Intrepid

About the boat... Intrepid is a Bristol 32 sloop, designed by Ted Hood and built in 1967, hull #3 of 330. As one of the first boats ever built out of fiberglass, Intrepid was made when builders didn't know much about the new material so they tended to over build them. In the years since, boat builders got smart and realized they could make hulls lighter and weaker. Intrepid's hull is like a battleship and I have no doubt she'll outlive boats 20 years younger. Designed according to the CCA (Cruising Club of America) design standards that were popular between the 1930's- 1960's, the Bristol 32 is a true classic. With the old CCA racing rules, boats were penalized for waterline length so designs tended to favor long over-hangs and short waterlines, resulting in (my humble opinion) very aesthetically appealing sheer and graceful lines. Boats of the CCA design were designed for stability and to heel over. At about a 15 degree heel, the Bristol 32's waterline length increases significantly and the boat reaches maximum hull speed. The relatively narrow beam and deep wine glass shaped hull also makes for an exceptionally stable boat in heavy seas.

Bristol 32s were designed with either a full keel or full keel/ centerboard combination. Intrepid was the only one that I know of, out of 330, that was built with a fin keel and skeg rudder. In the 1960's, a fin keel (what most modern sailboats today have) was more of a radical concept and I think maybe Ted Hood was experimenting with hull #3. Though I've never sailed a full keel or CB Bristol 32, I imagine Intrepid's fin keel probably allows her to point a little better to weather and makes her very manueverable (though harder to track, maybe?). Around the dock, I can turn on a Dime with no problem.

When I acquired Intrepid, she came pretty well equipped by the previous owner. In the two years I've had her, I've pretty much spent my life savings and devoted my life to upgrading and equipping her even more. A run down of Intrepid's features and equipment inventory is as follows:

Stats:
-Bristol 32 hull #3, 1967, Designer: Ted Hood, Bristol Rhode Island
-USCG No. 1134561
-LOA: 32.1 ft, LWL: 22 ft, beam: 9.5 ft, draft: 5 ft, displ.: 12,000 lbs
-Sail area: 491 sq ft. PHRF: 228
-Water capacity: 25 gal (fwd tank), 25 gal (cabin tanks) = 50 gallons total
-Fuel capacity: 25 gal (main tank), 20 gal (locker tanks) = 45 gallons total

Sails and rigging:
-North Sails cruising and racing main sails (new in 2000): (1) cruising main with 3 reefs, (1) cruising 150% genoa, (1) racing main, (1) racing 155% genoa and (1) 1.5 oz. spinnaker
-Shaefer roller furling headsail system
-ATN Gale Sail (storm jib)
-1/4 inch SS wire standing rigging

Engine, electronics and navigation:
-Yanmar 3GM30F 27 hp diesel engine, yr 1996
-Furuno 1721 mk II RADAR
-Sailomat self-steering windvane
-Raymarine Autohelm ST5000 autopilot
-Furuno GP 50 Navdata GPS system
-Anemometer, Standard Horizon depth, wind, knot instruments
-VHF radio
-12V electric system (2 Optima 55 AH house + 1 Optima 55 AH starter battery)
-Prosine inverter, 110VAC
-AmpAir wind/hydro electric generator (stowable), 2 UniSolar solar panels
-Whitlock wheel steering

Safety:
-Avon 4 person offshore liferaft
-ACR 406 mHz EPIRB
-Paratech sea anchor
-Offshore ditch kit w/ manual watermaker
-2 type V life jackets/harnesses w/ jacklines, 6 lifejackets
-3 fire extinguishers
-Orion flare gun kit

Habitability:
-Sleeping accomodations for 4 adults in cabin
-Galley: Origo alcohol stove, microwave oven, Alder Barbour refrigeration
-Head/plumbing: pressure freshwater, water heater (through diesel engine heat exchange), fully enclosed head, toilet macerator and holding tank

Introduction: Project Intrepid

I guess you could say Project Intrepid began when I was a young kid. Growing up in San Diego, California, I've always had a fascination with the sea and boats. I used to hang around Shelter Island and check out all the beautiful yachts and my imagination would run wild... As I grew older, my dream remained and I was lucky enough to pursue it. Sailing with my uncle John, first on Lasers, then on bigger daysailers and coastal cruisers at the Harbor Island Sailing Club, my passion for sailing really took off... This passion grew further in college, at the U.S. Naval Academy, where sailing is a mandatory subject and I had the time of my life sailing Navy 44s on the offshore sailing team and on a couple of extended training cruises up along the eastern seaboard... After college, you could say I was employed as a professional sailor, driving a U.S. Navy destroyer halfway around the world between San Diego and the Persian Gulf (then as a desk sailor in various ashore posts, but I digress...). World events and a changing view of the world as a result convinced me that my future was not in driving warships for Halliburton, the military industrial complex and the Bush Corporation, so while at my last duty assignment as a Naval Liaison officer with the Marines in Okinawa, I decided to get out of the Navy and pursue a new career as a teacher. All the while, my core values and dreams have remained constant and have become more clear...

