Tartan 4000 Review

A progressive cruiser from a venerable builder

Tartan Yachts is a time honored marque in yachting. The Tartan 37 and 41 set high standards for sailing yachts back in the 1970s and 80s. In more recent years the company has been buffeted by the economic storms weve all had to weather lately and Im glad to see that they appear to be surviving, and perhaps even thriving under new ownership. The 4000 is their latest offering in the forty foot range. As you may know, Sailing World Magazines panel of experts named it 2012 Boat of the Year, so I think its worthwhile to take a good look at the boat.

Like all the recent Tartans, the 4000 was designed by Tim Jackett to be a wholesome and well appointed cruiser/racer, with the emphasis, in my opinion, on cruiser. Starting with the profile view of the boat I must say it is refreshing to see a new boat that hasnt been pushed to the far edges of the design envelope in pursuit of interior volume. The sheer is elegantly sprung and there is a nice aesthetic balance between the rake of the stem and the slope of the transom. Below the waterline the hull is relatively deep amidships and fairs into finer waterlines aft than we see in the newer boats from Europe. That raked stem has practical value beyond aesthetics. Cruising boats with plumb stems invariably accumulate scrapes and marks around the bow from the anchor chain or rode unless they have fairly long bow planks. Tartan refers to the keel as a beavertail. It looks like a squished bulb to me, which is fine. It gets the weight low without excessive draft and should provide good stability for this well balanced boat.

The bulb is different looking, but it does get the lead down where you want it.

The Tartan 4000 is propelled by an interesting sailplan that they call a Cruise Control Rig or CCR for short. The mast is carbon fiber as is the boom, which is V-shaped to capture the mainsail when it is doused, eliminating the need for a canvas stackpack. Thats a nice arrangement that I think will work well. The boat is rigged with double headsails on roller furlers. The forward one is a genoa and just a few inches aft of it is an inner forestay that carries a small working jib that sheets to a thwartships track just forward of the mast, making it self tacking. The idea is that in light air youll use the genoa and when the breeze is up youll switch to the working jib. For cruising, this arrangement might be okay as long as you remember that when sailing under the genoa, it has to be rolled almost all the way in whenever you tack. On the other had, when sailing under the working jib, that rolled up genoa is right in front of its leading edge, spoiling airflow and compromising its effectiveness. I think a better solution would be a single headstay with a well made foam luffed 140% genoa on a reefable furler. You would save the weight and cost of the second furler and have equal or better all around performance.

Tartan 4000 Cruise Control Rig

In the profile view of this boat its hard to fault the nice lines in of the deck. Its relatively low and well proportioned, with good clearances along the side decks. Ive given up on criticizing mid-boom sheeting since my own boat is rigged that way. Its not optimal from a sailing perspective but it makes other things work better, so I grudgingly accept it. The cockpit on the T4000 is really well done. Halyards and control lines are led to a pair of winches on the cabin top and the coamings are wide enough to sit on. Notice in the photo below that the mainsheet traveler is mounted on the cockpit sole, which is a practical thing to do. It might take a bit of getting used to, but it opens up the cockpit and offers much better sail control than the standard mid-boom unit. The boat has twin wheels mounted on nicely designed carbon pedestals. The photos also show that the hull is quite beamy aft, but there is considerable flair in the aft sections of the hull. I think this is a nice compromise that will reward this boat with good sailing manners in a breeze while still allowing for plenty of room in the cockpit.

Nice cockpit arrangement. Cruisers will miss having a swimstep built into the transom.

The accommodations in this boat are a pleasant surprise. The layout is thoroughly modern, with a queen-size berth in the forward cabin and strategically angled bulkheads in the main salon. The galley is large and offers plenty of counter space and storage. The nav station is also large and well designed, and just aft of it is a good sized quarter-cabin. All of these spaces work well and the only missing item is a good sea berth. Aboard the Finisterra Ive designed a lee-board to fit in the quarter cabin to make a snug berth for offshore passages and the same could be done with this boat. I think the designer was able to incorporate the nice open spaces into the boat because it has only one head. Personally, I think one head is enough for a cruising couple with occasional guests. Aboard the T 4000, they werent content with building a nice spacious and practical head, they incorporated a circular door for the shower. It may be cute as a bugs ear, but I prefer to eschew such gimmicky features that are likely to give trouble at some point.

