Apologies for the long absence. The trip to Patagonia went well, but the return was complicated by my wife getting the measles - yes, the measles - along the way. Days in the hospital and we are slowly getting back to real life!
We now know more about the larger boat, the Ocean Tramp, and we learned that a local person in Puerto Williams is interested in the smaller - good thing, because it is in bad shape. The OT has been well maintained and was just about to go out on an expedition when my brother in law died. She is 20 meters long, with a beam of 6 meters and draft of 2.1 meters. She was built in Germany in 1997 at Euro Aluship - one of just two designed for sail training in the North Atlantic. Her hull is aluminum, double thick, and she weighs 45 tons. The engine, a 230 HP Perkins diesel with 32 inch prop, is supported by a fuel capacity of 4,000 liters, meaning she has a range of 4,000 nautical miles. She is described as a Cutter Rig Ketch with an additional pilot house. The water capacity is 5,000 liters. She can sleep 15 and has 5 heads. There are 4 sails: main, mizzen, roller furling jib and genoa. She has 14 tons of lead in the keel and is very stable. Lots of extra equipment on board, including 3 radars, 2 echo sounders, 3 gps units, 3 zodiacs with 15 HP outboards.
As for sea worthiness, my brother in law sailed her from the Falklands to a tiny island, Tristan de Cuna, in the far south Atlantic and directly back to Uruguay. Very hard seas and troublesome winds/currents on the return. The total trip was about 5,000 nautical miles, all in the name of geological science!
Now we just have to figure out what is a reasonable price and where she can be taken for a full inspection - we're thinking nearby Ushuaia.
Once again, my thanks to all who offered such concrete advice. You helped us sort through some of the possibilities.
DJ
