Island Packet 35 - Right boat for Vancouver area?

[Lowcountry]

Yes, the chainplate issue can be compounded by negligence, but when you buy a 20 year old boat and can't inspect the chainplates due to the way the boat is constructed, well...
In my opinion IP makes a decent coastal boat, but the chainplates are a fatal design flaw and I would not own another IP. If you don't like my opinion that's your problem, not mine.

[Eder]

As has been pointed out chain plate repair is a $5-10k one time cost if required. After that it will never be an issue again...at least it's a fixable flaw unlike buying the wrong boat.

[Lowcountry]

It's not a $5k repair unless you are doing all the labor yourself. I think $10k is more realistic, as I have had the job done on my former IP35 and that is about what it cost me. There is a tremendous amount of labor involved removing cabinetry, liners, grinding out GRP to get to the plates, and then putting everything back together again. It is a very invasive job, and the interior of the boat will be covered in dust and debris. Having it done was a tremendous pain in the ass.
Also, you can't say that it will never be an issue again. If the bedding in the deck aperture becomes compromised, sea water WILL enter the chaniplate pockets again, and you will have crevice corrosion again at some point. It's just a crappy design, Eder.

[a64pilot]

Mack Sails will replace mine for 10K, I bring the boat and a check.
I can say it will never be a problem in my lifetime, my 304 SS chainplates are 30 yrs old, 316L which will replace them are larger and 316 is much more corrosion resistant and will outlast 304 which has lasted 30 yrs.
That makes me dead most likely and or certainly not sailing anymore, and I doubt many boats last more than 60 yrs.

Every design has weaknesses, period.

[CaptRory]

Originally Posted by geoleo

OK tell me another IP model that sails worse!

The 31. Anything before 1990 didn't have the foil keel and had less lift.

[CaptRory]

I should add.... The "0" models, probably sail a little better, I'm not an expert on these but they are the next generation and are little lighter and more refined. However, you need to know that the 350 replaces the 32, not the 35. But if you are interested in a 35 you should check it out and compare the specs. They are all newer and yup...pricier. I would have had a 350 if my budget could have stranded it. And all the chain plate issues go away as well.

[CaptRory]

Low country ... The newer boats and those that are repaired have drain holes let the water out. Mine drains in one of the storage bins and thence to the bilge. When your cherrios get wet, you need to re-bed. The new ones are made by Garhour in Ca. I'll be long dead when these fail.

[mexsailorgal]

We sailed our IP35 from Oregon in 1999 to Mexico and lived on and sailed her for 14+ years.. She is equipped with a Mermaid Heat and Air Conditioner plumbed in at the factory into the three main compartments.
We also have a Force 10 Propane Heater mounted but never needed to run the lines as Mexico was a wonderful place to be year round..and no need for the supplemental heater.. Our floating home was in 70+ knot winds and high seas and performed wonderfully...We also had 12' following,
breaking seas behind us the entire night after leaving Charleston, Oregon, and heading toward California. Many times we were at anchor in 50+ knot winds with no dragging whatsoever. We wholeheartedly endorse the 35' IP,
as a wonderful, strong, and extremely seaworthy floating home.. She is still located in beautiful and hurricane-safe, San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico, just 4-5 hours driving time, south of Nogales, Arizona.

[CaptRory]

I don't have a problem with your opinion at all. We are in agreement. It's a weird design. Just know you will have to replace them on pre-97 boats and negotiate accordingly. As weird as it is, a proper installation is not going to suffer crevice corrosion. Of course you're not going to step back from a Mason 44! But people looking at Catalinas and Beneteaous are going to find them a huge step up and are going to love them and feel confident in them. OK, to you on your Mason they seem only coastal capable, but you and I both know they are crossing oceans and circumnavigating safely, and comfortably as we speak.

[foojin]

The IP35 is a great boat in conditions for which it was built.

Can't speak for you, but if I was buying a sailboat for the Salish Sea, where there is virtually no wind on a typical summer day, it would not be an IP35.

I would also not buy my boat, which is also not suitable for most conditions encountered here (except in the off season). I bought it to sail away

The boat we sailed into the Salish Sea with, a Vancouver 27, was a wonderful pocket cruiser, but also not a boat I would buy for the conditions here.

If you love to sail, but don't intend to sail away, get a lightwind sailer.

[CaptRory]

Well, there you go. My boat takes 8 knots to get her moving, a 35 will probably take more. It's all about your needs. I don't know the Samish Sea, but I want to. I had a great time on the small day boats at the Wooden Boat Center on a blustery day on Lake Union, dodging the ferries and the float boats! I want to go to Samish Bay and eat my weight in oysters! I consider myself an affectionado and Samish Sweets were the best oysters I ever ate!

[TrentePieds]

:-) Samish and Salish ain't the dame :-)

"Salish Sea" means all the waters inside the eastern mouth of the Straits of Juan deFuca, right from Seattle up as far as Campbell River on Vancouver Island.

As I said in another context, the Salish Sea has a micro-climate all her own, charachterized by extremely light winds in the "sailing season" and rather flukey weather with LOTSA light winds the rest of the year. Blue water boats do best under Iron wind in these waters.

TrentePieds

[foojin]

This is the Salish Sea.

[CaptRory]

I stand corrected. I wonder why it has it's own climate. I'll have to do some research. It looks like a beautiful place to cruise with anchorages out the the wazoo....if they are not all 1000 feet deep. But I still want to eat my weight in Samish Bay oysters!

[TrentePieds]

The "Salish Sea" has it's own micro-climate because it's just a great big bathtub hiding from the Pacific Ocean in behind the Olympic Peninsula and Vancouver Island, both of which have mountains that in some cases reach 6K feet. The stuff that makes the west coasts of Washington State and Oregon such dangerous places beats itself to death on those mountains.

The Salish Sea CAN be snarky sometimes, but its rare and only in the winter. The greatest challenge for the cruising man is to stay dry. That's why we call it the Wetcoast :-)

There are hidey-holes EVERYWHERE and all of them are beautiful. Some of them are so remote that you'll not see a human being from one year to the next. Most of them are deep right in, and the "Mediterranean moor" is common practice because where there is good holding ground 30 feet down the boats are thick as flies and you don't want to be ranging about. Some hidey-holes are so narrow that you moor by bringing lines ashore from opposite ends (or even sides) of the boat.

Just to give you an idea: If you were to tie one end of a string to the front door knob on my home and the other end to the earth's axle where it sticks out at the North Pole, from fifty miles from me till you get to the North Pole, that string would be VERY unlikely to pass over a single human being!

TrentePieds