Trimaran - Especially Searunner - Owners

[Mark Johnson]

HI rossad,
What a great boat you have! That cockpit enclosure is really clever. For those without one... This totally changes the spaciousness of the boat, because you can leave both companionway flaps open, ALL the time! With our companionway flap down, the aft cabin gets quite claustrophobic. This is less true on the larger boats, I'm sure. More than any design I am aware of, Searunners NEED a bimini/dodger, and cockpit enclosure.

Condensation:
We shower IN THE COCKPIT with a garden sprayer, and the worst condensation we EVER had was anchored out, (with no heat) in North Florida, during a week long 45 degree winter cold front. Due to showering onboard the moisture pooled down in the cockpit's sub floor, would evaporate, and due to the tight & closed up enclosure, had no place to go. It constantly dripped off of the ceiling, and every other surface below. Now... if it was too cold for showering on the wing decks, we would try showering in the head area, which has a sump pump, then wipe it down, and hang ALL wet towels OUTSIDE on the lifelines. We even keep the lid to the Lavac head down, to minimize all sources of water, EVEN wet towels, BEFORE they can evaporate and condense below.

Boats that are in warm enough areas to be opened up wide, or that have ventilation open and no cockpit enclosure, have a way for the water vapor to get out, and should have no problem. Same is true to an extent, for marina folks that shower on shore... In proper tropical cruising, it is not an issue at all.

Your heat solution is both very clever and unique, at least to me... If it moves the air, brings in heated and "super dry" outside air too, it REALLY solves the problem! (Unless you develop Exema from the super dry air, like I did).

These clever solutions are the very kinds of ideas that we in the Searunner clan need to share.

Maintenance:
Other than the now solved Copperpoxy disaster I have written about extensively, (causing zinc consumption and lots of bottom growth), I had very little maintenance my first 7 years in the water too. It varies a lot over time. When the corners of hatches opened up after 8 years, however, the fact that I have a dozen of them, comes into play. Same is true when it comes time to paint... THIS is the big thing. Even with one part paint and a brush, it takes me about a year to re-paint the interior. (Having learned that just slopping it on there results in early failure, I have a multi step system that stands the test of time better). It is very time consuming, especially the removal of all wires, lights, etc... FIRST!

Later, after much longer... the factory hatches need re-bedding, plastic lenses craze, (counting the ports, the dodger, & hatches, I have 13 lenses that need regular polishing out), even curtain track sliders wear out! Running AND standing rigging wears out, winches need servicing, bunk & settee foam AND covers wear out, batteries need replacement, and the entire LP solenoid & gas line system is due for replacement (@ 10 years old). Engine parts wear out, faucets wear out, solar vents need replacement, cockpit cushions get threadbare, lifelines need replacement, the transom boot wares out, acres of exterior paint needs to be re-done, (5X as often if its a 1 part paint), even sails eventually need replacement! At 17 years old, our enclosure canvass was threadbare too, ($9,000 US)! Your canvass is both far less of it, and less complex, so should be really cheap.

It just goes on and on... Its the fact that Searunners have not only three hulls, but TWO cabins, double spreader CUTTER rigs, (with so many parts to the rig), as well as lots of storage cubbys, bunks, AND the interior and exterior of the structure is incredibly highly developed, (= lots of parts), that make Searunners BOTH a higher maintenance boat AND one of the best designs EVER!

Luckily, all of this does not have to be done at the same time! After your boat is another 7 years old, you will have done, OR be doing most of the above, on a regular schedule.

Simpler boats... without spreaders, without CBs, with one cabin, fewer hatches & ports, a spade rudder, very few storage, sleeping, or other accouterments down below, etc. Are both inferior cruising/liveaboard boats, AND less maintenance, over decades of use.
IF it has fewer frames and stringers to contend with as well, (= fewer parts), this equates to even LESS maintenance, by comparison. (Measured over decades)...

We can't have it both ways, so I choose to pay the price, and sail a superior Searunner! GREAT that you are enjoying yours. Send more pics of the sailing, as well as the features and systems. Looks like some clever innovations are on her...

Thanks, Rossad,
M.

