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29 Gulf Island Sloop

25K views 42 replies 13 participants last post by  Mark MacKenzie 
#1 ·
Hello,
I am a new member to SailNet. I am currently involved in the purchase of a 1966 Gulf Island 29 sloop. I have been a sailboater for over 30 years but 2 years ago fell off the wagon and sold my Alberg 30 for a Bayliner 32 Explorer powerboat. The idea was to have a bit more room and comfort while boating in the Pacific Northwest. The room and comfort certainly worked out, especially in early spring during sometimes miserable conditions. But..... I missed my Alberg terribly and became discontented with power. One day a couple of months back while strolling a dock looking at sailboats, I came across a delightful Gulf Island 29 named WRINKLES. Very similar to the Alberg 30 in appearance, sometimes gets mistaken for a Pearson. A tad narrower than the Alberg but built just as tough with identical hull lines. I sailed my Alberg from Vancouver Island to Hawaii and back and have seen a brief reference to a Gulf Island 29 making the same journey. It was a SailNet post but a very old one. I have searched elsewhere for information about the Gulf Island 29 but have found hardly any reference to them. I know that they were a Derek Cove design and that they were built in Vancouver at Chine Boat yards at least between 1966 and 1974 but I do not have any other information. If anyone can help with further information on this fine old make and model of boat I would be much obliged.
 
#2 ·
I've seen a few of these around... they are indeed similar to the A30 - the easiest way to distinguish them at a distance is the number of ports in the house forward (the Alberg has two, the GI 29 only one)

Bill Wolferstan, well known for his seminal cruising guides (published by PY back in the 80s) used one for his explorations as he put his books together.

Beyond that I can't help you much, I expect that she will behave very similarly to what you're used to.. and will certainly sail better than your B32!!;)
 
#4 ·
Since you're looking around here, you might want to check out the Pacific 30 as well. Very similar size, looks etc. but more of a fin keel - an early style one with soft garboards (large garboard radius??) and fairly long. Internal ballast I believe. They were designed by Ray Richards. They were built on the Island as well. I've seen a few and they are nice looking boats with what looks like good build quality.
 
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#11 ·
These may well have been sold as hull & deck kits.. but I suspect a few would have been finished by the builder. Not too sure how many were actually made, but I'd guess not more than a couple of dozen judging by how common they aren't, even around here.
 
#12 ·
You could well be right about this but considering the production span - at least 1966 to 1974 for sure, it is strange more information is not available. I cannot even find out any information about Chine Boatyards but I have heard of Derek Cove before - at least his name rings a bell.
 
#14 ·
Hello!

I am a proud owner of a 1968 Gulf Island 29, which I bought a couple of years ago (my first "big" boat!). When I bought her, the broker gave me a photo-copy of an old magazine article about the Gulf Island boats that featured Bill Wolferstan's Tumbo (an older version with a transom mounted rudder). I can't remember which magazine the article came from, maybe Pacific Yachting???. But she's a great solid boat, definitely very similar the the Alberg/Triton models. I am planning on spending this upcoming summer on her sailing down from Wrangell, AK to Puget Sound, hopefully via the "outside" inside passage. Hope to see you and 'Wrinkles' around.

Eric
 
#15 ·
Hello Eric!

Good to hear from you. I am going to try and track down the Bill Wolferstan article you mention. Is your Gulf Island custom finished? I would be interested to know. What is her name? If my plans go according to schedule I will be leaving Deep Bay around May 10th for a trip up north to explore some of the area north of Cape Caution. Depending on when you will be travelling we could well cross paths.
 
#23 ·
Pretty east to do. Set up an online picture hosting acct, I use Photobucket.com. upload your photos. Once you've done that you can view them in an album. Move your cursor over the picture and a few lines will be highlighted. Click on the bottom one where you see and it will automatically copy it. Paste that into your reply on here on its own line and there you have it.[/QUOTE]

I have all my pictures stored on Picasa. I just spent the weekend trying to figure out how to post them here. I put the relevant pictures in a public web album, copied the link to the album and then pasted it here in response to your message.The link appeared alright but was not clickable. All that was fairly simple to do but in spite of lots of research and many attempts I still was not successful in making it clickable. I am either missing something or I am going to have to try something other than Picasa. If I try Photobucket the problem appears to be transferring the pictures out of Picasa into Photobucket. Will keep at it.
 
#20 ·
The attachment feature here doesn't work real well.. a photo hosting site is better and I believe that lurkers (ie non members) can see the images if you go that route..
 
#27 ·
She looks pretty nice in that pic, Qualicum.. Enjoy!
 
#30 ·
Ressurecting an older thread.

