islander 37 motor sailer
Since there is so little on the net about the Islander 37 motor sailor I thought I should follow up here.....
Disregard my previous comment about the boat not going to windward well.
Although she may not point as high as some boats, the 3I7 rocks close hauled or on a close reach. I'll get 6+ knots close hauled with 12-15 knots apparent and 7, to 7.2 kts in 16 to 20 kts apparent, with a reef in. The boat is solid and does not pop or creek when loaded.
On a reach, or downwind it is a great light wind boat. If there is 6 kts of true wind we are sailing, not just drifting along. Around 125 miles a day in reasonable conditions is normal.
It is a very forgiving boat, and very easy to balance for those, like me, who are not picture perfect sailors. It will sail flat if you want it to, but give it a little wind and haul in the sheets and it will run along with a bone in it's teeth and a rail in the water any time you ask. (Saildog, I know muti-hulls go faster and are more fun, but seriously this is about all the fun I can handle)
The 85 gallons of fuel that she carries below decks, combined with a Perkins 4107 that does not use/leak any oil between changes makes motor sailing on short passages very worry free. It burns about .65 gallons per hour at 5 to 5.5 kts, when there is not enough wind to sail. The Perkins is simple enough that by having most spares on board I have been able to fix everything that has come up so far these last two seasons, quickly and easily. Engine access from all sides makes it easy to keep up maintenance and see most problems developing. The Borg Warner 71C and Walter V drive have required oil/fluid changes, new hoses and lines, and nothing more.
I rewired the whole 12 volt system and once again all that access space under the cockpit and under the pilot house made this a much easier task then with many boats.
The mid-berth is the best place to sleep on the boat while at sea, it is large can be used on both tacks. The V berth is unusable for sleeping, unless at a dock or very quiet anchorage. Well unless you are into that negative G thing :-)
The head works well on the hook, at the dock and at sea, unless it is rough enough to get you into the negative g thing. The shower only works because we are all thin, I would not want to be a large man in that shower.
The boat has lot of storage space for spares, sails, food, water maker,
and a large well insulated refrigerator. The galley works well and there is a ton of counter space with the counter top extension and the dinette table behind you.
I would think that you would have to hit something pretty hard and going rather fast to break the fiberglass beams in the bottom of this boat.
I made a misjudgment one day and bounced the boat along a sand bar in 10 to 14 feet waves. There were bad sounds made, but the only damage was the loss of some bottom paint off the keel. Everything I have seen still tells me this is a strong well engineered boat.
It is a very dry boat, it lives in Mexico but mold has not been a problem.
No water in the bilge, no bad smells, all good.
It does seem to leak just a little in rough seas at the hull deck seam right about the nav station. I plan to pull the toe rails and re-glass the hull deck joint and rebed the toe rail late this summer so we will see if that solves the issue for good.
The boat is easy to manage in close spaces turns on a dime with just a little throttle and makes me look good every time I dock. Of course there is that 6 foot keel depth that can make it a bit tricky if it is tight below.
I really like this boat, but in all fairness I must say it is because it is not a 1970's boat that has been left to grow old.
The last couple of owners have been very nice to her....
Engine, trans, v-drive rebuild 2002, rudder rebuild, added Racor fuel filters and new raw water strainer 2003, New hull, deck, and nonskid paint 2004, New mast step, new roller fuller, new standing rigging, new spreaders, new running rigging and refurbish mast 2005, New inflatable dingy, replaced windlass, and ground tackle 2005, added new st60 wind/speed/depth, C-80 MFD, 24nm radar, Sat phone and wind vane 2005, replaced fresh water pumps, 4 bilge pumps, and all fresh water pluming 2006, replaced stove, lp tank box, tank and lp lines 2006, Replaced all through hulls, removed 10 coats of old bottom paint, barrier coated the bottom and added a dripless shaft seal 2007, Replace fuel tanks, fuel lines and pumps, replaced bimini and dodger, all cockpit and interior cushions, added cockpit shower, and installed a water maker 2008, painted inside all cabinets, painted bilge and engine room, replaced all engine gauges and cables fore and aft helms, installed solar panels and controller, replaced the 4 golf cart house batteries, installed new battery boxes, installed a link 2000, replaced all the 12 volt wiring, breaker panels, fuse blocks, battery charger, inverter etc 2008, Replaced VHFs and SSB/HF radios, added AIS receiver to the C-80, replaced all the heat exchangers and fresh and raw water cooling hoses, new alternator, starter, and raw water pump 2009 (old ones rebuilt and carried as spares) ....
Of course the above does not include regular preventative maintenance. Including the 2 weeks a year refinishing the bright work...
Everything Islander, has held up very well, everything else except a wp30 autopilot of unknown date has been rebuilt, replaced or is needing to be replaced soon. This old boat has had more then $75,000 spent on her in the last 7 years. If I tried to sell the boat tomorrow I would probably get $25,000 for her. So if you are thinking of going and buying one of these and fixing her up, understand what you are in for if it is in poor shape.
If I did not like to work on the boat as a hobby, as well as sail, I would not like having an old boat as much as I like having this one.......
__________________
"The greatest pleasure in life is doing what other people say can't be done,"
Last edited by Grumpymx; 07-04-2009 at 01:11 AM.
Reason: mis spellings
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