Loading...
I had the pleasure of dealing with her previous owner, Tom, who was an excellent custodian of the boat - having sailed her to the ice in the Arctic Circle!
The boat is now owned by Matt, and Helen was originally designed for her first owner as a single hander, and it is to this day one of the best examples of this type of BCC. Being a 32' BCC, the boat has huge capacity and is incredibly spacious for its intended audience.
The boat features incredibly useful additions such as a spacious head (toilet), and a generous workspace - complete with vice, which is perfect for earning a living as you cruise.
Helen was handbuilt in 1999 by Rockport Marine in Maine, USA. This boatbuilder has high reputation in the industry, and the boat is a magnificent example of wooden boat building craftsmanship. Indeed, some of the shipwrights that worked on Helen are still employed at Rockport and remember the boat fondly.
The following information was taken directly from the boat's listing on Rockport Marine's website, as this fantastic and incredibly well specc'ed Bristol Channel Cutter is now for sale at a great price. Although set up for single handing, the boat could easily be converted to sleep six (like Ubique), and would have the added bonus of you having the chance to spec the layout according to your wishes.
The construction is cedar planks on white oak frames, with a Sitka spruce mast and boom designed by Brooklin Boatyard and built by French and Webb.
Forward is an ample size chain locker, with access from the forward cabin. The chain locker has a mushroom vent and chain falls. Attached to the deck within the chain locker is a 5 gal stainless steel tank which can be used for the diesel stove or lamp oil. The forward cabin consists of a double Pullman berth to port and a work bench to starboard. There are lockers under the berth and lockers with shelves under the work bench.
The forward overhead opens fore or aft and has a built-in fresh water collection system. The topside of the forward hatch has teak bases for the liferaft, There is a book rack at the foot of the Pullman berth and at one end of the work bench.
Moving aft to starboard is a hanging locker with shelves, within the passageway from the main to forward cabin. Opposite to port within the main cabin is a Refleks diesel heater vented to a “Charlie Noble” stack on the cabin top. There is a storage locker below the diesel stove. A Chelsea clock and barometer are located on the forward cabin bulkhead. The galley has ample space for foodstuffs within four lockers, plus a locker under each of the sink and the gimballed 2 burner Luke H3LPG stainless steel stove with oven. The deep stainless steel sink has two bronze hand pumps, on for fresh water and the other for salt water. There are three stainless steel water tanks, two starboard (21 gal. and 45 gal.) and one under the port side pilot berth (33 gal). Behind the sink and stove are shelves for utensils, plates and bowls, spices and other kitchen items.
Opposite the galley is a settee wth storage below and a pilot berth with lee cloth above and behind. There is a storage cabinet at the foot of the pilot berth. Aft of the the settee and pilot berth is a fully enclosed head with a Baby Blake toilet and fittings. Within the head compartment, toward outboard, is a cabinet with shelves. Behind the toilet on the bulkhead is a small door with access to the battery compartment and engine fresh water coolant overflow tank. The house batteries are two 6V deep cycle batteries linked in series, plus one 12V starter battery, all hardwired to a Guest trickle charge unit. There is a spare 12V starter battery within the engine compartment.
Aft of the gallery to starboard is the control panel; ice locker, which can be used as a table for navigation; and a vertical paper chart locker. Further aft to starboard is a quarter berth. Overhead within the quarter berth is an inverted compass hung from the cabin ceiling, to allow monitoring of boat heading from the bearth. It is also possible to monitor the chart plotter from the quarter berth. The chartplotter can also be accessed remotely using Bluetooth and an ipad.
Cabin soles are solid teak boards, all removable for access to the entire bilge. Plumbing for fresh and sea water is accessed in the bilge compartment, as well as three seacocks. The cockpit has an Admiral control panel for the diesel engine; a Raymarine i70 display for depth, lat and long coordinates, or wind speed and heading; and a Weems and Plath-CPL Merkur SF compass. The chart plotter is on a bronze swing bracket so that it can be oriented to face either the cabin interior or the cockpit. Below the chartplotter is an ICOM VHF radio, which has an external speaker which can be mounted on a bracket on the external cabin side adjacent the cockpit. On the cabin wall above the quarter berth is an ACR EPIRB. Aft of the cockpit is a lazerette storage compartment and access to seacocks.
(all purchased 2012 or more recent):
This year the boat voyaged from Maine to Labrador, much of it single-handed. “PHALAROPE” is presently in Maine, where she will spend her winter.
“PHALAROPE” is described as a four-wheel drive sailor. She is blue water tested, steady in a sea and well appointed. A recent survey is available upon request.
Follow this link to read the boats travel blog and view additional photos.
We're keen to grow a great online BCC community, so we'd really appreciate if you could take just 30 seconds to signup to Disqus, our trusted comments system (one time only), and share any thoughts for others to enjoy. Your personal data is utterly private, and will NEVER be shared with anyone else. Let's grow this thing!
