DE32 Seabird

1976 Downeaster 32′

She is a cutter-rigged sailboat, 32′ on deck with a 4′ bowsprit. She is a full-keeled vessel weighing in at about 20,000 lbs! She draws 4′-10″ and is 11′ wide with a wineglass stern. She holds 100 gallons of water in two 50 gal. tanks and about 75 gallons of diesel to feed her 27 HP Nanni Diesel Engine (2002). We use electric heaters when we are not home and a Force 10 propane cabin heater when we are around to supervise the cat. He has only burned his nose once and his tail once, we’re hoping he will learn eventually!

We’ve removed the port-side pilot berth and added book storage and chart storage, as well as a nook for Sophi’s sewing machine. We also built a storage cabinet behind the fold-down table on the bulkhead. We replaced our marine head with a Nature’s Head Urine-Separating Composting toilet. So far, we love it!

Before we bought her, the vinyl headliner was removed and replaced with tongue-and-groove pine which was a great improvement. Most of the lines on deck had been rigged so that they are operable from the cockpit and we hope to add the stay-sail sheets and two new reef points in the future. This winter the main sail is at the shop getting a third reef put in and the staysail is getting a reefing point also. We hope this will help us to practice our heavy weather sailing next summer.

Because we are living aboard, we converted the port-side pilot berth into a book-shelf for extra storage. We also use the sea-berth area for storage and for Bella’s kennel. If we do a long offshore passage we will need to make a cushion for this area and move the pup’s kennel somewhere else. Another major improvement we did was to convert our head into a Nature’s Head composting toilet! We love it, and it allowed us to remove the smelly bladder from under the v-berth where we sleep. With a few more minor improvements, and the constant maintenance that all boats require, we hope to sail this boat a long way!