[jjdin]

Hi,
I purchased a 36 CS Merlin a little over a year ago. So far I have only sailed her in the lake Ontario area.
I am wondering about her capacity to undertake the occasional ocean/offshore passage to the Caribbean.
Any ideas, advice, will be welcomed.

 

[Vasco]

I bought my Merlin (#6236) in 1988. In 1990 I took it to the Bahamas and between then and 2003 we made eight trips south from Toronto in her. I still have the Merlin but since I got a Beneteau 393 in 2004 the Merlin gets hauled in the winter. The Merlin has stood up very well, I just replaced the running rigging this season and the original rod rigging is still good. One great feature was the 150 gallon fresh water capacity. The only thing I dislike about the boat is the shallow bilge. In some later models they put in a little well for the bilge pump. Oh, another thing, I really hated the original Volvo 2003 and replaced that with a Yanmar 3GM30F soon after my first trip south.

We have run into our share of bad weather on our trips south and back and can only say that the boat's a lot tougher than I am. If you have any specific questions feel free to pm me.

 

[jjdin]

Thanks Vasco. I have sent you a personal message.