Looking at 34/37 Saturday

[Alannc44]

New member to the group....

Am heading down to Washington, NC to tour the factory (again). Steve Brodie has a couple of boats down there I want to check out. I'm debating between the 34 and 37. Anyway, just checking in here to see if anyone has any easy questions they would like me to throw his way.

Have enjoyed reading all the back posts, and hope to be able to contribute as a Pacific Seacraft owner soon.

Alan White
Charlotte, NC

[orientalnc2010]

Hi Alan,
Welcome to the group and I have to say that I envy you, Don't Y'all call it "little washington"? My wife and I are planning to head down to Oriental sometime before spring to visit for a week or so. A trip to the new factory is on the list of things to do. I know some questions were raised as to the reasons why the new PSC changed spar manufacturers.
Sounds like you are a man on a mission, where do you plan to keep the new boat?

[LittleWingCA]

Alan:

Welcome to the family. The 37 is a great sailboat. That would be one of my next choices also, but I am still enjoying my Pacific Seacraft Orion 27. Take a look at the PSE 40 while you are there also. I like the layout of that as well. They have the one from the Anappolis show for sale at a discount.

[lsbrodsky]

He has a very nice 40 sitting there! I'd look seriously at it, if you are in the market.
Larry
ASYLUM

[Alannc44]

Thanks for the welcome!

Yes, I did see the 40 footer a couple of weeks ago. I was even intimidated by the 37 footer, but that extra three feet or so makes things even more intimidating on the 40 footer. Like icebergs, boats look a lot bigger out of water. We'll see if the 40 footer is discounted 'a lot' I might look closer at it, but seems to me the 37 footer is more my style. I wish they had a 34 footer made already. They're making one for someone right now as a matter of fact. Maybe that's the route I ought to take.

The 37 footer is standard draft. At 5'10' things can get a little close in Pamlico Sound, but, hopefully that's just a warm up for places like The Bahamas. I'll definitely look to sail it between Morehead City, Wilmington and Charleston, SC. Since I live in Charlotte (about 200 miles inland) I have a couple of options of where to keep it. Additionally, I have my 'peeps' in all three places, including a sister who lives in Charleston.

Does anyone here sail a 37 footer with the standard draft in and around Eastern N.C.?

Thanks again for the welcome. Sailnet is a great forum. I keep up a little forum for my local windsurfing club, and between monitoring for spam and contributing, they can take a lot of time. Generally, sailors are the most courteous of people. I guess our concern for each other on the water carries over to land.

Alan

[lsbrodsky]

I have been sailing Pamlico Sound for over 10 years now and I'd like to think I know it well.There are places you simply cannot go with draft close to 6 feet. That really does not apply while you are sailing, only to entrances to anchorages or services. The shallow depth in many places is compounded by wind driven "tides" that significantly lower the water level when the wind is strong from the prevailing SW. I have a shoal draft 31 and I know where my keel has had minimal clearance. There is one boatyard that you cannot even think about getting into with 6 feet at certain times of the year. It just depends on how much exploring you want to do around the Sound.
It may not be fair to say this, but I have to believe that PSC will negotiate for the 40. The boats they have were built from the materials they acquired in CA, mostly. Almost anything is going to be profit, as opposed to a boat that they would build from scratch in the future. If I could afford a 40, I wouldn't bother with the 37. The creature comforts are much better and the 40 design is the only one with a bit of owner input.

[Alannc44]

Originally Posted by lsbrodsky

I have been sailing Pamlico Sound for over 10 years now and I'd like to think I know it well.There are places you simply cannot go with draft close to 6 feet. That really does not apply while you are sailing, only to entrances to anchorages or services. The shallow depth in many places is compounded by wind driven "tides" that significantly lower the water level when the wind is strong from the prevailing SW. I have a shoal draft 31 and I know where my keel has had minimal clearance. There is one boatyard that you cannot even think about getting into with 6 feet at certain times of the year. It just depends on how much exploring you want to do around the Sound.
It may not be fair to say this, but I have to believe that PSC will negotiate for the 40. The boats they have were built from the materials they acquired in CA, mostly. Almost anything is going to be profit, as opposed to a boat that they would build from scratch in the future. If I could afford a 40, I wouldn't bother with the 37. The creature comforts are much better and the 40 design is the only one with a bit of owner input.

