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Little J · 31-05-2021, 18:42

Hi dmitrytoda and everyone, I just saw this thread and couldn't resist jumping. I bought my 81 Aloha 127 in 1984, when she was a year and a half in commission, and she is still our family boat. Back then, I too was looking for a live-aboard. While shopping, we looked at a 32 footer and rejected it because it was too small; saw a Catalina 27 and realized that comfortable living was as much about beam and layout as it is about length. When we found our Aloha 8.2, it seemed right, - but it look us years to realize how right it was. I have never been a racer, but she sails well and easily. She can stand up in a blow pretty well for a boat that size. We've certainly had the rails in the water, and have learned to recognize the "crack" of a sail blowing out explosively. In spite of trying to pay attention, we've been stopped dead in the water by things (presumably logs) we never saw, and it only scratched the paint. Anytime I've chopped a hole in the boat, the cutting showed an extremely robust lay up. (Hand laid up glass, not chopper gun.). And live aboard: we were a family of 3 with a girl in kindergarten. We knew it was going to work the first winter, when it was frozen up so that the water was turned off, the ramp to the dock was a treacherous slide, and we all got flu at the same time. And we came through it as friends who still all loved the same boat. So, if there isn't a big problem with this particular hull (& always get your own surveyor!), then you have a fine seaworthy hull that can take you lots of places. My boat came with an inboard BMW diesel. Some people had luck with them, but we sure didn't. ~100 hours between rebuilds. When I tossed it overboard (not really overboard!), I put in an Yanmar 1GM10 and have never looked back! So, I'd say if this is a BMW, don't fix it. Either put an outboard on the the back and put in something better. When I changed engines 25 years ago, it cost me ~$5k then, and I did it all myself. I shudder to think what it might cost to install a new diesel now! Even if you do want to replace it some time, maybe take that other advice and mount an outboard for now, and upgrade some time in the far future when you find you are suffering from too much money.
If the standing rigging really is ok, then the running rigging is no problem. It's not hard to splice your halyards, and the sheets are just lines. BUT, it might be worth your while to ask whether the standing rigging has ever been changed. I just changed mine and that ran about $6k. Average sailers like me don't have the tools to swage those kind of fittings. And I will add that my shrouds and stays still looked fine and felt silky smooth. However, up here in the northwest, SS wire doesn't typically develop meat hooks and show signs of obvious wear like in the tropics. Instead of gradually gathering away, it is more prone to fatigue with resulting sudden catastrophic failure.
Bottom lines of my experience:
- Aloha 27s are great boats, with better glasswork and more teak than you find on anything today.
- Boats always eat more money and time than even the worst pessimist thinks.
- Aloha 27s have surprising capacity for living aboard. I haven't been a year-around liveaboard for decades, but we still cruise for a month or more at a time, mostly anchored out.
- You may not learn whether living aboard is for you until you try it. (So it may not be wise to invest any more than you can afford to lose!)
That being said, I wish you all the joy ( and learning curves) that I have enjoyed!
best to you,
lj