An inexpensive boat proves to be a treasure
Issue 85 : Jul/Aug 2012
Many times in my life I have found more than I was looking for. That was the case with the boat my wife, Sharon, and I are now cruising. I was looking for a cheap starter boat, but found so much more in Morgan.
I had a couple of things on my wish list for a boat. First, it should be cheap; second, it should be in halfway decent shape; third, it should have lots of room inside; and fourth, it should have a motor well. I’d been sailing enough to know I didn’t want to listen to a motor during those times I couldn’t sail.
I found a 1970 Coronado 25 on eBay with everything on my list. It was advertised as being in excellent condition and had a motor well. The Coronado is very roomy inside for a 25-footer as the trunk cabin extends nearly the full width of the boat. The bidding was at $600 with four days left on the auction. I bid $610, not expecting to win it. Four days later, I was the proud owner.
Amazingly, it actually was in excellent condition, except for the outboard, which could be easily remedied. One of the drawers contained a folder of receipts: new Doyle sails in 2000; new mast, boom, and standing rigging; a tiller pilot, life jackets, and flares. The list went on and on. It seems there was a problem with the girlfriend and the boat had to go now, hence the “no reserve” auction.
When I bought Morgan, I had been on only a couple of sailboats. One was a 36-foot sloop chartered for five hours during which I “helped” with handling the sails. The other was my brother’s 19-foot cat ketch. I had much to learn. Once I got Morgan home to Indiana, the real fun began: learning to sail. I gave her two fresh coats of bottom paint and a 1989 Johnson Sailmaster 6-horse-power outboard. We were ready to go.
We spent nine months sailing the Ohio River near Evansville, Indiana, with one 100-mile trip upriver. I learned a lot about river sailing during that time. I learned about the “valley effect,” in which the wind blows either upriver or downriver. The good thing is, this teaches you to tack. The following year, Sharon and I sailed Morgan down the Ohio to the Cumberland River, up the Cumberland to Lake Barkley, and over to Kentucky Lake. We sailed on Kentucky Lake for two years, having fun and learning a lot about our boat and sailing in general.
Upping the cruising ante
I had a dream of living on a boat and cruising full-time. The plan was to sell Morgan (our “learner boat”) and buy a bigger boat when we were ready to go. Unfortunately, the economy had different plans. We reached the point in our timeline when we should have been buying the larger boat, but we didn’t have the funds. Sharon suggested we go with Morgan. I thought she was joking. She wasn’t, and she got me to thinking. Why not? I knew the boat and all its systems from top to bottom. We had spent weeks at a time aboard without killing each other. Could we? Should we?
We made a list of the things to improve. Our guiding rule was that we would have to be comfortable when sleeping and cooking. If you sleep well and eat well, the rest is easy. We had an almost useless quarter berth. We decided to extend the countertop from bulkhead to bulkhead and do away with the quarter berth. That gave us 7 feet of counter space. I built an Igloo five-day cooler into one end of the counter. I also installed two inches of foam on all six sides of it for higher efficiency. Now, two blocks of ice will last two weeks. We installed shelving under the companionway and across from the head. Good Old Boat gave me the solution for a holding tank, as we had none. I read of making one using 6-inch PVC pipe. Three days later, I had a holding tank and retired the Porta Potti to the shed. We ordered a chart plotter, grill, and other essential equipment.
We made a sun cover for the hot sunny tropics. It covers the entire boat from cockpit to the bow. It took us a full week to custom fit it, but in the end it fit perfectly. It’s unbelievable how much cooler the boat stays with the sun cover in place. The deck used to get so hot it hurt our feet to walk on it. Now it stays cool and, in turn, the cabin does too. As soon as we drop the hook, up goes the sunshade. It takes only 5 to 10 minutes to set up and is worth its weight in gold. As I burn easily, this was high on my priority list.
We added cabinet doors and more shelves to use every cubic inch possible in this 25-foot boat. We installed a new mattress, cushions, curtains, lights, fans, batteries, and a hundred other little things. We worked on the refit for about five months. Finally, we decided she was finished. If anything else needed to be done, we would do it on our way to paradise . . . after all, they do say cruising is nothing more than working on your boat in exotic places.
Down the river to the sea
We left on November 4, 2010. We sailed down the Tennessee River to the Ohio, down the Ohio River to the Mississippi, and down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. We then traveled along the ICW to Florida.
As I write this, we are taking our time while exploring the Florida coast. We are having the time of our lives. We hope to be far enough around Florida by next winter to make the crossing to the Bahamas.
With the purchase price and refit, we now have about $5,000 in our good old boat. That is more than I could sell her for, but that doesn’t matter. She is now a well-equipped cruiser through and through. She meets all of our needs and more. She handles easily, sails well, and is comfortable at anchor. We have all heard the Pardeys’ famous phrase, “Go small, go now.” We did . . . and found hidden treasure in this old boat.
Mike Dunsworth grew up in southern Indiana and met his wife, Sharon, in San Antonio, Texas. They lived in Mexico for two years and Australia for four years before returning to Indiana. Mike was an avid motorcyclist before the sailing bug bit. He has a master electrician’s license and a building contractor’s license. He and Sharon are cruising in the Florida Keys on Morgan, their Coronado 25.
Thank you to Sailrite Enterprises, Inc., for providing free access to back issues of Good Old Boat through intellectual property rights. Sailrite.com
