The specs on the Skookum 34 are not out of
line with a Westsail 32, Valiant 32, or even a Bob Perry Tayana 37 design. Similar displacement, similar draft, beam, etc.
I own a 45'' custom wood Ed Monk cutter and it is a superb sailing boat even at 20 tons. It''s not a light air boat, but it did log 180 mile days when it was cruised offshore. Hawaii 3x, 15 years in the South Pacific, Mexico, and Alaska. Similar design with a cutaway keel, attached rudder, double ender, staysail cutter design. Ed Monk designed fishing, yachts, commercial, and military boats for Northwest and Alaska waters. His designs are overbuilt and have beautiful traditional
lines. The Skookum yard didn''t build many boats and used all glass layup, really solid construction. If you do a Yachtworld or Google search you can see a selection of Skookums, including fishing trawlers designed by Monk. I''ve seen some Skookum 53 boats up close at the dock and they look very comfortable cruising boats, but I have not been inside one. The 34'' has a short waterline and the double ended stern reduces the amount of available storage. The forepeak area and stern areas will be compromised. It may be a storage hassle factor on a long voyage but for 1-2 people I think it may be perfect cruising boat. Have a good survey done and a test sail as part of making the offer. Most people skip the survey part because of the cost and regret it later. The hull will probably survey perfectly, but need work on systems upgrading.
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