FARAWAY2

48 ft steel schooner

Length
15 m/48 ft

monohull

sail

Description

Pilot house flush deck steel schooner 50 ft with 4.5meter beam and 2 meter draft . designed by a large German engineering firm , built in Malta and started service about 1980. Was featured at various yacht shows throughout Europe- being trucked to the locations. A modern half keel with cutaway forefoot and skeg hung rudder assures ease of handling by her auto pilot or self steering system as well as my st. sail to tiller steering arrangment.Two steering option are possible: the aft covered (to be added ) and the comfortable interior when under power. A recently overhauled Renault Coach 80HP Marine Diesel that with nearly 300 plus gals for nearly 2000 mile range under power alone. As world cruising is predominantly with winds aft of the beam she is very capable of over 200 miles a day would be reasonable F4 to F5 trade wind conditions with easy to change and lower in all conditions her hanked on sails. Mains are slab reefed. she has a large selection of storm sails too. from trysail to extremely heavy storm stay . sail(s) as well as several small yankee jibs. Schooners like all multiple masted sailing vessel allow a wide range of sail section to meet wind and sea conditions. sails and sail design assure safe and 1450 sq . feet of sail will do well in light conditions usually found in arctic and Antarctic regions. . . A superb vessel for offshore and high latitude cruising where ice or accidental groundings may be a concern lets consider why this schooner is ideal for a voyage into the arctic and high latitudes (see articles in the Alternate Atainable Cruising ( AAC) booklets) The North West passage (NWP) offers some chanllenges to vessls that are discussed with comments in the booklets mentioned above. first is possible ice conditions along the route (see comment below as to recent dramatic high temp and ice free conditions-Feb 25, 2018). Steel is obviously the choice here due to it's strength just not tensile but the ability to yield too. Recent measured [plate thickness for the vessel is from 7 mm to 11 mm immensely strong.She was also prefessionaly built so welds were done properly. Interior was stripped and blasted hen coated then sprayed with foam for insulation and retarding rusting too. . Half keel offers many advantages as they are inherently kindly if the vessel inevitably grounds, often the usual finn keel design could easily develop cracks where stresses are too high as the boat stops not gradully but abruptly . This cutaway keel will slide up with usually no damage. All very important when navigating in areas whee charts are not entirely adequate. This keel- skeg hung rudder extremely far aft provide easy to handle in storm conditions and will run off with slight attention to the helm with a droque system behind if required.Seakindly they are too as this vessel proves to be. comfortable motion with weight distributed and not jerky if overly ballasted. easier , of course on the rigging to avoid rapide mast movement. Why a schooner rig? Well I've sailed ketch rigged vessel over 4 times around the world and can attest that the split rig is idea for short handed sailing. although that aft mast is somewhat larger than the mizzen on a ketch some performance aspects are the same. Ease of sail handling is one: Simply drop one of the mains to avoid having to reef it and heavens not rooler reef it as sail designs unless cut very flat are not met to be reefed by rolling--not strong in that mode as well as the shape problems. The vessel with her 1450 sq feet will also perform well in light winds. Now in the Arctic and Antactic, I've been both places, usually light easterlies prevail during the summer with gale frequency low. Hence Schooners with all that sail and the easy ability to reduce it depending on the conditions offer a fine alternative to the regular sloop rig vessels. Here she has usual slab reefing# on the mains with the ability to easily hank on a trysail. The head sails well I prefer to change those-especially the head sail-so obviously the hanked on offers the best alternative and results in less windage aloft . That is especially important at anchor in strong winds with the vessel wanting to sail off the wind if too much windage forward as well as troube when heaving too in stronger winds. Yes, the dble headsail schooner is the obvious choice. Of course all this route with the possibility of a good portion of the winds being calm requires that a good reliable diesel engine with plenty of fuel. The 80 HP Renault Diesel recently rebuilt with only about 180 hrs will do just fine. I plan to supplement the existing 150 gals of onboard tanks with several smaller bladder tanks stored below as well as deck tanks stored on the spacious deck amidships. Total I'm considering now is around 300 gals and at 6 knots a reasonable and economic cruising speed that would allow nearly 2000 miles. Enough to get to the next village! Interior is to the crew's delight with berths for 9 with two doubles aft divided by a mahogany partition with head and shower there. Forward is the insulated engine compartment. A portable Honda 1000 is kept here too. then aft is the galley with a 3 bruner gimbaled range with oven. sink with fresh and salt water# and a bar arrangement across. The main saloon is quite attractive with its curved settee and mahogany table. An unique serving port opens aft into the galley. Above all is the pilot station with excellent viewing through the small pilot house ports. A center cocpit opens just aft of this pilot house station with its chart table and nav. instruments. A dodger can be kept over this center cockpit. . Fwd there are more storage and the twin vee verths with a work bench and tool storage above and below . In the bow is the chain locker and as that hatch is clear it allows ample light into the Vee berth region and storage areas aft. Yes, nicely laid out and with the most important aspect included. That, of course is Storage . You can't cruise unless you have lots of that. My 4 world trips and over 200,000 miles of cruising can attest to that! And with half the berths not occupied--for a crew of say 4-- and the space already aboard there is ample storage. too. I find especiallyh attractive the teak paneling and teak wood work of the interiors. . She is without doubt a finely finished vessel. and with the spacious main cabin and large dinettee to discuss things a nice friendly atmosphere. She has the usual electronics though I do prefer just regular charts but Open CPN works well too. Radar, AIS Receiver only, ICOM 735 Broadband transceiver, GPS, and chart plotter near new Furuno GPS Navigator 32 and several others, Even a sextant if things go bad in he world. depth sounder, Auto pilot and with windvane and/or simple sheet line steering off the staysail --- there won't be much hand steerin other than in restricted channels Two steering stations with the aft one covered# as well as solar panels ontop of the cover#, wind gen. too. high tech battery charger and conditioner and a 2000 watt inverter. and two sHore skiffs an aluminum bottom RIB an anolder emergency old unit.. Also a Zodiak 8 man life raft and exposure suits for three and work suits thermal for three one a dry suit thing. Oh, of course Lots of parkas too. Oh YES rifle# for Bears both Polar and their cousins the Alaska Bronw bear that I'm familiar with living in SE Alaska. I hope I've covered the main points here. It is a vessel ideal for the adventure and a pleasant experience you'll never forget. With the record high temperatures and already a nearly ice free Bering Sea, I'm looking forward to experiencing little trouble with ice for this passge. thanks John Williams .

Additional details

England Scotland, Faroes Iceland Greenland NWP Bering Alaska Peninsujla, and Gulf of Alaska with its many protected anchorages---coastwise cruising ideal as scenery is splendid-I've done three passages here with my cloin ARcher Ketch now in Chile the schooner offers many ways to reduce sail for storm conditions multiple sail s for ease of sail handling, keel configuration for storm management . .The schooner a new vessel for me with pilot house for comfort when motoring and a covered sailing station aft when under sail or navigating in confined regions As recenly as mid February of 2018 the sea ice over the Bering Sea is less than 30% of its normal coverage. In the last two weeks it lost about a half . Stations all over the arctic have recorded record highs with the mean arctic temerature of latitudes >80 degrees at -10 degrees. That is 20 degrees higher than the median temp for that area. Temp on the 20th at the north tip of Greenland were above freezing. This would imply that the NWP will be as free of pack ice like never before . Wonderful time for planning this adventure and for you to enjoy.