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I guess I'm obsessed with shallow draft, but so many more places in the world to go to with shallow draft. Leave the crowds in deep anchorages and find safety and peace in your little shallow private bay.
A friend of mine with too much money had a beautiful 45 foot aluminium fully retractable swing keel made to his specs by a French yard (name escapes me. It was a long time ago.)
As he was preparing for his round the world escape, he'd invariably give me a call when the wind was gale force. Not a rare occurence in Southern France. So we'd go out and play, and it left me with the belief his boat was the ideal go anywhere tool.
Fast, strong. Sea kindly but still accurate and fun. We'd bring the board up downwind for extra speed. I suspect Ovnis sail like that but unfortunately never sailed one. They sure look the business and sure keep very high second hand values.
I was told at the time by the naval architect that although good paints exist, the natural oxidation was a great protector so leaving the hull unpainted made best sense.
On top of the "go anywhere" and the safety aspect of being able to take shelter and beach where many can't, there's also the easy maintenance of the underside. You can regularly brush the hull and maybe save yourself some serious money by not having to pull the boat out as often? In a tight cruising budget I suspect every bit helps.
Seems the Southerly uses the same approach and logic, just a different hull building material. Must investigate more!
Keep us posted please.
So many boats... so little time!
Eric
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