While in Okinawa, I don't know... it just hit me one day soon after I first arrived, like one of those ingeniously idiotic, yet unexplainably compelling ideas: "Now is the time!" I just had to have the boat... Convinced that THE boat couldn't be just any boat, I searched all over the world on the Internet, for the "perfect" boat and found Intrepid in Long Island, USA. Then, after a few independent surveys and much more effort than anyone with half the common sense, I basically sold my soul to the bank, maxed out my credit cards, cashed in my life savings (not much!) and bought an old boat, sight unseen on the internet and had it shipped halfway around the world to me in a place right smack dab in the middle of "Typhoon Alley." ...Was it incredibly brave or unbelievably stupid??? Well, I guess that's the subject of this blog...

As for Intrepid... The boat couldn't have any name other than Intrepid. Intrepid: "Fearless and resolute in the face of danger" Intrepid was also the name of the first America's Cup contender built with a fin keel, which won in 1967 and 1971. Intrepid was finally defeated by Courageous, skippered by Ted Hood in 1974... Incidentally, Ted Hood was the designer of the Bristol 32 and in 1967 built my Intrepid, hull #3 of 300 something, as the only one with a fin keel, a radical concept back then. I like to think Bristol 32 hull #3 (Intrepid) is a true classic plastic.

As for the project... The boat was sold to me and arrived in January 2003 in good condition and came exceptionally well equiped. Though I've undertaken numerous "projects" to improve and maintain the boat, the subject of "Project Intrepid" is really about the purpose and the experience of the boat. You see, there really IS a method to my madness! I was not about to financially castrate myself in vain. In the words of the great Naval Officer John Paul Jones, "He who does not risk cannot win." Therefore... I admit to the world, besides my obsessive passion for sailing, I bought the boat for 2 reasons: 1.) to try my hand at chartering the boat and making side money doing sailing charters in Okinawa; at least pay for the boat or make a measurable amount of money at least for the business experience, doing sailing charters... and failing that, 2.) Live aboard!!! Yes, I've always had a fascination with the concept of living aboard a boat, ever since I was a little kid and I had a friend who lived aboard a 60 ft ketch with his parents and their dog. They took me sailing to Catalina one weekend and I just thought they had the perfect life. Their boat had all the ammenities of a house and the best part is that they could put all their "housing costs" into having the best boat possible and not have to leave their boat and go home at the end of the day. At the end of the day, they were already home. Plus, every night they got lulled to sleep by the ocean and the ambiance of it all. How cool is that!!! ...So it is, from the word go, I bought Intrepid to be a liveaboard.

Well, so I tried my hand at chartering. What a pain in the @$$! Though I've made a few dollars, it really proved to be more trouble than it was worth. Strangers coming aboard and trashing my boat just for a few bucks, which really didn't even out with the contract I had to work within at Kadena Marina. Plus, in Okinawa the weather is so unpredictable you never know until that day if it will be good for sailing, so I couldn't have any other life besides being on a short leash waiting for a charter... I still have my business plan and I guess if the right situation or offer came up I'd consider it again, but now that other life changes have occured, reason #2 (for buying the boat) has taken precedence. "Project Intrepid" is all about making it work... How to make the boat pay for itself, in a habitability sense and to create the most civilized liveaboard experience possible... In Japan... For a guy who has to make himself presentable, since I still have to work fulltime to pay for this. Making it work financially... Can owning and living aboard a boat make financial sense, compared to the alternatives of: buying a house (what about the market?) or renting (nothing to show for when your lease is up!)? There could be a whole huge philosophical debate about this (maybe in another post) but suffice to say, this is really what "Project Intrepid" is all about: Sailing Mojo- the art of practical and civilized living aboard a boat.

A New and Improved Soap Box

Call me Ishmael... Isn't that how a good sea story is supposed to start? Well, ever since my hard drive crashed and I lost my pirated (arrrgh!) copy of MS Frontpage, I haven't been able to update my old Intrepid-Seas.com website. So, if anyone's noticed, that's why it sucks and will be soon taken offline. Oh well... Now I found a better way to communicate with the world. Thanks Maria (A Fish in Japan)! From now on, all relevant public announcements regarding "Project Intrepid" will be made using this blog. Pretty nifty, huh? It's easy, anyone can start their own blog, just follow the links above. I'll try to make this as interesting and informative as possible. The purpose of this blog will be to document my experience on a boat. The boat, Intrepid, a 1967 Bristol 32 sloop is no ordinary boat. And the experience... well, judge for yourself but so far I think my time sailing in Okinawa, Japan has been anything but ordinary!