Nice layout and solid wood joinery make for pleasant living aboard

I really do like the nice solid wood joinery in this boat. It is a refreshing departure from the IKEA-like styling of the new European inspired boats Ive been looking at lately. I saw one of these boats at a recent boat show and admired the quality of the furnishings. The engine is a 55shp Volvo with a saildrive located under the companionway. That many horses will push the 4000 along at hull speed in almost any conditions.  Back in my boatbuilding days we installed a good many saildrives, mostly Yanmars, and they work very well especially on racing yachts. But I personally prefer the trusty shaft and strut type for long distance cruising. Ive seen more than a few boats having saildrives replaced in inconvenient harbors.

Traditional wood joinery makes for very pleasant accommodations

The Tartan 4000 looks like a sweet ride for local cruising and club racing, and it could easily be optimized for offshore passagemaking. It has some interesting features such a cast and polished fairleads for the mooring cleats that add a touch of class . My guess is that most of the time youll bypass them, but they sure are pretty. I checked PHRF numbers for this boat and it looks like the rating is going to settle in the 72-84 range, which is quite respectable for this boat. Im sure the good looks, build quality and  BOTY award will generate lots of attention for this boat. Its definitely worth a look.

Finisterra Update

In the last couple of months weve been sailing the boat quite a bit. The stackpack system works well. Its different from typical systems in that when were sailing it can be rolled up and secured along the boom instead of staying deployed. Its a bit more work to roll it up but I much prefer the sail unfettered by the bag and lazy jacks.

Slick stackpack contains the full battened mainsail

Awhile back I mentioned that the autopilot was not working properly. After searching the Internet for ideas on how to fix it, I removed the linear drive and rebuilt it, then reinstalled it, confident that Id solved the problem. But I was wrong. So Ive ordered a new drive which should arrive next week.

The boat came with funky pleated cloth curtains on all the portlights. I suppose theyre stylish in a 1990s sort of way, but they are eight years old and at the end of their useful life. We really liked the OceanAir shades we had on the Honcho so we ordered a set from Defender and installed them last week. These shades block out 100% of the sunlight and are good looking.

One thing Ive wanted to change since we got the boat was to upgrade the ground tackle system. The original equipment included a 40 LB Bruce anchor, 40 feet of 3/8" BBB chain and 150 feet of nylon rode. The new system includes a 55 LB Rocna anchor, 200 feet of 5/16" G40 chain and 150 feet of nylon rode. This requires changing the chain gypsy on the windlass. To do that, I had to remove the windlass. This is a simple matter of four bolts. When I got it out of the boat I discovered a lot of corrosion around the base of the unit. Ive noticed that the shelf in the anchor locker where the windlass is mounted is often wet, either with seawater or fresh, so its no wonder the aluminum housing of the windlass is corroded. When I re-install the unit Ill make a mounting plate out of 1/2" StarBoard to raise it up so that it never sits in water.

My winter project is to go through the exterior canvas on the boat. Ill lower the dodger by an inch or two, make some changes to the bimini and have side curtains made for it. Ill also set it up to mount solar panels to it. 

Sydney GTS43 Review

The GTS43 was designed by Jason Ker and is intended as a racer/cruiser. Its pretty clear that by racer/cruiser they mean racer that has enough amenities below to accommodate the family for an occasional weekend cruise. But make no mistake, this boat is really all about performance. It caught my eye because the designer and builder have collaborated to create a unique and distinctive yacht that I think is going to attract a lot of attention among those who need a few amenities in their race boats.

The GTS43 looks fast under main, kite and staysl.