Just curious about how similar your Gulf Islander 29 is to the Alberg 30 you used to have? I'm considering one as well. How do the two compare? The G Islander 29 also looks similar to the Islander 29. Where you ever able to find more info?

Hope your enjoying your summer sailing wrinkles.
 
#31 ·
Hi,
When out of the water the Gulf Island 29 has a very similar profile to the Alberg 30. The 1ft difference is quite pronounced, quite a bit less space inside than the Alberg. Having said that the G.I.29 is perhaps just a tad tougher than the Alberg. It's displacement is the same in spite of it's smaller size. The Alberg had absolutely no steerage in reverse whereas the G.I 29 does have some steerage in reverse but not a whole lot. They sail almost identically but the G.I has more weather helm that the Alberg. I recently returned from a 900 nm trip in Wrinkles and I must say I only became more endeared to her. She is lovely to sail, lovely to look at and very comfortable inside. I had lots of room inside because I was alone. She is good for 2 but more than 2 for other than a day trip would be a challenge. Wrinkles sails very well down wind. On one leg of my trip I did 20 nm wing on wing, between anchorages, in 3 hours. It was an awesome sail. Albergs are very soft and heel over very quickly with any kind of wind. Wrinkles still does that but has a little more resistance to it (hope that makes sense) I sailed my Alberg to Hawaii and back and would not hesitate to make the same journey in Wrinkles. I had Wrinkles surveyed and came out with no recommendations - which is a first for me with any boat. I know Albergs are subject to mast compression and have to be fixed correctly to prevent it. I dont believe that could ever happen with the G.I 29 because the mast is directly over a very heavy bulkhead. I was not able to find out any more information but I did hear of one gouing aground on a rocky beach this past April and considering what it went through the damage was minimul. They dragged it off the rocks, ran it to a yard and fixed it quickly. They are tough! If you have any specific questions please ask and I will do my best to answer them.
Peers Pendlebury
(aka: Wrinkles Dad)
 
#32 ·
Thanks for your reply. It sounds like you give them a very resounding endorsement.

The picture posted earlier in this thread looks a little different then the one(s) I'm checking out. Is she at all similar to this boat on the bottom ISLANDER 29 sailboat specifications and details on sailboatdata.com? The ad I'm looking at on kijiji for a Gulf Islander shows a boat similar to the one in the link but only one window in the lower part of the cabin as opposed to the two in the Islander and 3? in the previously mentioned photo in this forum.

I'm stuck in the Praries until the end of September so at the moment I'm just hoping it doesn't sell before I get home.
 
#33 ·
A remarkable similarity in appearance, it is hard to believe that they were produced by 2 different designers. The minor differences I can see are the nav lights are aft of the 2 forward windows and not inbetween as on the Islander. The displacement of the Islander is about 1,700 lbs lighter than the Gulf Island and although the picture shows a full keel the specs say a fin keel. I see on the Islander that it has a huge boom and is rigged exactly the same as Wrinkles with the 2 pulleys instead of a traveller. That situation is a bit challenging and I would like to change it but have not figured out just how to do so yet. The main problem is that the tiller is set all the way aft and so has to be operated between those 2 pulleys. On the plus side the tiller does not take any room up in the cockpit but it does have limited side to side movement between the pulleys. When needing more sideways movement I have to raise it up and put it outside the pulleys. The system does not lend itself to a conventional traveller, there is no where to fit one. The Gulf Island was designed by Derek Cove and was manufactured at the Chine Boat Yard in Vancouver (long gone). Are you sure that the specs match the drawings?
 
#34 ·
I think sailboat data just misslabeled the keel as fin instead of full, or 3/4s. Comparing the pictures in the two ads Island 29, Gulf Island 29 it looks like the one labeled gulf has a more squared off roof at the front of the cabin similar to what I can make out on the front of the boat in the picture near the beginning of this post.

I'm waiting to hear back from the seller but do you know off hand what the LWL is and how much ballast the Gulf carries?
 
#35 ·
Sorry no idea what the LWL is, I never measured it and it is not noted in the survey. Neither do I know what the ballast weight is, there is so little information available and it is impossible to know. If you send me a private mesage I will send you pictures of Wrinkles in and out of the water.
 
#36 ·
I have a 1967 Gulf Island 29' Sloop (S/V Sophia). I purchased this boat about 12 years ago and lived aboard her in Monterey, California for 3 years. She is a terric boat to sail. With the propper sail configuration I have sailed her in very high wind and seas and felt very comfortable. She is currently located in Hood River, Oregon. If any one would like to know about these boats please let me know.

I am considering purchasing a larger boat for my family of four. She has a Cape Horn wind vane, Radar, a nice larger dodger and even a diesel cabin heater.

I am looking for a Cape George 36 with a pilot house.
 
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