Opinions on an 80s 31' Irwin Citation as a Liveaboard for Wannabe Cruiser

[Ocean Roads]

Been looking at a few 80s 31' Irwin Citation online as a possible live-aboard for a few years before my world cruising adventures.

Have not had a chance to inspect any, but I like the layout.

Any owners have some opinions on the boat goo, bad, or ugly?

[rustypirate]

I lived for a number of years with my wife on a '70s vintage Irwin 30 from 1995 through 2000. It was quite comfortable however I wound up making a number of modifications and upgrades in preparation for offshore cruising. I would not consider the vessel blue-water ready as I bought her.

[Ocean Roads]

What did you change or modify?

Any boat I buy will get new standing rigging, new and bigger chain plates. All hoses and wires changes, engine rehab.

[pcats1]

I would stay away from Irwins. Ted Irwin did a great job designing but construction was not "up to snuff": hull delaminations, deck delaminations, hull:deck joint probs. to name a few.

For a costal cruiser, not a bad choice.

[rustypirate]

The first thing i had to replace was a chainplate that had cracked and parted while under way.

I also wound up glassing in the keel which is designed as a bolt-on, however a previous owner had run aground hard, and caused a seperation of the glass around the keel bolts.

New motor - replaced the Atomic4 with a Yanmar.
New roller furling
Removed pedestal steering and replaced tiller
Repaired rotten deck coring
Replaced bulkhead which had rotted through
Replaced water tank beneath V-Berth
Replaced toilet and added holding tank
New Rigging
Repaired molded in antiskid in deck
Repainted inside and out
Repalced icebox with built-in fridge system
Replaced windows in cabin top
Replaced forward hatch

Lots of other minor things

[rustypirate]

Hey, I did not mean to scare everyone off, and I did not want to imply that any other Irwin boat would warrant as much work as I put into mine.

(I have a tendency to want to make EVERYTHING perfect)

One thing I will add is that I had to replace the lower rudder hinge/support as well, and the Irwin design is far from ideal.

(of course I went as far as to split the rudder and replace the shaft and reinforcing web at the same time.....) oh well.

[Ocean Roads]

Thanks for the input!

Any soft deck or fiberglass issues to look out for in the Irwins?

[rustypirate]

The area of decking that i had to replace the core of was in the cockpit sole and was caused by not proper sealing when the steering pedestal was installed.

Other than that it was mostly gelcoat cracks on the deck.

[Ocean Roads]

I am still looking...