Hi All,
Well, after a few years of wishing I had a boat again, I am back on the list! I am so excited I am making puddles under my chair. A few days ago I purchased Alethea, a C&C 43-1! Whew. long dry spell. I had been on this list and had a C&C 34 called "Gabriella" that I brought up river from Seattle To Clarkston Washington and sailed it there a few years ago, then sold it to a great couple in the Tri-Cities of Washington because life had started taking some crazy twists as it often can. I had owned several "cruising" boats before.but I was spoiled by "Gabby". Her balance underway was incredible and for a smaller racer/cruiser she was pretty comfortable.even lived aboard for a few months on her and just felt at home. I loved my C&C but decided to just look at boat ads for a couple years waiting to find "the just right one" again. I didn't plan on buying another C&C but wanted a decent cruising boat as I am getting to that stage in life where extended cruising is now a possibility. So. in my search for a new boat. I kept drifting back to a C&C. To be fair, I had considered everything from a Morgan to Petersen to CT-47 and dozens of other boats in all configurations (even thought about a Amel Maramu I kinda liked, but decided it would be good to be able to eat while I cruised and figured it was a bit out of the budget). So after a dozen or sea trials, discussions with every owner about their boat I was interested in, I decided on the CT-47.. then when I was about to pull the trigger on the CT, I saw the C&C 43. I couldn't find a reason not to buy her. I looked at the pictures I was sent of the boat and remembered why I loved Gabby. I am not a hard core racer, but a little speed never hurt anyone. she looked like she was screaming through the water at breakneck speed tied to the dock. She was well fitted, clean, and the owner had some pride in her. The survey said she was in good shape.and once again. I was hooked. When you look at a C&C's numbers and performance as a cruiser rather than a racer, they may be a bit light, but they stand up well statistically to other cruisers. https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/cc-43-1 As of now Alethea is laying in the Long Beach Ca. area and I am trying to figure out if I wanna sail her next summer up to the Seattle area or move her by truck to Seattle now.Any thoughts? Know of any deals on trucking? I could sail her up next summer when the weather is better in the Pacific for a few weeks. but I also want to get her on the hard this winter and start fitting her for extended cruising. As of last Tuesday she is going through the documentation process here in the States as I wanted her to be a documented vessel for my cruising purposes. I am glad to be on the Stu's list again. I always found this community to be well versed in the C&C world, and you all were a great help with Gabby. I appreciated the input everyone had. Currently Alethea has a modest set of sails, a Pathfinder 50 engine, some average electronics, and the previous owner had kept her up on the inside. I plan on mounting a windlass, redoing and adding some electronics, going through the engine (never worked on a Pathfinder before, but I understand they are a Volkswagen engine and parts are cheap and easy.). adding an autopilot and possibly a windvane, Solar and other power, perhaps mount a generator in there somewhere, a watermaker, refrigeration re-do (I know. it sounds like she is getting heavy), add some tankage. and a few other upgrades. Is the mast far enough back to turn her into a cutter? Gabby had a jack-stay for rig tuning I think, but I never used it for flying a staysail or storm sail..An extra knot on a long passage never hurts either.So I am studying conversions from sloop to cutter. will it screw up the legendary balance of a C&C? I'm not sure a Solient rig is right for a C&C, anyone have any ideas? Leave the rig alone? I'd also like to know more about her history. I have seen some threads on different forums about a boat of similar name but as far as I can tell that one lies on the Great Lakes or East Coast now. Alethea was her "original" name as best I can find out, but she was also known as Orange Peel a couple years ago in the Southern California area.I am going to use her "original name" of Alethea. Orange Peel just doesn't do it for me. Any help with info would be much appreciated as would ideas on what to do with upgrades for cruising, Pathfinder Engines, cutter rigs on C&C and so on. Pics will be posted once I start work on her. Thanks and hello again! JP
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