We Are Eager To Get Going Again!

Second Wind

The Major Damage

We have a warm day in Ohio and it has stirred my urge to travel and sail.  You may have noted the name change in this site.  Back in September, I was notified about a boat that was going up for sale at a salvage auction in Paducah, Ky.  The photographs of the boat showed very little damage and my research indicated that it was indeed a really nice boat.  We were not in the market for a boat change; however, this boat was significantly newer and had features that made it much more attractive to aging sailors than did our Panache.  After a hasty trip to Kentucky and an exciting auction, we came home with our beautiful “Second Wind.”  The damage to the boat occurred when the previous owner pulled the boat with the mast up into a tree branch while on her trailer.  The head stay, the forward wire that holds the mast up, pulled the front 4 feet of the deck loose and caused the mast to fall.  The damage was such that the owner, insurance company and manufacturer did not want to take on the liability of a repair job so they salvaged the beautiful 3 year- old boat.  I was able to reattach the deck section to the hull in a manner that is stronger than the original construction.  I also built a bracket to mount the head stay to the stem of the bow of the boat rather than just to the deck.  The stem is probably the most robust structure on a boat and I am convinced that it is now stronger than the day that it came out of the factory.

The Repair Bracket

This boat, a Seaward 26RK, is essentially the same length as the Balboa 26, however its cabin layout is roomier and without partitions which give it a much more open feel.  The boat weighs in at about 1000 lbs more than the Balboa.  She sports a 1200 pound centerboard which retracts using an electric winch up tightly to the bottom of the boat allowing her to travel in waters as shallow as 18 inches.  The Balboa had a 1200 pound centerboard but it was raised with a hand winch and I must say that it was becoming quite a chore to raise. 

The V-berth and Saloon

One area that we always struggled with was getting the Balboa onto a trailer.  It had a rounded bottom, fore to aft, that rested on bowl shaped trailer bunks which made it really hard to get positioned when leaving the water.  This boat has a relatively flat bottom that glides nicely onto the trailer.  The mast is also easier to raise and lower.  I have added an electric winch system to the trailer that we use to raise the mast and it is a breeze compared to what we used to do with our old 42 year-old Panache.

Another thing that we realized while sailing in the Florida Keys was the fact that

Galley with 2014 modifications

the Balboa was really hard to get into from the water after say swimming or going overboard.  We had a ladder but we found that after skin diving for an hour, we could hardly climb over the stern rail to get back into the boat.  This boat has an open transom with the distance to the water at the rear of the boat being only about 10 inches and we have a really stout ladder that goes deep into the water, making getting back on board much easier. 

Open Transom and Retractable Rudder

Janine and Friend Jim Clouse on November Shakedown Cruise

Finally, it is really nice to have a “new” shiny boat.  It is fresh and bright inside with amenities that we did not even consider in the other boat.  She comes with a pressurized water system, a built in shower (which we probably won’t use because she only carries 20 gallons of water and I could blow that in one shower), more sophisticated instruments, and finally a motor that has an electric lift.

Second Wind on Windless Buckeye Lake

So, after a winter of cold, snow and modifications making “Second Wind” more our boat, we are ready to head south and into the lands of warmer weather.  Our goal is to travel to the East Coast of Florida in the Palm Beach area and spend some time getting to know the boat and prepare for a possible crossing of the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas.  I plan to again conical the trip in this forum mainly as a way to keep a personal record of our adventure but also to share with those who amaze us with their interests.

By the way, not long after returning to Ohio with our new boat, we aggressively cleaned and shined ole Panache, listed her on eBay and sold her to a family in Iowa.  They paid us gas money to bring her to them so she now has a new home near the Mississippi River. We were happy to be the owners of only one boat and have an opportunity to see some country in which we had not previously traveled.