Jason Ker is not a household name in the USA but over the last twenty years this British designer has built an enviable reputation with his IRC racing yachts. The builder, originally based in Australia, has contracted with AD Boats in Split, Croatia to produce the GTS43 as well as the new GTS37. As you may know, this company also builds the Salona line of yachts. AD is owned by the Prevent Group, a multinational manufacturing corporation based in Wolfsberg, Germany that serves a variety of commercial and industrial markets. I think this is a business structure that we will see more of in the future. Yacht building has become so technology driven and capital intensive that for all practical purposes, the small independent boat builders are finding it harder and harder to survive.

The GTS43 represents a very different approach to hull design than more conventional racer/cruisers such as the Beneteau First or Elan lines. In the plan view it looks similar to other IRC inspired racer/cruisers, with a fine bow and wide stern. The same can be said of the boat in the profile view. But where those boats have full, or chined stern sections, the 43 has radically flaired sections aft.

Beneteau First 40. This Farr design incorporates what we think of as a conventional stern shape.
 Photo courtesy of Yachtworld.com

Elan 400  sports the currently fashionable chines.

Flaired stern on the GTS43.  

Why, you might ask, has Ker designed this boat with a stern that is so different from the more conventional Beneteau and Elan, or most other IRC racers. I think the answer may lie with his interpretation of the IRC rating system, or he may simply like the looks of this stern. I dont have a lines plan for this hull but we can make some judgments based on the photos. Lets deal with the stern first. The hull near the waterline is actually relatively narrow by todays standards so there is not a lot of reserve buoyancy there. This, combined with the somewhat slab sided midship sections of the hull leads me to think this boat may have a lower prismatic coefficient than a typical IRC racer. This means the boat will not require a lot of horsepower to get up to speed, but is likely to generate a bigger stern wave, which we refer to as induced drag as it moves through the water at hull speed. One benefit of the very wide stern is that the crew weight can be placed well outboard and aft, where it does the most good in heavy air. Here are some statistics:
LOA: 43 feet
Beam: 13.78 feet
Draft: 9.02 feet
Displacement: 15,320 pounds
Sail area (IJ+PE): 1,029 sq. ft.
Disp/Length: 86.0
SA/D: 26.8

This view provides an indication of the fine waterlines forward and the extreme flair aft. Photo courtesy of Sydney Yachts.

Maximum beam is carried all the way to the transom. The cockpit is spacious and side decks minimal.   

The high SA/D and low D/L indicate a powerful sailing machine that will demand a good helmsman and solid crew work when the breeze is up, but in return it will deliver stellar performance. Of course when its just you and the wife out for a sail, you may want to tuck in a reef and put the small jib up, which is a small compromise for such a high performance boat.

The cabin trunk is an interesting blister shape, with the aft ends of the cabin fairing into the wide cockpit coamings. The seats are tucked behind the cabin trunk, leaving lots of room in the aft half of the cockpit for working crew. The twin helms are located well aft, but it looks like there is enough space there for the helmsman and tactician.  The mainsheet traveler is located on the cockpit sole just forward of the helms, with the mainsheet winches within easy reach. This is another boat with an Admirals cup type mainsheet arrangement.

The rig incorporates a carbon fiber two spreader mast.  The mainsail luff length is about 60 feet and the foot is 19 feet. This is a big sail that will require some muscle to handle.  The jibs are non overlapping so tacking will actually be fairly easy. Notice the long, fixed bowsprit. It does not include an anchor roller so you may want to ask them to work on that when you place your order for a new GTS43.

I dont have any drawings or photos of the underbody of the boat, but Ker states that the keel incorporates a thin fin and bulb. My guess is that the rudder is also thin, deep and very efficient.

This is the keel on a Ker designed 46 footer. You can assume that the keel on the GTS43 is similar. Photo courtesy of Yachtworld.com

The bowsprit is not retractable.

The GTS 43 is  what I call a "live ballast" boat, which derives much of its righting moment from crew on the rail as shown here.

