Hello fellow sailors; the name is Gilbert, just signed up and thought I would say hello. I live aboard down south in Miami and have been boating down here for more than 30 years. I converted to sail four years ago with my latest project Stella Maris. Stella is a 1975 70ft John Alden MS Cutter Ketch; although her sticks are short she makes up for it with ample canvas and she does very well in anything from 12 to 25 knots. In addition she has all the comforts of home, even though getting her into a slip requires attention.... smile. I've pretty much gone through everything system on her, yet there are a few items left to be done, but since funds are running short so they will have to wait.
I set her up for easy sailing by running all control lines to my new pilot house. If you want to laugh, how’s about the fact that most of her systems came through the mail via E-bay; it's the only way a guy like me could take on such a project. When I say easy to sail, I mean it as I have successfully sailed her for a few months at a time alone and in some cases the winds were 25 plus knots. Yes I am fit and capable, none the less a well seasoned sailor could easily sail her too.
I did 90% of the work myself, sorry but I could not link the photos so if you are interested seeing the restoration of her and deterioration of myself please e-mail. I will try and transfer the photos over here when I get better at this site so persons could get ideas from my successes and errors. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to e-mail as I am always willing to help. I can remember the time when I too had many questions and how helpful the responses were. Rule number one: know your limitations......
As for upcoming cruises, well we hope to sail over to the Bahamas in November, maybe we will see each other there and if so please do not hesitate to come by for sundowners and say hello.
Steady winds and calm seas
gil
I set her up for easy sailing by running all control lines to my new pilot house. If you want to laugh, how’s about the fact that most of her systems came through the mail via E-bay; it's the only way a guy like me could take on such a project. When I say easy to sail, I mean it as I have successfully sailed her for a few months at a time alone and in some cases the winds were 25 plus knots. Yes I am fit and capable, none the less a well seasoned sailor could easily sail her too.
I did 90% of the work myself, sorry but I could not link the photos so if you are interested seeing the restoration of her and deterioration of myself please e-mail. I will try and transfer the photos over here when I get better at this site so persons could get ideas from my successes and errors. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to e-mail as I am always willing to help. I can remember the time when I too had many questions and how helpful the responses were. Rule number one: know your limitations......
As for upcoming cruises, well we hope to sail over to the Bahamas in November, maybe we will see each other there and if so please do not hesitate to come by for sundowners and say hello.
Steady winds and calm seas
gil
