Architeuthis is Mariner 31 hull number 9. She was built in Japan in 1968. She has a thick fiberglass hull, a full keel with encapsulated iron ballast and a cutaway forefoot. She's not the fastest sailboat around but she's tough and has a comfortable motion. You can find out more than you're likely to want to know about these boats over at the Mariner Yachts webpage. Architeuthis is named after the giant squid.
General Description
Her hull is thick solid fiberglass (no wood or foam core to take on water and delaminate). She has beautiful sitka spruce spars, and an interior built largely of African mahogany with a teak and holy sole. She was built by a US company at a Japanese shipyard in 1968, largely by hand, by skilled craftsmen using exotic hardwoods that aren't available these days. More information on the original specifications and history of Mariner Yachts can be found on the owner association's website: http://www.marineryachts.com/. |
| Fully loaded for cruising in Mexico and sitting a bit low in the water. |
| Manufacturer's line drawings. |
Equipment
Electrical
The 12 volt system works really well. The two solar panels are able to keep the house battery topped while living aboard (with the fridge on all the time) even in the cloudiest weather. While making passages with the fridge and the below deck autopilot on 24 hours per day (those are the two largest electrical draws on the boat by far) we had to run the engine once a week or so to keep up with demand, but I've replaced the fridge compressor with a more modern and efficient unit since then. The solar panels may be able to keep up all on their own now.- 2 x 140 watt Kyocera solar panels. Mounted port and starboard on the cockpit railings.
- Very large (I think it's this one) Lifeline brand AGM house battery in very good shape. New in 2010. Always kept topped up by solar panels.
- Smaller AGM battery for the engine. This one's a bit tired and not holding it's charge very well. But...
- Dual battery switches allow you to combine the engine and house systems and/or swap which battery runs which system.
- Xantrex LinkPRO battery monitor
- High output alternator (120w I think) and digital smart regulator. Original alternator provided as a spare.
- Almost all of the lighting on the boat is low-draw LED with just a few left over halogens in the fixtures that are rarely used.
- There's also quite a nice AC charger, several wall outlets, and a small inverter, but they're for US 110v shore power. We do have a large heavy-duty transformer that I believe will work to power the system from 240v AC that we can include with the boat. We've only used it for US power tools so far, but I think it would work. We've never needed to worry about it because the solar panels provide plenty of power for living aboard.
Navigation
All electronics were purchased and installed between 2008 and 2010. The sounder and radar are fully integrated with the chartplotter. The autopilot can communicate with the plotter as well (go to waypoint, etc.).- Garmin GPSMap 4208 with electronic charts for NZ, Tonga, Cooks, French Polynesia, Mexico, and USA. Mounted just inside companionway on an adjustable arm so it can be viewed from cockpit or cabin.
- Garmin GSD Digital Remote Sounder with Airmar P79 transducer.
- Garmin Radar (I need to look up the exact model, but I think it might be GMR 24). Great for watching for approaching squalls at night.
- Raymarine below deck auto pilot. Type 1 rotary drive (RAYM81135), S1 corepack (RAYE12114: course computer, compass, and rudder position indicator), and a ST6002 plus controller (RAYE12098P). Installation photos. The installation was a pretty major project, but it's hard to overstate how great this thing is for cruising. The autopilot can be seen steering the boat through some pretty sloppy conditions in the video at the top of the page. It never let us down and, honestly, I think it steers better than I do in nasty conditions.
- There's also a nice Ritchie bulkhead compass in the cockpit, but it's balanced for the northern hemisphere. It still works down here but the card is tilted.
- There's an old Garmin plotter provided as backup, with wiring and a mount in the cockpit, but it hasn't been used since 2008.
Communications
- ICOM IC-706MKIIG radio. Uses ham and SSB frequencies. Has an ICOM antenna tuner as well. We were able to check in with sailing nets everywhere we went and receive weather faxes. No problem talking to people on the other side of the Pacific.
- West Marine (made by Uniden, I think) VHF 500 dsc.
- EPIRB / 406 distress beacon. Probably needs the battery checked and/or replaced.
Ground Tackle
We spent close to a year living on the anchor. We dragged a little bit a few times, but we had less trouble than most. The windlass could use a rebuild and bit of reconfiguration, but it's quite adequate as is.- 15 kg Claw (a.k.a. Bruce) anchor on the bow with about 30 meters of 10mm chain and around 40 meters of nylon line. Chain was bought in NZ in 2012 and has seen very little use.
- Lighter (around 10kg) danforth anchor on the stern with around 10 m of chain and a lot of nylon line. Maybe 50 or 60 m? I can't remember.
- Massively oversized 20 kg Claw anchor stored on stern rail for use as storm anchor. Approx 12 m of heavy chain stowed separately. Never had to use the storm anchor but it was nice knowing it was there.
- Manual Hyspeed Windlass. It's currently frozen up from lack of use. While cruising, I generally just pulled the anchor up by hand. It was faster, it was a nice bit of daily exercise, and the anchor is light enough that it's not too big a chore. The windlass is supposed to be pretty easy to rebuild and spares are still available online.
Sails
- Genoa (around 130) on a harken mkIII roller ferler. Tan, made by UK sailmakers.
- Main with two reef points. Made by UK sailmakers
- Mizzen. Two reefs. UK sailmakers
- Mizzen stay sail. Hardly used.
- Asymmetrical spinnaker with sock. New in 2011. Nearly new condition.
- Oversized telescoping whisker pole.
Rigging
I'm not sure how old the rigging is, but most of it predates my ownership. My impression is that the boat was fully refitted (decks, rigging, sails, everything) around 2001 or so, and then it just sat in the marina until I bought it. We replaced some hardware (spreader tangs, bobstay and bobstay chainplate) in 2010. The rigger we talked to in California before we left said that, according to industry guidelines, we should've replaced it then due to it's (assumed) age, but that based on it's condition he'd personally keep it. It's been a while since I've been up the masts, but everything I can see still looks good. Here's a photo album of the work we did on the rigging back in late 2010.Engine
The engine is the original 40hp Perkins 4-108. If I remember correctly, it's got around 2500 hours on the clock (I need to look to be sure). It always starts and it's never smoked. I replaced the water pump, strainer, and hoses in 2014. I also pressure tested the heat exchanger and transmission oil cooler and painted it. It's big, low-tech, and sounds like a tractor but it keeps on going and I've never had a problem getting parts for it. We typically burn about half a gallon per hour while motoring.Decks
The ply-wood decks on these boats can be a source of trouble. The decks were completely replaced by a previous owner around 2001 or so. We've been quite vigilant about tracking down and fixing any little leaks (with epoxy), and we pulled all the stanchions, re painted the decks and non-skid, and resealed everything in 2014. So the decks are in good shape for a boat this old.General Good Stuff
We love this boat. So, when we've been able to, we've gone to extreme lengths to do things right. For instance, see this rebuild of the main hatch or this build-out of additional storage. These projects are representative of the care we've taken with this boat.
The Not So Good Stuff
The past year and a half or so has been a very busy time for us so we haven't been able to take care of Architeuthis the way we'd like to. Specifically, we've let some of the exterior varnish go. The toerails and drip rails are pretty well bare wood now, but they're teak so the wood itself is fine. You could revarnish it or leave it bare. The bottom paint has needs to be redone. It's lost its anti-foul abilities.
