My First Posting - Southern Cross 31

[Earl Henrikson]

Hello all, after loving boats my whole life I finally did it an bought a Southern Cross 31 ft.- hull #25 Delfin. I'm the 3rd owner. I have enjoyed the information on the threads and it has been very helpful. The forum saved me from buying a Baba that had some spongy deck problems. Thanks. Looking forward to meeting people.

[Ex-Calif]

Wow - Great news! Post pictures soon. We love boat porn!

[Earl Henrikson]

Hi, I hope this worked. I'm not sure if the files are too big. I attached 4 photos. These are photos from when I hauled her to re-paint the hull with Trinidad anti-fouling paint. We replaced the cutless bearing, installed 2 new bronze thru-hulls for the head and a new transducer for the Garmin system I may buy soon. Bring On Another Thousand.

[Ex-Calif]

Very cool. You should be proud! What are your sailing plans?

[Pblais]

It looks like you have done some serious work. Doing the extra work now should pay off over time. So many things don't get done with the idea of doing it later and then later comes you need to sell it and it's still not done.

[Earl Henrikson]

I plan to take Delfin up to Alaska next summer if I can get about 2 months off. Later to Hawaii and possibly to Belize where my friend has a place with a canal up to his house. Who knows. First thing is to get the electrical system re-worked and have the standing rigging surveyed. I plan to take it up to Brian Toss in October for that when I am taking a 4 day seminar on replacement of rigging. Some rigging is new but the rest is original 1976. Sails will eventually be replaced. They're not bad though. Volvo MD 11C engine is great. I want to put a sitz bath in by the companionway in lieu of a shower. You can drop your wet duds in there. That means reworking the nav table and galley some. I'm a very good carpenter so that will be fun.
The boat has a 150% Genoa and the jib has a boom which I am thinking of removing. The inner forestay can be gotten out of the way when I'm in light air if the boom is gone. I am a newbie and need all the advice I can get.

[Latitude9.5]

Nice looking boat, congradulations!

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha Earl,
I look forward to your visit when you pass this way. Welcome aboard! She is a great looking boat. I'll use the terms, Yankee, Jib and Main in the order they appear from the extreme front of the boat.
I've seen diagrams of jib systems where a boom is not required to be self sheeting. I would think you could also have the jib boom gooseneck attached to the deck instead of the jibstay so you could swing the forestay out of the way. It really is a lot of fun to consider all the possibilities. Brian Toss should be able to really be of assistance on all the many variations.
There are plenty of opponents to jib booms because they really can be dangerous when you are up on the foredeck in any but the most pleasant of sailing conditions.
Kind regards,
JohnL

[SunriseSkipper]

Hi Earl,

I did just the same, except my hull is #13. When I retired and moved to Florida, I paid $22,700 to Don Warrick of Smith Crossing, Georgia, for his pride and joy, the US Sailing Vessel Sunrise. After ten years in the Caribbean, poor Don just got too tired to sail her anymore, so he gave her to me for a poem and a song (and this little dab of cash).

I am refitting and retrofitting Sunrise to 1976 mint condition , upgraded to 2010 technology, i.e. Scanmarine diesel stove/heater, Icom radios (SSB and UHF with DSC), AIS, depth, GPS, computer, electric head, TV, FM radio, etc). She came with three anchors and hundreds of feet of chain rode, a Monitor windvane, a 70 watt photoelectric panel, a 7 amp wind generator, a 30 hp Kubota diesel, and an 8' West Marine inflatable dinghy with 3 hp gasoline motor. I got rid of the inflatable and bought the last 7' Fatty Knees sailing dinghy Edie and Duff will ever make and a 1hp Torqueedo Traveler electric outboard; thus, there will be only diesel fuel on board, except for a quart of kerosene for my oil lamp. I plan to re-rig her with Coligo Marine Systems synthetic standing rigging (Home) and hemp running rigging from Rawganique (Hemp Clothing Products, Organic Cotton Linens) in British Columbia, Canada. Eventually, I will replace all the sails with hemp, except for at least one silk light air sail.
I have funded the project with my entire being, i.e. my life savings, my Social Security checks, my California Unemployment checks, all my available credit, my labor as a boatyard hand and carpenter, my work as a diver, photographer, web designer, and teacher, and now I exist only on a wing and a prayer . I will trade off and auction off my remaining landlubber gear and take only what is needed when I launch this November, destination TBD, maybe South, maybe North, maybe East, maybe West (perhaps some directions in between).
I am setting up a non-profit, SunriseSkipper.org, to maintain my vessel and my crew on our journeys. The non-profit is based in Carrabelle, Florida, perhaps the poorest region in the entire Nu-Nited States! Of course, donations have not exactly been pouring in and I am down to less than my high school swim team trim weight of 165 pounds (that is what skipping meals will do for you), down from 204 .

Go visit my blog, Sunrise Skipper, to follow my progress. To post yourself, add '/wp-login' after '.org' and register as a Contributor, just like here except that a Sunrise 'Contributor' may upload multimedia as well as write text .

Happy sailing, and perhaps we will meet on the high seas. Get a SSB radio and listen for the Skipper of the Sunrise .

[Eleven]

WELL DONE, Sunrise Skipper. That's just the sort of passage planning I really admire.
And the boat sounds to be well equiped to survive anything that you want to live through and then some.
I love my solar panels but a wind genny does keep the batteries full in for those long nights on auto pilot. I like the kerosene lamp too, just in case.
Enjoy her now, and even more later.