[IceDog]

1980 brown trimaran - $25000 (cabo san lucas)


"40 ft long x 22 ft wide 150 hp 4BT cummins diesel, Setup for 40 passengers snorkle,whale watch or booze cruise
All aluminum seats on rails, two forward nets for sunning, One fwd head Large built-in cooler for drinks and food
this is a mexican boat.Comes with 1 set of sails. 624 145 2652"

quoted from the Baja Sur Craigslist...I wonder where the waterline is with 40 passengers plus booze and gear?

[Mark Johnson]

Wow!

Reminds me of the SR 40 that we saw anchored next to the mangroves, in the far end of Falmouth Harbour Antigua.

It had the rig and cabin "scalped" at deck level. In their place, it had what looked like a two story house, with a porch / balcony on the front of the loft! Wing clearance? HA!

Cheep way to live in an expensive place for sure, but... really!

The things some people do!

M.

[Sand crab]

Originally Posted by IceDog

1980 brown trimaran - $25000 (cabo san lucas)


"40 ft long x 22 ft wide 150 hp 4BT cummins diesel, Setup for 40 passengers snorkle,whale watch or booze cruise
All aluminum seats on rails, two forward nets for sunning, One fwd head Large built-in cooler for drinks and food
this is a mexican boat.Comes with 1 set of sails. 624 145 2652"

quoted from the Baja Sur Craigslist...I wonder where the waterline is with 40 passengers plus booze and gear?

If you are day sailing then who cares about waterline or bridgedeck clearence numbers. It's just about making money.

[Jmolan]

This guy came blasting into town from BC Canada. In no time he flopped out his amas, moved onboard, start spreading paint. He is going sailing, you can tell he is one happy camper to be int he sunshine of the Sonora desert. He also has his decks spread with KiwiGrip. He said this is a very thin coat as he wanted to see how it held up. Water clean up, he likes it so far. Just a fun fact out of the Mexico boat yard today. It was fun to talk to him, but he never quit moving!

[Roy M]

I used a similar product back in the late 70's, early eighties. Looks exactly the same. Only problem was that, being flat finished, not glossy, it easily stained and looked pretty shabby after a year or two. I was easy enough to top coat with fresh paint, and didn't weigh too much. Eventually I stripped it off with premium epoxy stripper and replaced it with LPU and sand. I've stuck with that since.

[rossad]

Interesting point
My deck has cork
its ok but as you paint, it fill the gaps and eventurally i can see it will become smooth somewhat .. really need to wear shoes on a stormy day or night as the toes dont like to get banged about. None skie shoes that is.
As the paint builds so does the weight but hey really how much more what is it.. not that much surely

[Cavalier MK2]

Paint doesn't lose that much weight as it dries depending on the solids to thinner/carrier ratio. Extra coats of paint can add up to few hundred pounds when you remember your bottom paint too. Weigh a gallon of what you use and try to find out from the manufacturer how much evaporates. Bottom Paint is heaviest, then deck paint ,then topsides. Add up the gallons you use and times by the layers. The Vagabond rose in the water when 40 years of overcoats came off.

[HapaPops]

KiwiGrip is awesome stuff. Stains don't stick for some reason. Highly recommend.

[Jmolan]

Thanks on that, sorry for the late reply. I am back in 16 degree central Oregon. The indoors are good for digging thru photos and digitizing them. This is a classic. Is 1985, my son in the pic is 29 and 6' 4"!... This was a really nice vent wing 37' epoxy boat. We bought it after 6 years of construction. The owner took a brand new boat with a 10hp outboard under the Dumbarton bridge during rush hour! The mast got stuck under the bridge, eventually pull out, they were hanging by shrouds, sideways in a horrible chop...well with only a wife and daughter aboard, no VHF, they came out OK.....took a new mast and rigging and put her up for sale.......he was a builder, not a sailor. I learned there is a big difference. All this years, in his shop, boat under his control in a controlled climate.....then, out bouncing around, getting kicked, and slammed, big difference. He told me he had NEVER SAILED!......oh man.......
So we had. A great new boat! I sailed it out the Golden Gate with two surfer kinda guys. What a miserable coast, going north in Sept....solid fog if it was calm and we motored (10 hp. Honda) or blowing a NW a gale. We were pinned down for 7 days at Shelter Cove, the ringing was singing day and night 24/7! We finally got a tow around Cape Mendicino from a salmon trolled, we ducked into Humbolt bay.
When we departed a few days later, the tide was ebbing, we were thorn into sold greenies 6-8 footers, and the outboard would go under water, the rocket up into the air at full RPM's!......the only non breaking water was right against the Jetty. As I aimed for the rocks, I knew I would be loosing the boat soon!...we skirted, I mean within feet of the jetty, the water was almost flat, and I had very tittle steering due to the current.....well we made it, and motored out into pea soup fog......more later!