Thanks for the comments!

They also have a shoal draft 31 available that they built for the trade show. I haven't seen it yet, but for offshore, don't you think a shoal draft 31 would be a little on the light side? I plan to sail offshore some, but, certainly Pamlico Sound will be a biggie. Don't you think I could reach Ocracoke, Manteo, Cedar Island and perhaps New Bern? I also expect I could sail up to Elizabeth City, but you're probably correct about Oriental and a few others. In other words, it would be nice to gunkhole Pamlico, but I'll settle for those destinations.

I have searched and read as many comments about the shoal draft versus standard as I could find and I am truly torn. There are several articles in this forum regarding the pluses and minuses of both. While the standard draft does seem too way too deep for the sound, I think I want to have something really stable for the ocean, particularly if I head to the Bahamas and elsewhere.

BTW, looks like the 40 footer with the bulb keel draws less than the standard keel of the 37 footer.

Alan

[lsbrodsky]

I have been offshore in my 31, shoal keel, and it is not too light. It is very sea-kindly, excellent design. Of course, the bigger the better for offshore comfort. The biggest I have ever sailed is 60 feet and that was really nice. You can get to all of the destinations you list with 6 ft draft, but why? I am convinced that the performance of the shoal draft PSC's is very close to the full draft. I have sailed both and couldn't really tell the difference. The Scheel keel on mine is a great design that really helps upwind. I can think of many instances, particularly on the ICW, where I would not have wanted any more draft. If you can get the same boat , basically, with a shoal draft, it opens up more possibilities for gunkholing. If you lived in Hawaii it wouldn't matter, but here(and the Bahamas) it does. Let me be clear, you can sail with either draft, it is just gunkholing moving around under power that have some draft limitaions around here.
Larry
ASYLUM

[Alannc44]

Originally Posted by lsbrodsky

I have been offshore in my 31, shoal keel, and it is not too light. It is very sea-kindly, excellent design. Of course, the bigger the better for offshore comfort. The biggest I have ever sailed is 60 feet and that was really nice. You can get to all of the destinations you list with 6 ft draft, but why? I am convinced that the performance of the shoal draft PSC's is very close to the full draft. I have sailed both and couldn't really tell the difference. The Scheel keel on mine is a great design that really helps upwind. I can think of many instances, particularly on the ICW, where I would not have wanted any more draft. If you can get the same boat , basically, with a shoal draft, it opens up more possibilities for gunkholing. If you lived in Hawaii it wouldn't matter, but here(and the Bahamas) it does. Let me be clear, you can sail with either draft, it is just gunkholing moving around under power that have some draft limitaions around here.
Larry
ASYLUM

Larry,

Thanks again. I tried to send you an email directly, but I've not reached my 10 posting minimum yet.

I'm so torn. I know what you mean about the ICW, not to mention other cool places like The Dismal Swamp Canal. Those are places I'd really miss not being able to show my fiance. I also remember trying to take my dad's Morgan 32 with a 4' something keel out in some mixed up seas and thinking at the time how much better it would be to have a deep draft boat.

It's such a trade off. I know they say don't become fixated on the keel, but it's hard not to after sailing Pamlico. It's interesting to hear you included The Bahamas in your comment. My other issue is that the particular boat is discounted since it was at the Annapolis Trade Show. I realize that Larry Pardey says NOT to buy a show boat, but this one's in pretty good shape.

My personal email is alannc44(at)ix.netcom.com if you have more to say and I would certainly enjoy hearing anyone else's advice and comments about my quandry.

Alan

[lsbrodsky]

That e-mail address did not work. Send me an e-mail at lsbrodsky@earthlink.net