is lit with strip led lighting.
Propellor is Maxprop 16” with integral Anode which has been well maintained at no longer than 3 month (anode) intervals after the boating season.
The hull is fully copper coated and requires a simple rub down at the start of the season with 280 sandpaper to open up the copper particles. This will likely last for many years. The need for anti fouling has been eliminated for many years.
Sails supplied by Elliot Pattison as follows:- all are lightly used and stored in ac locker for the off season.
High Cut Yankee
Staysail
Mainsail
Assymetric Spinnaker ( never used )
Spinnaker Pole fully rigged to mast
There is a “toast” colour dodger with removable extension to the boom gallows for sunshade and rain protection. The SS frame of the dodger has a full grab bar for security underway.
Both head sails are on Schaefer furlers led back to the cockpit.
all are triple stitched and the fore sails have UV protection. The main is capable of triple reefing with reef points in place.
As mentioned all the fittings are as standard to Sam Morse supplied by either Todd Uecker at Cape George or Pete Langely at Port Townsend Foundry.
Staunchions are Bronze as is the boom gallow supports. Pin rail is mahogany with bronze pins. There is a custom designed outboard support on the gallows pole starboard side for the convenience of the tender. This allows easy access to the tender and secure fixation above deck.
Mast and boom were supplied according to the standard BCC design and has track in place for a storm trisail. There are two 8” Lewmar winches on the mast. I have a parachute anchor for heaving to.
Main Hatch, fore hatch and butterfly hatch are all in teak with Douglas fir structure integral to it. All have sunbrella covers for protection. There are two dorades also with covers.
There are six opening bronze ports in the Salon and two non opening in the Head area.
The tiller is black locust complete with fiddle head design.
There are two completed deck boxes in furniture grade Honduran mahogany which are ready to be installed. They are in ac storage.
In the salon there is a ceramic cooktop supplied by Wallas which runs on diesel fuel, this also has an integrated heater built in complete with fan. Underneath the cooktop is a Wallas diesel oven(requires servicing). There is no propane on board for either heating or cooking. Pot holders are on board.
Fuel tank (aluminum) is placed behind the cockpit and has 28 Gallon capacity.
There is a 6 gallon holding tank forward with a Y valve diverter.Holding tank is flushed by a whale gusher hand pump.
There is a water heater in the port rear locker which can be engine driven and also from shore power. Hot and cold water is supplied by an electric pump to the head and sink in the galley.
There is a foot pump for drinking water and can be set for sea water through a y valve on selection. The electric pump supplies h/c water.
Interior light are alpine glow leds with red lights integral to the galley and over the chart table.
Port starboard and masthead lights are all orca green LED’s.
Engine controls are place in the cockpit with protection from the elements in a perspex case.
On the foredeck there is an ABI classic bronze windlass mahogany mounted towards the starboard.
On the foredeck port side there is Lewmar electric winch ( breaker protected) with up and down controls set in the deck. Additionally there is a Lewmar extension control at the starboard rear cockpit allowing single handed anchoring from the cockpit.
There are three anchors on board. Two are supported in a custom designed SS cradle in the bowsprit, there is cqr 35 lb and a bruce 35lb There is a collapsible fortress anchor in the lazarette. There is 250’ of 5/16 chain to the Bruce. 250’ line to the cqr with 50 feet chain. There is also a dinghy anchor.
Stravaigin carries 68 gallons of water in three plastic tanks under the cabin sole. Tanks have large inspection hatches and are drained and cleaned at the end of each season. They each have separate y valves to isolate and can be drained by either the foot pump or the electric pump.
There is a wash down pump on the port foredeck. This is not functional at this time.
Two 100 amp semi flexible solar panels are positioned on custom mounting bar they are connected to a victron MPPT blue tooth controller.
Stravaigin is equipped with a free hand wind vane which is custom modified with a bronze spindle and SS bearings which eliminates the nylon ball set up previously used. On a recent trip from Grenada we sailed for 4 days without touching the helm , best day was 147 nm. Winds 30 knots and she loved it. Triple reef main and reduced yankee. Just no drama at all.
The head is brand new Raritan PH II newly installed with fresh hose throughout. There is a new Boswell 3 way valve fitted.
All cabinetry is in furniture grade Honduran mahogany with beautifully crafted vented doors. Interior is finished in Epifanes satin varnish which gives a warm rich ambience. Coach roof and sides are in white cedar richly finished to an amber patina.
The cabin sole is hand rubbed teak and is non slip underway. Cushions are in blue sunbrella.
The salon table is cleverly stored at the side of the mast for blue water and can be brought down as needed. There is also a classic BCC table in storage at the discretion of the new owner.
Galley counter is in white corian.
There are two vhf radios on board. A ray marine (redundant) and a Standard Horizon complete with AIS.
There is a victron MPPT ( blue tooth ) controller in place for solar panels. All wiring and connectors are to code. A bronze rail is fitted for simple solar panel security.
All electrics throughout are identified and marked accordingly. There are three master switches. One house to three agm rolls batteries (300 amp hr) one start battery 75 amp hr and a connector switch to be used if ever needed. Batteries are lightly used and recently replaced.
The owner recently found a fatty knees sailing dinghy which is ideal for this boat and it comes with full sailing gear. It is likely a new owner project.
All wood work has been recently refinished using best products of choice to minimize effort. Bulwarks are Deks Olje finish inboard an oil base product which is simply applied annually. No sanding!
The exterior has a Cetol highlight with Semco finish around. This is simply applied biannually and requires no masking with very easy clean up.
Hatches and dorades are in Semco/ epifanes all very simple to keep in good shape.
Every effort has been made to fully maintain Stravaigin2 and it’s the owners desire that it find a new owner who may enjoy it as much as we did.
(I also have full canvas cover securely supported by a metal substructure fabricated by Fairclough canvas. The fabric needs some attention now but this completely protects Stravaigin in winter. It comes with the boat and is stored in ac storage. )
Please feel free to contact me at stewartrgillies@gmail.com or 7097288116