BYYB Forums

Hello folks, I just discovered the Vacationer sailboat and then this forum. I have been looking at boats and boat plans a while, but so far just a wannabe.
I love the Vacationer though! I am thinking of trying to build one next summer, (or buy one if I find one).
Is there a reason why nobody on these forums is from the Northwest? (Seattle area) Are the conditions here wrong for this boat?

And, do you think I would have trouble towing it behind a car or minivan? (is it too heavy?).

Thanks!

Hi Casey, i will try and answer some of your questions to the best of my ability.

there are actually many builders in the northwest region, even a few near you. the story i know goes something like this and happened before my time but apparently there was a disagreement between the northwest builders and the "administration" at the time which lead the the unfortunate seperating of ways. while this and past administration have been trying to re-establish a connection it has not worked out so far, maybe you could be the link which makes that happen.

as far as towing the vacationer with a minivan i don't see why not, but check the tow capacity weight of the van first and get a good hitch.

Interesting... I wonder why the disagreement. Anyway, I just thought maybe the high moisture in this area caused the boats to rot away by the time they were finished!
Would hate for that to happen as I love wooden boats.

Another question- I haven't seen many pictures of vacationer cabin arrangements. I am trying to decide how 'comfortable' this boat would be for a trip of more than 1 day. (My wife is new to sailing and I hope she will like it enough to go on camping trips).

Thanks for your response!

Casey the Stevenson’s provided in the plans for a simple galley in he VAC. Here in LA (lower Alabama) it is too hot to cook inside so I left mine out. The SE boats are pretty heavily modified so you may want to check with us on changes you want to make. Many of them have already been done and we would be glad to help. Take a look at my and others sites for details and answers to some of the more common questions. Welcome aboard.... 8) http://members.cox.net/~bb343/index.htm

Brian Please attach Allfour.jpg to this post. Thanks

Thanks! nice looking boat... I take it sleeping is generally on the floor, with camping pads?
By the way I wanted to see more of the detail pics on your site, but many of the pictures were missing.

Casey, I left my cabin open also, but added ribs for reinforcement of the sides. The time that I have slept overnight I used an air mattress. This is on a Vacationer.

Kieth has raised the coach roof some to install full berths in his boat. It really came out nice. Yes, I use an air mattress but only sleep onthe boat for the Beer Cruise. Yes, I need to fix the page and update it while I'm there.

Welcome aboard Casey, I am in the middle of building my Vacationer, and have done both Ken and Keiths mods I raised my cabin roof 4" and I also left my cabin pretty open, We will see how that works out this weekend as I hopefully get most of the sides on this weekend, I have a bunch of construction pic's on my site if you want to check them out.

Brian.

I sure appreciate the responses. The photos are great! I hope to lurk around and see many more over the coming months because I will just have the inspiring photos, and the dream, until next spring when I can hopefully do something about it.

What a friendly forum!

Welcome aboard Casey, I just got back from a 4 day weekend of sailing and camping aboard my Vacationer. I love sleeping aboard. There is nothing more peacefull that sitting out at anchor looking up at the stars from the cockpit of your own homebuilt boat. I raised my cabin roof 4 inches and I'm glad I did, it makes a lot more room below for crawling around in there. I also put bunks port and starboard for sleeping on and they have a lot of storage below them. You can click on my www link below and check out some of the pics on my website. I really enjoy my Vacationer and I'm sure you will too. It's great to be sailing the best looking boat on the lakes around here. Everyone wants to come by and take a look as I'm cruising around. I lived in Kent for a while several years ago and used to hang out at the Center for Wooden Boats. You've probably been there before but if not, they have a Friendship sloop for you to look at and maybe even take out for a sail. They are some good folks there and they're always looking for people to help out around the boat shop. Best of all they trade time in the shop for time on the water. They have a great fleet of Beetle cats for rent.
I look forward to hearing about your progress on the boat and be sure to ask questions on here while your building, there is always someone that can lend some advice.

Keith