This boat has reasonably livable accommodations that would make cruising for a week or so tolerable for the family. The forward end of the boat has a snug v-berth which might be a good place for kids.
The dinette in the salon is smallish and offset well to port and the settee opposite is also situated well outboard. This leaves plenty of room amidships for packing chutes, which is important on a boat of this type. There are provisions for pilot berths above the dinette and settee. The nav station is large and has lots of storage space. The galley, opposite the nav station, is small for a 43 foot cruising yacht, but almost luxurious compared to the typical race-boat galley. There is a pair of private quarter cabins aft, each with a hanging locker and a pilot berth. Overall, while this is not what I would call a pretty interior, it is very functional. I could imagine spending a week or so aboard.

The v-berth looks fairly tight.

Lots of light and space in this limited but functional interior.

A single sink, two burner stove and limited counter space. 

It seems to me that the racing world is becoming more separate from cruising.  These days there are many forty foot daysailers on the market that make no pretense of being cruise-able.  This was almost unheard of twenty years ago. I give Sydney Yachts credit for attempting to bridge that gap and producing a racer that can be cruised even if its just for a week at the island. For more information about the GTS43 visit Sydneyyachts.com

Finisterra Update 11 15 13

Over the last couple of months Ive been busy with mostly non-sailing issues but have found time for a few projects aboard Finisterra. In early October I made the decision to rewire the 12 volt system from the batteries to the main DC panel.  The system worked OK as it was, but over the years the previous owner had added various extras to the boat and instead of routing them through the main DC panel or installing an auxiliary DC panel, he simply ran the leads directly to the batteries and used in-line fuses on an ad hoc basis. The result was battery terminals with multiple wires leading to individual components. To further complicate matters, the house bank had been connected to the starting battery in such a way that they could not be isolated from each other. In other words, we really only had one great big bank of batteries that included six 6V deep cycle AGM batteries and a single 12V AGM starting battery. Our solution was to bring in Peter Dugan of Pacific Marine Electric to sort it all out. Together we created a new wiring system from the batteries to the main switches and installed a new auxiliary DC panel. The result is a much cleaner wiring arrangement that enables us to isolate the starting battery and provides an auxiliary panel for all the extra equipment the previous owner and I have installed. In the process we got rid of about 50 pounds of heavy gauge battery cable and have a clean and understandable system, which makes me happy.  Once the wiring was complete I fabricated a cover for the batteries so I could access the raw water pump without sitting directly on top of the battery terminals.

Battery cover is elevated to clear the battery terminals. Its a good place to sit while changing the impeller on the raw water pump. Finisterra is equipped with six 6V deep cycle battery and a single 12V starting battery.

I also finished the installation of the solar panels. They are mounted on a stainless steel tube on the aft end of the bimini and secured in place with Magma barbecue mounting brackets. This way I can adjust them through a range of about 120 degrees to align them with the sun as needed. The Magma brackets make it easy to remove the panels if necessary.

Three 50 watt solar panels. Having the ability to adjust them to face the sun  as needed vastly improves their efficiency. Since all of our lighting is LED, the primary consumer of electricity is the refrigeration system.
To augment the solar array we also carry a Honda genset.  Notice the GAM single sideband antenna on the port backstay.

Juice from the solar panels is routed through a GoPower charge controller mounted on the aft bulkhead in the quarter cabin.

One of the key elements of a good passage is having a snug, warm and secure place to sleep when youre off watch. Unfortunately Finisterra was not built with any good sea berths so I improvised with a lee board in the quarter berth. Its made of African Mahogany and slips into anodized aluminum brackets. It converts the king size quarter berth into a nice, snug sea berth.

Nothing beats a good place to sleep when youre underway.

Security is always an issue here in the States as well as abroad. To help keep ourselves and our gear safe, I installed a security system that incorporates sensors, called Pulsors, bonded to the underside of the deck and hatches in strategic locations. The Pulsors can detect slight fluctuations in the deck, such as from the weight of a person stepping aboard, and trigger the alarm. Im not sure how well itll work against the bad guys but Ive scared myself a couple of times by not disarming it before climbing aboard.

Pulsors are about 3 inches long and can be mounted almost anywhere.

