Proximity is a 1976 Swan 41. She was designed by Sparkman and Stephens, and was built by Nautor in Finland. She is a dream to sail. We find her spirited, but well mannered. Built like a tank, and ready to take good care of her crew. She goes upwind like a monkey climbing a tree, and always with a comfortable seakindly motion. She unusual for a cruising boat in that she has no big dodger. We have a small racing-style spray hood over the hatch - another unusual feature. That is, she has no companion way or hatch boards. One enters the boat by climbing straight down, through a sliding, almost military "rabbit hole" style hatch in the cabin top, forward of the cockpit. This gives a very secure and dry cabin, and for us, the inconvenience of no walk-through companion way is outweighed by the simplicity and seaworthiness.
Her previous owners had cared for her well, and she was in fine condition when we bought her. However, was nearly 30 years old at the time, and as such, was due for some updating and refitting in order to be really fit for a world cruise. We started by replacing the standing and running rigging. We had the mast out and rewired. We removed the rudder and checked all components, installed radar, chartplotters both at the helm and down below. Updated the B&G instruments and installed a new autopilot. Rewired the main electrical panel and added an isolation transformer and inverter. (We can now plug into docks using 240 volts with a flip of a switch. Thank you Liem Dao!)
We had UK sails make us a set of carbon spectra mylar tape drive sails. We upgraded the ground tackle to 300' of 10mm chain, and a 25 kg. Ultra anchor. We equipped the boat with a Spade and Fortress as back ups.
We installed a new Volvo Penta D2-55 engine. The old Perkins was healthy, but was 30 years old. Upgraded the Max-Prop to three blades.
We installed 2, 85 watt Shell solar panels , and an Air-X Marine wind generator with the silent blades.
In the galley, we installed an Italian Techempex gimballed stove/oven.
The salon got a Reflex diesel heater...
We will continue to update this section, and I promise many photos and reports of how things work - both good and bad. Oh yes, one thing we installed that transformed the boat was the Walder boom brake, a brilliant device. We can't say enough good about it. We love it.
...to be continued.
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