Etoile du Sud Photo Archive

 Etoile du Sud Photo Archive




























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 I purchased Etoile du Sud, a Benford 34 Junk Schooner in February 2022 in Ventura, CA.  The previous owner had used the boat as a convenient apartment for several years, and considerable work was needed to ready her for ocean cruising.  The boat needed paint and new sails, the tiller was rotten,  the engine was not running, everything needed to be cleaned, there was no way to pump out the holding tank for the head when underway, there was no permanent stove installation, ... the list of renovations and needed upgrades seemed to be endless.  And my daily confrontation with these realities was dispiriting: After 6 weeks of work, the boat was ready to go, with new handmade sails (a project previously started at home in Seattle), a rebuilt rudder, and a fuel tank thoroughly cleaned by professionals (or so I thought).  I felt like I had gone through a masters level exam in every subject related to boat maintenance and repair by the time the travel lift came for...
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  R&R in San Carlos:  January 2025 Update   During a break in Orquesta Sinfonica Vallarta rehearsals in Puerto Vallarta at the end of 2024, I drove up to San Carlos, and spent 2 weeks, with significant local assistance, moving several repair or upgrade projects forward: 1.    1.  getting the rudder back on the boat with new gudgeons, 2.       2.   installing a 2 nd house battery and switch bank whose main purposes are providing power to the new Pelagic autopilot when underway, or recharging the Torqueedo electric outboard batteries when in port or anchored out somewhere, and 3.       3.  installing a new dodger with a roof consisting of solar panels charging the new 2 nd house bank. The rudder project began back in October, with local mechanic Francisco Navarette helping me get the rudder removed from the boat.   His air-powered tools and expertise were invaluable in this part of the project, re...
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  Cruising in the Northern Sea of Cortez April 2024   It has been 2 years since my previous post about sailing adventures with Etoile du Sud, my Benford 34 junk schooner.   Due to problems in finding crew for an ocean voyage and the near impossibility of getting insurance for a plywood-epoxy-fiberglass composite home-built vessel in the US, time passed by and spring 2024 found Etoile and me still in the boatyard at San Carlos, pursuing various small projects and planning a voyage across the Sea of Cortez to Santa Rosalia.   After installing a propane system with a 2-burner cooktop, figuring out problems with a VHF installation, and resolving some engine starting and stopping issues, I had the boat launched using the "low-boy” hydraulic-arm trailer at Marina San Carlos.   This is a really low stress operation.   The low-boy pushed by a large tractor shows up in the boatyard (Marina Seca San Carlos – the “dry” marina), the boat gets lifted by hydraulic ar...
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