Another project was to build a seat for the companionway. This is a nice place to be when youre on the midnight watch, or when you have a cockpit full of guests. On the night watches it is the warmest part of the cockpit and provides excellent protection from the elements,  a good view forward and easy access to the sailing instruments. The autopilot remote and I-Pad are also within easy reach. Or we can turn around and face the cockpit, using a drop board for a back rest. Its made of teak and is secured in place with a couple of rigging pins.

The companionway sill on the B423 is high enough that its easy to bark your shins when going below. This little seat makes that a thing of the past. 

I set the height of it so that a standard square boat cushion works perfectly for it.

I pondered whether to install an AIS system on Finisterra for a long time. After all, Ive made many a long passage without it in the past, so do we really need it now? Well, yes we do. In some ways it beats radar for sorting out what other vessels are out there. It takes less power than a radar and we can display it wirelessly on our laptops, I-Pads, GPS and smart phones. I chose a Vesper XB8000, which includes a VHF receiver and transponder and dedicated GPS receiver. Installation was quick and easy, all I needed was to install the VHF and GPS antennas and provide 12V power to the unit. Because it works through its own WIFI network I was spared the expense and aggravation of wiring all our displays to it. I could have connected it to the masthead VHF antenna by installing an antenna splitter, but I like my systems to be stand-alone and autonomous from each other, so I mounted a separate antenna on the bimini.

Vesper XB8000 wifi enabled AIS. receiver/transponder. Very cool!

The latest addition to the fleet is our new Hobie Mirage i9S inflatable kayak. I love this thing! Weve tried several different types of kayaks in the past, both inflatable and rotomolded, and none really met our needs until we found the i9S. The average inflatable kayaks are slow, track poorly and are just no fun to paddle. The rotomolded unit we had for a while paddled fairly well and was certainly rugged enough, but it was a big, bulky thing. I really couldnt accept having such a thing strapped down on the foredeck or hanging from our lifelines, so I was thinking of not having a kayak at all, which wasnt a very good solution either. Then we found this little Hobie. Right from the start I liked the propulsion system better than a double bladed paddle. It uses leg power to drive a pair of fins so it sort of swims along, leaving your hands free to do more constructive things, such as fish, or sip a cocktail, or wave to admirers as you glide past them.

Pedal powered and quite civilized, the little Hobie has earned a place aboard Finisterra

The boat comes with a paddle for emergencies, or if you want to go really fast you can pedal and paddle at the same time. But I found it to be perfect for relaxing jaunts around Alamitos Bay and I look forward to cruising it in far off places as well. The propulsion system is easy to install and comes with its own storage bag. The hull weighs about 45 pounds and fits neatly in the starboard cockpit locker when its deflated.

Marlow Hunter 40 Review

Early last year I saw an article about the acquisition of Hunter Marine by Marlow Yachts. Like many sailboat builders during the Great Recession, Hunter found itself in some financial difficulty and was rescued by a stronger company. Sailboaters may not be familiar with the Marlow brand because it is a powerboat company. They build boats in Asia and market them globally. Marlow Yachts are widely respected and I think they will bring much more than a cash infusion to Hunter. Hunters aging product line needed an update and I suspect that there was some Marlow influence in the design and production of their first new boat, the Marlow Hunter 40.

When I first saw the drawings of the MH40, I thought this boat had better be fast because its not good looking. But a couple of months later I saw one on a mooring in Catalina and must say that the boat is indeed much prettier than the drawings indicate. From a purely aesthetic point of view, it is an exceptionally bold design statement with its powerboat-like hullform and sharply detailed deck. I think this boat blurs the line between power and sail by incorporating powerboat features into a sailboat. Only time will tell if this is the start of a new trend or not.

Spacious cockpit, massive transom and hardtop dominate the view from astern

Beginning with the deck, its hard to get past the knife-like window design. I think some will like it a lot and others might find it a bit too stylized. The cabin trunk itself is low and sleek, with the cockpit coamings integrated into the roof line. The cockpit is very large with twin wheels, a large dropleaf table amidships and a stainless steel arch that incorporates a bimini and mainsheet traveler. The transom incorporates a large trap door that folds out to make a swim or boarding platform. Im not a fan of this arrangement and Ive been told that Hunter will incorporate step into the transom so boarding from a dinghy wont be quite the challenge that this configuration presents.