[rossad]

I like to hear these stories Jmolen. Tell us more.
This 37 Searunner was your first and now you have the 34.
How come you sold it and bought another later... maybe this will come about in your story. All ears in the South.........

[Jmolan]

Hey Rossad, it was really pretty simple looking back on it. I bought the 37' because it was such a sweet built boat. The guy was a carpenter, and all the little details were really nice. I suspect I will come across some more photos.....I eventually installed a 27 HP Yanmar at the bottom of the steps. Was a very nice addition.
Living on the Oregon Coast, we tried living aboard, thatwas really difficult, with a 3 year old. Then child #2 came along so we moved ashore. when child #3 showed up I knew I had to sell and pay attention to life onshore.
I sold the boat to a good friend, another surfer/crabber guy. He put a huge canvas dodger on it and took off for Costa Rica, he made it. The boat was lost in a blow while the owner was plowed in a beach bar. The boat went through the surf and there was not a piece bigger than a meter square so the story goes.....bummer!
After the kids got mostly growed up, we moved to Mexico. I had been in contact with the owner of the 34' for a while. Upon inspection it was sweet also. I would have gone for most any Searunner that was built right, and cared for. The other I looked at we not up to snuff, some by a long shot.
I have recently been identified as the kind of guy that is all interested in the ride, or the vehicle. I do not mind being here in 20 degree weather, because I got these Blizzaks snow tires, and they are unbelievable in traction in anything! I feel like a rally car, so its the ride I like. Before those tires I hated it here....kinda weird I know. I may love a Bluebird Motorhome, and really like it and learn about it. But I do not see my self doing anything in it except going down the road, blowing my air horn! Would be a big mistake to get into that!
I say this to explain why I did not really care if it was a 34' or 37' or 40'. It was the condition, and care in construction I wanted to enjoy. I have since learned a lot abut the 34', and really like the advances over the older boats, but they are all good designs. I like the extra room of the 37' for sure. They are all good designs.

[Mark Johnson]

Interesting story Jack...

John Marples told me once, that RIGHT after he sold Bacchanal, (to a previously power boater), the guy went under the same bridge he had always gone under, and dismasted the boat! OOPS!

John had cruised the Pacific for 10 years, and after selling the boat, he got into building and flying his own kit airplanes, (even aerobatics). One would be hard pressed to describe that as a less creative or less adventurous lifestyle. Its all about the ride, not the type of vehicle... Sure, I want mine safe, well built, and low maintenance, but... Could be our great Searunners, a Cross, a monohull, or EVEN a dirt boat!

You remember Don & Tamar Clark... The folks I have posted about who built & cruised the incredible Carisa? She was the most beautiful tri imaginable, but at 5' draft, 54' long X 35' wide, quite a handful! She never had a complete, (same aged), paint job, and dockage was as difficult to find as boatyards. Then they drug anchor, and almost lost their only "old age asset", when anchored on the reef of Belize. They fought hard, got lucky, and saved the boat.

Then... they sold her, and with a fraction of the proceeds, bought a Shucker motorsailor! They stripped the 40' Shucker to a hull & deck, and built a new boat around that, a REALLY comfortable one, with recliner chairs! Don has constant pain, like I do, but he's about 12 years older, so it was a logical move for their circumstances... I wonder if I will be cruising in my 70s, like he still is???

They built a simple/cheap home base in Pensacola, and then took 3 Toyota motorhome junkers, and built a fantastic "dirt boat", which they used several winters, to cruise the dirt side of Mexico.

Currently, they have the dirt boat in its carport, and now being retired from careers, are on a several year cruise in "PP Pearl", their Shucker. (Last port was Isla Mujeris, Mexico). On a previous trip, guess who they ran into there??? It's all good.

Point being... Yeah this Searunner thread is about us passionate Searunner fans, but looking at the big picture, its all about trying to juggle financial realities, with health, age, and life circumstances. The goal, "A life well lived"!

From what I've seen, you have done well...

Happy New Year all!
M.

