The Vessel

In February of 2014 we took the plunge and bought the boat we hope to live and go cruising on. 

It was one of the boats that made the short list you can see at the bottom of this page.  It came up on the market in Texas, the Houston area. We were not planning on buying at this time as I was unemployed but close to having a job.  But it was really too good of a deal to pass up. 

Really we were just looking!

We have decided to name her Lodestar.

Here are the details of the 1981 44' Gulfstar Center Cockpit.

The layout of the 44

Dimensions
LOA: 44 ft 6 in
Beam: 13 ft 2 in
LWL: 35 ft 5 in
Maximum Draft: 5 ft 6 in
Displacement: 26000 lbs
Ballast: 8500 lbs

Engine
Total Power: 62 HP
Engine Brand: Perkins
Year Built: 1981
Engine Model: 4-154 m
Engine Type: Inboard
Engine/Fuel Type: Diesel
Engine Hours: 1911
Propeller: 3 blade propeller
Drive Type: Direct Drive
Cruising Speed: 7 knots
Maximum Speed: 9 knots

Tanks
Fresh Water Tanks: (140 Gallons)
Fuel Tanks: (80 Gallons)

Accommodations
Forward is a comfortable stateroom with berthing and storage for two. Just aft to port is the forward head with private entrances from both the forward stateroom and main salon. To starboard is integrated storage. Aft is the spacious main salon with seating for at least six. Aft to port is a large U shaped galley that works as well at sea as it does at anchor. To starboard is a large dedicated nav station. Aft to starboard is a full headroom passageway to the master cabin. On the starboard side is lots of storage, to port is the electrical panel and entry into the oversize engine room. Furthest aft is a very comfortable master stateroom with king size berth and head with separate, standup stall shower.  From the aft end of the salon is the companion way to the comfortable cockpit with easy seating for seven.

 Here is a review of the 44 Gulfstar

Our Gulfstar 44

 

Joan with the new boat

Some of our previous boats:

Our first boat was a 1980 26' Chrysler with a swing keel.  This boat had a tiller and sailed great.  I will always have fond memories of this great tiller boat and how well it handled. Lots of weight in the keel kept her stable.  We learned a lot on this boat with sailing and learning how to work on a boat.

We then bought a 29' Ericsson.  It had all the things we wanted to upgrade to on a boat.  A bimini, self-tailing winches, roller furling, room to sleep.  We continued to  learn working on a boat.  Probably the biggest thing was working on the Atomic 4 engine.

This is a gas engine so extra precautions had to be take, but it is a great engine and I would never discourage any one from owing a boat with one.  And this was again a very nice boat to sail.

Blew under the moon

Finally we owned a Santana 20.  If you ever want to sail a keel boat that has the feel of a dinghy and don't want to spend a lot of money on one then this is the boat for you.

While looking for our cruising  boat.  We went through the same process that all cruisers have gone through to find and eliminate boats.  I won't go through that list as it can be found in lots of places.

After looking at boats up and down the Eastern seaboard and the Great Lakes we have decided that we are going to try and get a Center Cockpit boat.

Our short list is down to:

Brewer 44

Gulfstar 44 (>1980)

Bristol 41.1

Pearson 422.

Wish us luck