Hunter is the only production cruising boat builder I know of that still uses the Bergstrom & Ridder rig. Weve all seen Hunter boats with the diagonal shrouds that go both ways (diamond shrouds), and some with deck struts as well to support the rig. Properly done, the B&R rig is set up without a backstay which is how the MH 40 is built. This arrangement allows for a large mainsail but it also puts a lot of compression load on the mast, especially when flying a spinnaker. All of this is fine if the system is well engineered, and the fact that there are hundreds of Hunters sailing with this rig attests to the quality of this arrangement. With all that said, I still prefer a basic two or three spreader rig and a backstay for cruising. The MH40 can be ordered with a classic mainsail, but my guess is that the vast majority of these boats will be set up with a roller furling mainsail. Notice that the traveler is mounted on the bimini. It appears to me that Hunter, like some other sailboat manufacturers is trying to make the sailing of the boat as labor free as possible. I guess thats a good thing for many people but I like to sail, to trim my sails and to get the best out of them. That is certainly possible with this arrangement, but whenever Im on a boat with the sail controls removed from where I think they ought to be, I feel distant from the actual sailing of the boat.

The hull of the MH40 takes the concept of chines to the point where there is little difference between the aft sections of this hull and those of a powerboat. This certainly makes for a lot of interior space aft and Hunter took full advantage of it to create a beautiful aft stateroom. With a displacement of 19,700 pounds and sail area of 910 square feet, the MH40 sports a D/L of 188 and a SA/D of 20. This is indicative of a moderately heavy boat with a fair amount of sail area.  The keel options include a deep one of 6-8" draft and a shoal version with 5-2" draft. The boat should move well in light air and the hard chines will provide a good deal of initial stability as the breeze builds. On the other hand, the hull appears to be quite full in the bow and the chines give it more wetted surface than a more conventional design. I think the MH40 is going to be an excellent boat under power and I would opt for the largest engine they offer. There are more than a few builders these days that are pushing their products in this direction, and it makes sense for boat buyers who love the idea of sailing to their weekend destinations but are constrained by time deadlines.

Hard chines and massive wings on the keel.

Marlow Hunter offers the 40 in two and three stateroom configurations. You can see how those chines in the hull contribute to expansive accommodations aft. Im impressed by the size of the aft cabins in both versions, but the single aft stateroom could be described as luxurious. The galley is large and there is adequate seating and living room in the main salon. The forward cabin is snug but adequate and everything is finished with Hunters usual attention to detail.

Overall, I have to respect the bold styling of the Marlow Hunter 40 and I think there is definitely a market for a good coastal cruising sailboat that can provide reasonable sailing performance as well as a good turn of speed under power. These days people have precious little time for relaxing at their favorite cruising spot and the MH40 may be just the right combination for todays busy cruising family. Its good to see the Hunter name survive and I wish them all success with their new line of boats.

Windlass Installation

 A few weeks ago I mentioned that the windlass was severely corroded and that I was planning to repair or replace it. When I removed it from the boat and got a look at the underside of it, the corrosion was as bad as I feared it would be. The screws that hold the gypsy assembly to the cast aluminum housing were completely frozen and no amount of PB Blaster could loosen them, and the corrosion around the mounting studs was severe enough to give me doubt about the entire base of the casting. One thing you dont want in your ground tackle is doubt, so last weekend I replaced the entire unit, and while I was at it I built a spacer out of StarBoard to raise the windlass up so that whenever there is water standing on its shelf in the anchor locker, it will not be sitting in it.

Using the paper template that came with the new windlass as a guide, I made a base plate out of StarBoard. 

