TYPE: Schooner-rigged Motor-Sailer (50% motor, 50% sail)

FLAG:  New Zealand

PURPOSE: Designed for tropical, long-ranged cruising, diving ,exploring and support of scientific and film expeditions, marine-life research, underwater archaeology, and for living aboard. Although designed uniquely for tropical life, will be a comfortable yacht in colder climes, with wood scantlings 1 ½ to 3 inch thick, deckhouse windows 15mm thick armour-glass, lee windows can be left open in heavy rain.

CONSTRUCTION: Launched 1998. Hull and scantlings all "Chengal", tropical Hardwood, interior in decorative Malaysian hardwoods; Merbau, Tembusu, Red Meranti, Rengas. Decks of Burma Teak. Fastenings: silicon-bronze screws and stainless steel bolts. Silicon bronze keelbolts. Four water-tight bulkheads, only one broken by a WT door, divide ship into five compartments, so she is, like TITANIC, unsinkable.

Construction details:

Hull: Chengal wood, below WL 1 and ¾”  planks, above WL 1and ½” planks.  Frames 5” x 3”, stations 15”.  Planks fastened with 3” silicon-bronze screws.

Decks:  One inch marine ply, heavily impregnated with Everdure,  covered with fiberglass in epoxy resin,  covered in turn with 10mm Burma Teak strips, glued down   with epoxy glue.  No holes penetrate deck anywhere, electric cables come up through  Chengal dummy frames.

Deckhouse:  The Deckhouse, 4.5m x 4.5m offers Comfort, Luxury even, not found in other yachts under 30m.  All round windows allow for wonderful ventilation in any breeze, and in colder climates, the windward ones can be closed. Either way a near 360 view of the beach and Island is always there. Great for 8-10 adults to dine in comfort, or for 14 Schoolkids, and as a Classroom and as a Directors' Meeting place.  One inch marine ply sides, overlain with ½ inch teak strips with epoxy glue,  overhead one inch ply fibreglassed with epoxy resin. Frames are 5”x 3” Chengal that extend down to deckhouse floor level, secured to floor beams (no need for hanging knees).  Fwd windows bronze 1912 vintage with modern 15mm armour- glass, side windows in Chengal wood with 12mm armor-glass.

All internal floors in alternating strips of Tembusu (light yellow) and Merbau (striated dark brown) hardwoods.  Tembusu is  Fagraea fragrans,  Merbau is   Intsia spp

LENGTH on deck: 59 feet (18 m.); 76 feet including bowsprit & jib boom.

BEAM: 16 feet (5 m.)

DISPLACEMENT: 32 Tonnes. Lead Ballast keel, 6 tons, fastened with 8 one inch silicon bronze bolts, plus 6 one inch SS bolts.

DRAFT: 6.5 feet

Sails: eight in total, mains’l, gaff tops’l, main stays’l, fisherman, skys’l, forestays’l, jib, yankee.

PROPULSION: Twin screw, two Ford 2715E six-cylinder Diesels, each 125 BHP at 2500 RPM, newly installed March 2015.

FUEL Capacity: Diesel 4,500 litres, for maximum range of 3,000 nautical miles at economic speed of 5 knots.

WATER Capacity: 3 tons, plus separate, portable 200litre emergency supplies, plus 120 ltr/hour water-maker, engine driven, installed March 2015.

POWER Supplies: 12 volt DC: 10 solar panels, each 75 watts, charge large battery banks of 900 Amp-hour capacity. Separate 300 AH engine starting bank. 230 volts AC: 1500 watt inverter produces pure sine-wave AC in complete silence.  Plenty of room for a big genset in engine room if required.

NAVIGATION: Raymarine chartplotter, radar and GPS, Depth sounder, 600 feet, all new jan 2014.

GROUND TACKLE: 120m of ½ inch chain (UK), Muir 12 volt windlass (new Jan 2014), 35kg CQR main anchor.  35kg sheet anchor. 50 fathoms of 1 inch diam rope for kedging.

Windlass: Muir 3500, 12 volts. (new 2014)  Chain, 1/2'” galvanized short link,  120m.

Four bronze rope winches, 2 speed.

All cleats bronze or Chengal wood.

Railings: one inch SS pipe stanchions support 3 wires, 5mm SS.

 Bowsprit net, ostensibly for catching fallen sailors, can support six Girls in bikinis.

