Hello Tom,

I just recently got a safari which is not quite ready for the water yet. From what I know of it I am pleased with my choice and encouraged by comments such as yours. I wondered in your time with this boat had you any issues with the skeg which is so narrow and a bit insubstantial looking. My boat is out of the water, the skeg feels a bit weak and I am wondering about removing and reattaching it but dont know what it is constructed on. I also am considering bracing the skeg with a length of stainless bar or tubing running from the deepest tip of the skeg fowards at about a 45 degree angle to the hull.
Any pearls of wisdom gratefully accepted!
Regards
Ger On Tuesday, 17 September 1996 08:00:00 UTC+1, Tom Forhan wrote:
Robert Clark wrote:

What do you folks think is the best, older (read that to mean
"inexpensive") sailboat for cruising, that has a seaworthy design and is no more than about 30' long?

If you are looking for a more modern design, check out Dufours.

These are seaworthy fin keel-skeg rudder boats, which have sucessfully
completed numerous off-shore passages: a Dufour 27 did well in a couple
of OSTAR races in the late '70s.

They all feature internal fiberglass hull liners, so no mildew problems
and they are easy to keep clean if you are a liveaboard. Interiors are
done in ribbon-stripe plywood, and look very elegant. Rigging is
conventional, and parts are not a problem from a good chandlery. Engines
tend to be Volvo diesels; very reliable. Hulls are moderate fin keels,
with some IOR influence. Topside appearance is modern, and clearly
European.

The were built in France, and while enough were sold in the US for you
to find one, they are clearly "off-brand" and so you can get a really
good deal if you shop around. They were imported into the US during the
'70s and early '80s.

Specific models that might meet your needs, and recent asking prices
I have seen:

Dufour 27 Safari: A modern, trunk cabin, galley amid-ships facing
dinette, quarter berth aft, double berth forward, -$7,500

Dufour 27: A flush-deck design, galley aft, more interior room than
the Safari model and more reserve bouyancy, this was the model that
did the OSTAR. Double berth forward, dinette facing a settee berth,
galley aft, no quarterberth. Living space much greater than, say, an
Alberg 30. -$8,500.

Dufour Arpege: 30 feet, quarter berths on both sides, dinette facing
galley, head may be in forepeak, memory is vague on this one. Numerous
transatlantic passages. $14,000

Dufour 31: A later design, very spacious interior for its size, many
have three cabin layouts with a small double quarter-berth cabin aft,
galley accross from this, dinette and facing a single settee berth, full
width head, and double berth forward.$19,000

I lived aboard and sailed the eastern seaboard and Bahamas in a Dufour
27 for several years. They are fine boats in the racer-cruiser mode, and
great values on today's market.

Good luck,
Tom F.