Bayfield

[appick]

I agree the alberg 37 I know of one for less than 15k with a running diesel and nice interior.

[appick]

https://nmi.craigslist.org/bar/5955019407.html

[rumiko dan]

Hi fgraham,
We have a Bayfield 29 that we lived on for 18 months, and our friends did for 6 more, in the Sea of Cortez and the west coast of Mexico. We still have it and are planning to get back as soon as life allows.

We love it. We are a couple, and had four people for 1 month solid, and a few more weeks sporadically.

We did make some changes inside that improved the boat for us. I can tell you more if you like.

Overall we found the boat perfect for us. Partly due to the less expense of maintaining a smaller boat, partly due to my wife, who is 4'10", being able to do all the tasks (other than douse the asym spinnaker in a wind).

It is the only sailboat we have ever lived on, or sailed on much at all, so I can't compare it to others, although we never have had any boat envy.

By the way, ALL of our buddy boating was with much larger boats, some cats, some racer/cruisers, and we never were totally left in the dust (meaning didn't arrive at a destination much later).

Hope you find a boat that works as well for you as our Bayfield 29 does for us.

Dan

[rbk]

Originally Posted by fgraham

I want a blue water boat 35' or so that handles rough water better than My Catalina did. Now I see the push to Leeward. Maybe I should look at a Catalina 34.

We moved to a full keel double ended heavy cruiser for the same reason; completely happy with our decision. Get out and sail one before you write them off based on info you'll find here, then make your own decision.

[fgraham]

What did you buy?

[fgraham]

Does the wind blowing it leeward cause any problem for you?

[VanIslandGuy]

Hi fgraham,

We had a tall rigged Bayfield 32c for 10 years. Overall we loved the boat.

Sail trim isn't the same as a sloop. Getting the best performance upwind often means paying careful attention to the staysail. If it gets to tightly sheeted, you will back wind the main. The boat pointed well at 45' off the wind and beyond to a run. Sailed well wing on wing. With a gennaker performance was good, but with the C models you had to sit out on the bowsprit to rig things up/down as opposed to sitting on the deck.

The other key thing to getting the best out of the boat was buying a loose gauage, and properly tensioning the rig. Once the boat was rigged properly it sailed beautifully and often surprised friend that had more modern designs. Mind you, we had a mast that was 6' taller than standard. We also needed to reef upwind starting around 15 kts.

The build was solid. The cabin was lovely although we had redone all the upholstery and added hella fans, and rewired with Blue Seas panels.

Biggest negative offshore for us would be the cockpit had scuppers that would take a while to drain compared to a modern cockpit that simply drains out the open aft end.

We did all of our sailing with it in Lake Ontario. To be honest the worst waves I've experienced have been there versus experiences in the Caribbean, and Pacific NW. The boat had a very nice dry ride and was a confidence inspiring boat. It was an easy boat to heave to in. It helped me take my wife who was a non-sailor and nervous about boating, into a confident sailor who loves to charter abroad, and ultimately move up to something larger at home.

I don't care for the Bayfield 29 layout, but I think the sea keeping qualities would be similar to the 32. The 36 and 40 are really nice boats, but quite large for single handling with the big bowsprit/full keel in a marina. I like the 36's layout better, but I think the 40 may be the better sea boat.

Good luck with your search.

[rbk]

Originally Posted by fgraham

What did you buy?

Tayana 37, Holds course and smoother on all points. Can point well to windward in the sweet spot 10-15knts but is far more comfortable in higher winds.

[fgraham]

Dan I'm looking at a 29 to buy. 2 questions:
Any advice on what problems to look for?
What changes did you make inside?
Thank You!
Frank

[rumiko dan]

Frank,
The only B29 specific issue I can think of to look at is the condition of the bowsprit, I know a lot of folks have had issues there. Otherwise just the normal looking at everything...the chainplates are easy to check on the inside of the cabin (I should note that ours is a 1978, #20, and I know they made some changes in later years. There is a great yahoo group https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/bayfieldyachts/info that you should join if you are serious about a Bayfield).

changes we or PO made that we really like - and some we are doing now. Clearly not all of these would work for everyone.
1) remove door to head and replaced with curtain that is normally pulled to the side (so open) when it is just us two makes functional cabin space larger
2) making starboard settee convertable to full bed - a) make starboard side table wing removable (not too hard to do, and easy to put back on for dining with a group). 2) remove upper settee backing and making a new larger one that fits between lower cushion and wingless table - then putting cushion on it. 3) we made three legs out of pvc with crutch bottom grips on them that support the outer edge of this bed, the inner is supported along the original settee. Most of the time this is left as a bed - with the port side being used for eating, reading etc. as well as transit to and fro. When we have more folks for a meal or visit we just use the larger new piece as the settee back, it is not too difficult to set it up at all. I can try and find pictures if you get serious.
3) ours had nice leecloths on the port settee - I think put in by PO, not sure, but with it we were able to sleep together in that space (wife and I) when we had guests - clearly not something that would work for a lot of folks, but it did for us.
4) We stopped using the head sink as such - it is a small boat, only one sink is necessary - and used that drain through-hull to bring seawater to our galley sink - we installed a second foot pump and spigot so we have fresh water from tank (that now lasts much longer) and use salt to wash hands, dishes, etc with a quick rinse of fresh when needed.
5) In galley we added a flip up heavy while plastic (cutting board material) cutting board, roughly 10x14 inches (????) just aft of stove/counter. It swings down to get access to back settee area (storage for us) and up to use. Major increase in usable galley surface.

I think those are the biggies. We also did things like remove nearly all the AC - have kept one two outlet outlet right near the shorepower / battery charger space for use, but otherwise it is DC only and all LED. We moved some lights around for reading in our new bed, and to work for us best.

New projects are replacing head with composting head - so have taken out holding tank. Converting to electric motor as old yann gave up the ghost - so will replace diesel with water tank (we carried 4-6 6 gal jerry cans - now we will just need 2 for hauling water, and they lived up along the siderails, so no more weight up high and outside). These changes are much more radical than those we have already done, and their merits are clearly dependent upon personal choices.

Best of luck. Let me know if you have questions.

Dan

[Bay29]

Hi Frank,

Our 1979 came with wood pieces and extra cushions to make the starboard berth a double. The best thing we did was remove the saloon table while we had the mast out, SO much more usable space. Great boats, just read and look at pics before you travel to look. Bowsprits were different lengths, some were tiller, some wheel, one we looked at with a full oven did not have enough berth length for me (6'1), different diesels. Tankage capacity is small. Wife loves the forward head. We like the 29 layout, have a friend with a 32 that I think Is better built for crap weather, but I prefer the 29 for our use. The Yahoo group is great, there is also a Facebook group that has owner mod pics.