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Downeaster 38 Lost near Santa Maria in 2011

This is actually old news but I had never heard of it. I ran accross mention of it on a DE owners website

 In last year’s Baja Haha, we had a sailor fall asleep and the auto pilot took this Downeaster up on the beach at Santa Maria.  She was lost a few days later.

and on a search came up with this  report in Latitude 38.

For the record, Dachyon, the DownEast 38 that went aground north of Bahia Santa Maria was not part of the Ha-Ha fleet. But it’s not uncommon for Ha-Ha boats to come to the assistance of non-Ha-Ha boats, be they on the beach or otherwise disabled and in need of a tow. After all, helping others is part of the fun of cruising as well as part of the Ha-Ha ethos. By the way, we’re happy to report that Mark Cholewinski, who owned Tachyon, now has a new steel boat that he is fitting out for more cruising.

I’m very sorry to hear of the loss of a DE and for Mr. Cholewinski’s loss. Happily it looks like he has anew boat already. I think this happened in the fall of 2011.

October 6th, 2013 | Category: Boat Stories, Sailing Stories | Leave a comment

Alternate layout DE38

I ran across a DE38 for sale in Greece that has the alternate interior layout with the aft cabin where the pilot berth and chart table were. Here are the pictures that show the different layout. To see all the pictures I was able to find on the boat you can go to the boat info page I created for DE38 Windwalker. http://downeasteryachts.com/the-boats/downeaster-38/individual-boats/1980-de38-windwalker

 

Alternate Chart Table Location

Forward in the aft cabin. You can see mirror on bulkhead and vanity outboard. Bulkhead hits forward starboard window the same place the chart table ends on standard layout.

Aft Cabin layout on boats where pilot berth and chart table are replaced with small cabin.

Forward chart table and shelves. Shelves are the same as on standard layout but there is not closet under them. Just the chart table.

October 6th, 2013 | Category: Product Reviews | 2 comments

Extension Cord Woes

So someone asked me about what I use for an extension cord on the boat because of a comment I had made about having the perfect one. Everyone knows what a pain extension cords are. They are constantly getting tangled and snarled up, they are a pain to coil back up after using them, they are a pain to un-snarl and pull them out of the cockpit locker after they have become wrapped around every other thing in there. Last but not least is that you can only plug one thing into a standard extension cord. I am constantly having to switch between a drill and a sander or router etc… It just slows stuff down.

How it came about is a long story… lol… not!!!

One day I was in a tool store, not sure where, and saw one of the extension cords in a reel box with 4 outlets built into the box. It was on sale and I thought wow, I need to try that out it would be great on the boat. It has been about a year since that day and it has been everything that I thought it would be and more. The one I got was cheap and I wondered about life span but it is battered and still going strong. Mostly what it has done for me is alleviated a lot of frustration due to the above listed downsides to standard extension cords. It also means that I am more likely to grab stuff to do a quicky project because it is easier to un-spool cable and re-spool it when done. Less time in setup and clean up on both ends of the project. Mine is 25ft in length and I think I want one 50ft and one cable size bigger. However […]

October 5th, 2013 | Category: Product Reviews | Leave a comment