It would have been a simple matter for Beneteau to mold a riser into the windlass shelf, or perhaps make the shelf slanted enough that water would run off, which might have made this project unnecessary. Anyway, once the plate was made I check-fitted it on the windlass. I also took the opportunity to back all the screws for the gypsy and back cover out and give them a liberal coat of Tef-Gel before re-tightening them, and did the same to the mounting studs before installing them. As far as I know, nothing beats Tef-Gel for preventing seizing of mating parts, including dissimilar metals.

This is what the base of the windlass look like. The housing that holds the gypsy and mounting studs is cast aluminum and the back cover, where the Lewmar sticker is located is composite material.

The unit comes with a rubber gasket that is about 2 mm thick, which isnt enough raise the unit up clear of any water on the shelf. On the old windlass, water had seeped between the gasket and the aluminum housing and worked its corrosive magic across the entire area of the base, especially around the stainless steel mounting studs.

Windlass with the gasket installed.

Woody checks the fit of the new base plate on the windlass.

After making sure the base and windlass fit together, it was time to mount the base plate into the anchor locker. I applied a bead of 3M 4000 around the perimeter and the holes, carefully pressed it into position and allowed it to cure.

Base plate is bonded in place with 3M  semi-permanent adhesive.

Now all thats left to do is bolt the windlass in place and connect the wiring. Of course its never as easy as youd think. The back cover of the windlass must be removed in order to make the connections, and there isnt enough clearance in the locker to do that with the windlass bolted in place, so that work has to be done before the windlass is bolted down.  If the windlass was mounted a couple of inches further forward youd be able to get it off without removing the windlass.

Windlass installed.

The last step was to test the windlass. It worked like a champ. Now I can finish the job of rigging the boat with proper chain and rode and try out the new Rocna 55.

Finisterra is For Sale

All good things come to an end eventually and after three and a half years, 18,000 miles and a zillion wonderful moments aboard Finisterra, the time has come for us to turn the page and start another chapter. So we are reluctantly putting Finisterra up for sale.

Finisterra on a mooring in Catalina at the end of our last voyage to Mexico.

Finisterra has been the perfect cruising boat for us. Shes been tough, reliable and extremely comfortable to cruise aboard and we are going to miss her. Ive created a web site that describes the boat and equipment so if youd like to know more about her, visit her web site at finisterraspecifications.blogspot.com

Three Days in Avalon

Weve had abnormally cold weather here in southern California in the last month so when the forecast changed to unseasonably warm conditions for the next few days we decided to head for Catalina. Departing Long Beach around 11:30 on Sunday, December 15th, we had a light northwesterly breeze for the entire passage.  About mid-channel we broke out the flare gun and fired off some expired rounds for target practice. Its a fun way to get rid of old pyrotechnics and gives the crew a chance to get familiar with them. Though we usually stay at Two Harbors or Emerald Bay, this time we chose Avalon because at this time of year the island is nearly deserted of tourists and its a perfect time to visit this quaint town.  We picked up a mooring on the west side of the small harbor and got the boat squared away just in time to relax in the cockpit and enjoy a spectacular sunset.

Finisterra in Avalon

The boat is nearly ready to head for Mexico so the dinghy and liferaft as well as the deck bags are all lashed in place. Over the next few weeks well make final preparations and provision for the first leg of the journey south which will take us first to San Diego, then Ensenada, Turtle Bay, Mag Bay, and on to San Jose Del Cabo at the tip of Baja California.

Avalon looks festive as the sun sets behind the hills.

The next day we went ashore early and wandered around town a bit. The atmosphere was more like a country village than the bustling tourist destination it is in the summer. It was a beautiful warm morning and we hiked up to the Botanical Gardens a mile or so behind the town. Our route took us up Avalon Canyon Road and along the way we passed the golf course. I was surprised to see that the horse stables that had stood for years next to the course had been bulldozed. I wonder what theyll replace them with.

By midday we were back in town and played a round of miniature golf before heading back to the boat. I love playing there and we do it every time were in town. The course is basically a botanical garden with greens. Its a tranquil place with lots of hummingbirds and other flora and fauna...much better than an amusement park setting. Back aboard Finisterra, we relaxed and prepared for another beautiful sunset and moonrise.