[Jmolan]

Ran across this one print, I should have better photos when I get to the slides. This is 1984 or so. Our 37' Searunner, vent wing. In Charleston harbor, Coos Bay Oregon. All of the pads are out to get some fresh air. The boat was named Akalaya. Believe it or not, after all our struggles to get north up the California/Oregon coast......we ducked into here because a 100kt. Blow was forecast. I got the forecast at 1600 hrs. And we were 50 miles south of any protection, all riverbars, no points, bays, nothing..... I called the CG to let them know I was putting as fast as my little 10 hp would take us, and we had a building ground swell.....they told me "oh we don't have any weather forecast over 20 kts!......I ask for an assist to shoot the bar in the dark.....I would never have called, I would have just waited for daylight..... They assumed I wanted a tow, I told them, I will only take a tow if we are not able to make headway......I flat wanted to get in man!......well the south wind was just starting to pick up when the 44' boat met us out side the bar. They had a line all ready and told us to get ready to take the line. I told them no, again, lets see how it goes, please just lead me in (there was a major light out on the I side turn) No GPS, no plotter, radar, nada, an old flasher for depth. Binoculars, and a paper chart in the cockpit
We had the full main and the cutter headsails up as we were doing ok downwind, before we got to the river bar entrance, but wouldn't you know it, when we turned right on a beam reach, and got on course for the inside.... we just took off! Passed the Coasties in no time flat, they really poured on to try to catch us. We got some boost from a swell, wow, best sailing of the whole trip, in the dark, with a big blow right behind us. I'll never forget all the spray flying, and us just smoking along.
They caught up with us on the inside, we deployed the egg beater, and putted on in. They gave us the usual safety inspection. We were all 3 Bering Sea crab guys, had our survival suits (rare then) wetsuits, boards, on and on....they were cool.
We strapped her down and crashed, I awoke to howling in the rigging. We got rubber suited and put out every line we had in a spiderweb, by noon, the boat was bucking so bad, I was afraid it would land on the dock with the inside AMA. We pretty much stayed off the boat, and went around securing other boats lines. It blew 90 something, knocked out the power, trees and telephone poles down...my wife could not come to get us, coast highway was closed.....yikes almighty.
I pondered many times what it would have been like to ride that one out at sea. We had no drouge..... I hate the west coast to tell you the truth. From Neah Bay Washington, to Point Conception, is one lousy, no protection, river bar kinds place. The only place I have seen rival it is the NW coast of Alaska, from the Bering Straits, to Barrow, is about 400 miles of shoals, and no bays or points to hide behind, and the lee shore is usually ice coming down on you. Most coasts you have protection you can run to or hide under. The Aleutians are awesome for this.
Anyhow, we left the boat in Coosbay for the winter. We were hopscotching with Kern Hendricks, the founder and inventor of System 3 epoxy. He had a 34' he built and was taking from SF bay to Seattle....He and Tom Freeman (from the Searunner Construction manual Tom) They were setting uop shop in Seattle. He left his boat by us there also. The following spring, I came down and got it home in 36 hours with a nice sail, to Astoria Oregon.......And plenty happened after that!

[rossad]

Jezzzz Jmolan
Sounds like a story for a book.
You have mentioned surboards a few times also and surfer type.
I surf and have become aware that the Searunner would be the VW combie of the sea
Ever heard of it like that. A Searunner seems so suited to going surfing with the ideal decks and sterncastle to see the break.
I am hoping to go back out to Great Barrier and surf this world class break again soon. It really is the best place on the planet for a searunner inside a lagoon.
I hope to buy a new main soon also with fully batterned 3 reef and beefed up on the top area's for very high winds. Also working on a reefing scenario pulling just one line inside from the base of the mast.

I also got caught in 100 knots but inside a harbour. I got in just in time and many boats sunk. I had 2 anchors out and on somebodies mooring and motoring hard forward trying to hold position. It was so intense with 12 foot dinghies dissapearing skywards and sea's so big that it was impossible to measure. A storm i beleive ships would have struggled by the coast possible loosing steering.

Thought i would put a pic up too
This Searunner 40 feet or more i think could be the one that is on the Ownerslist that is missing. It resides in Puteki Bay with a chap whom lives aboard. Never goes out but has a brand new motor that had to be replaced .... falling asleep ... tide going out ..... and motor running......