RIG AND RIGGING

Masts: Bintangor wood planks in rounded box section, with transparent epoxy fireglass skin.  Bintangor is Caloyllum inophyllum, very strong, flexible hardwood with extremely long fibres, but light, Sp. Gravity 0.5.` Hollow masts enable cables for nav lights, spreader lights, radar, etc to pass inside.  Spreaders aluminium box section.

Standing rigging:  1/2” SS, 1x19 strands, hand spliced, with traditional dead-eye/6 part rope lanyard tensioning. All new 2008.

Running rigging:  12mm diam Polyester three-strand rope, natural colour, all new 2012.   Pulley blocks in Chengal, Teak, Merbau wood with bronze or Delrin sheaves.

Pinrails: with bronze or Merbau traditional belaying pins, for securing rope falls of all halyards.  Wire parts of halyards 5mm diam 6x7 SS wire.

Pumps: Four automatic 12v. bilge pumps in separate compartment: 3500gpm in Eng.Room, others 2000gpm. 2 inch engine-driven pump in eng.rm for fire and bilge pumping.  Separate motor-driven portable 2 inch pump for fire and bilge pumping.  All WT bulkheads have 2 inch pipe through at lowest point, with valves both fore and aft, to allow controlled flow of water from damaged compartment to major pumping area in Eng. Room.

COMMUNICATIONS: 55 Channel V.H.F Radio, two handheld V.H.F for talk with launch or shore-party,  Ericcson Satellite Phone.  Iridium Satellite phone.

DIVING: 9 cfm petrol-powered, air-cooled compressor, 250 bar. Six diving tanks, weights, belts. Emergency therapeutic Oxygen with resuscitator..

TENDER: 21 foot (6.5 m.) fibreglass Launch, 8 foot (2.5m beam), cathedral hullform, with two 40 HP Yamaha outboard motors. Hand-held VHF and radar-reflector mast for distant tracking from Mother-ship. Designed to be towed in all weather states, self-bailing, two separate towing systems. As diving tender, carries 10 fully equipped divers plus one cox’n, sixteen 12 yr.olds, six yellow kayaks, or 150 cases of beer. Suitable for parasailing, for spotting marine life from the air, for recreation, for water-sking. As lifeboat, carries 150 litres of water, sails and comprehensive survival kit.

Other watercraft:  three plastic kayaks: 2 two-man, 1 single.

SAFETY EQUIPMENT: 10 man inflateable liferaft, new April 2015.  20 lifejackets. 3 life rings. Extensive kit of flares, smoke, etc.  EPIRB 410 series new 2015.  MOB gear includes dan-buoy with large yellow flag, horseshoe ring, flashing light.  Tender (see below),. always towed, 12 man capacity, is first choice as lifeboat.  Grab-bag contains numerous life preserving gear, flares, etc, etc. Oxygen resuscitator for drowning victims.  4 jerricans with 120 litres fresh water float off deck in case of sudden sinking.  Spars to rig mast and lateen sail on Tender.

Toothbrush: the ship’s one is a bit frayed and tastes bad.

LIBRARY representative of tropical marine life, especially cetaceans, corals, South-East Asian Maritime History, Geography and Ethnology, travel accounts.

Featured in:  BBC documentary series “World about us”. Discovery Channel doc on wooden boatbuilding, four “Survivor”-genre expeditions

Vessel History

Launched late  ’97.   Cruised extensively throughout SE Asia, Andaman Sea for family trips and charters.

Diving charters in S.China Sea, Andaman Sea.

Filming trips with:  BBC Bristol, Discovery Channel, 4 trips Survivor SE Asia series, Feature film for German TV, various documentary filmmakers.

Numerous trips, 5-11 days, with High School  and University groups, S. China Sea and Andaman Sea, for Sail Training/navigation and Ecology of Islands and Coral Reefs.

Hydrographic surveys of various atoll and lagoon anchorages.

Numerous Magazine articles, film clips, chartlets, participants’ comments available.

New features:

New twin engines (Ford, in-line 6 cylinder, total HP 250)

New freezer/refrigeration system

New water-maker 120 litres/hr.

New Muir windlass, 2014.

New Force 10 stove/oven

New dive compressor.

New twin, enlarged rudders

New propellers.

New electronics (2014) including Raytheon chart-plotter, radar, fluxgate compass.

New anchor chain, ½ inch, 120m.

New steering compass.

New liferaft,  15  man.