With the mainland in the distance, the moon peeks from behind a cloud bank.

For a few moments the moonrise looked like a sunset. 

The next day we took advantage of free tickets for a Humvee tour into the back country between Avalon and Little Harbor. The tickets were courtesy of the West End Cruising Club which we had joined a year or two back. I was eager to take this tour because its the only way, besides walking, to see the interior of this end of the island. The Island Conservancy, which manages about 90% of Catalina imposes strict limits on travel in this area. Our route took us up to the airport, which is located on a high point in the middle of the island, then across to Little Harbor and Ben Weston beach, and returned to Avalon via Cape Canyon Road.

The Carnival Inspiration 

By 0800 a cruise ship had anchored off Avalon and the shore boat fleet was busy shuttling tourists ashore so it was a good time to head for the hills, no pun intended. This is a weekly port call for the Carnival Inspiration which also calls at Ensenada and its home port of Long Beach. The ship will depart for Ensenada at 1700 and the town will revert back to quiet village mode until next Tuesday when the ship will arrive again.

The view from the airport road.

Looking northwest from the airport road toward Long Point.  

Bison are plentiful in this part of the island. Unfortunately Catalina has been suffering from drought in the last couple of years and water is scarce. The Conservancy has been placing water tanks at many of the natural ponds where there is usually water for the wildlife.

Female bison and their calves run in herds while bulls lead more solitary lives. This young bull is on his own.

Later we caught up with this small herd. The trail on the left is the Transcatalina Trail which runs from Avalon to Parsons Landing and on to the west end of the Island.

After we passed the airport the road turned to rough dirt and gravel so it was a bouncy ride past Rancho Escondido and on down to Little Harbor. The rancho, owned by the Catalina Island Company (the Wrigley family) has been converted from a horse ranch to a vineyard enterprise. They grow chardonnay, zinfandel and pinot noir grapes that are shipped to the Rusack Winery in the Santa Ynez Valley by air. There they are made into fine wines. We missed an opportunity to taste them, but learned that they are available at one of the restaurants in Avalon. We did have a fine meal at another new restaurant in town, the Bluewater, which also has quite a respectable wine list.

El Rancho Escondido was formerly a horse ranch specializing in Arabians. 

Its hard to imagine a more idyllic spot to practice the vintners art

From the vineyard of El Rancho Escondido we drove down to a point overlooking Little Harbor. It looks like its wide open to a southwesterly swell, but there is a protective reef that makes it a reasonably secure place to anchor most of the time. It was deserted on this day, but in the summer there are usually three or four boats anchored bow and stern in this tiny cove.

Little Harbor is the far cove. In the foreground is Sharks cove, which is one of the few places on the island that occasionally has ride-able surf. 

 From Little harbor we turned inland again and drove up Cape Canyon road. We passed the old abandoned coach house which was once a stopover for horse drawn coaches, then we stopped at the eagle sanctuary. Right now there is only a single Bald eagle and a Golden eagle in residence. This is a good thing, since the Bald eagles that live on the island are all healthy. The Bald eagle that lives at the sanctuary was permanently injured several years ago and cannot survive in the wild. The Golden eagle is the last of the breed to live on Catalina. They are not native to the island and now that there is a healthy population of Balds, they are able to keep the Goldens from reestablishing themselves on the island.

Cape Canyon Coach House

From Cape Canyon we drove up the dirt road to Blackjack peak. From there we rejoined the Airport road and returned to Avalon. Im not a big fan of guided tours, but this one was fascinating. If you like back country touring youll enjoy this one.

Finisterra at her mooring. The squid were running inside the harbor, which brought the sea birds and seals in to feast on them all around the boat. 

Wednesday dawned cold and blustery and it was time to get back across the channel before a predicted storm arrived, so we dropped the mooring and got shot out of Avalon harbor by a strong wind coming down the canyon. As the day wore on, however, the wind lightened and shifted around to a westerly direction and we had a delightful sail on a close reach back to Long Beach.