Sea Wind Mast Work

After selling the Catalina 22 we searched for a sailboat that had a faster cruising speed to reduce our 10 mile trip to get out to the Gulf. This is a southward trip down the narrow ICW so we motor the entire trip unless the winds are favorable (very seldom). Since we are able to do short tack sailing in a deeper area (0-6 ft.) of Lemon Bay only a 20 minutes up our channel we wanted a shallow draft boat. We also wanted a boat without the keel maintenance the Catalina had, and we wanted it to be trailerable. The Sea Wind 24 fills the bill nearly completely. Its 7 mph motoring speed is a little less than we would like but it is lightning fast under sail. We've had it up to 16 mph so far and expect to get 20 mph out of her. This is an Australian and only a few were made in the U.S. in the late 80's and early 90's. We were fortunate to find one that matched our budget and bought it in March 2007. Although it is trailerable the trailer is a monstrosity and it is a lot of work removing the decks to slide the hulls together. We don't have a trailer so we keep the bottom painted and keep it in the water at our dock just off Lemon Bay which feeds out to the Gulf at Stump Pass.


Boat in the normal docked configuration. The PVC pipes hold it out at low water.	Stern view at dock.

The Tiller Autohelm acts on the starboard rudder and is controlled by a wired remote.	View of deck when taking a break at Middle Beach dock while sailing Lemon Bay. The engine is down, mainsail cover is off and the spinnaker sock is deployed

The step showing the staysail tack line going forward and the mast rotator arm aft. The engine battery is at the forward end of the engine well. Note the weather proof electrical box behind the mast for mast wiring connections.	After deck with the OB in the up position while at dock.

Dock view from across the channel. Note the rudders and dagger boards are up. They are normally removed and stored on the trampoline when at dock for more than a day.	View of the plastic cover over the daggerboard trunk. Held in place with a weight on a short line. Minimizes barnacles inside the trunk.