| Well, I just don't know for sure. I pant and flutter around marinas
and yacht clubs like a fuzzy -cheeked kid in the parlour of his first sporting
house, looking at all the glistening and dazzling wonders, ultra-lights
and ultra-thins and I must admit I am fascinated and immediately want one
of each. But then I behold the fine sweet curves of some old-fashioned
beauty, built for comfort and moderate speed and all the jitters and flitters
dis-appear, and I calm instantly down, and something very deep inside me
says, "She's the one."
And all that in the face of common knowledge and personal experience that fast is fun, and lighter boats with smaller sails and quick response are much more exciting to handle, but deep down inside I'm just a lazy loafer who loves the motion and comfort of a nice big momma who can lull me to sleep. The Alajuela 38 is a boat of comforting, reassuring beauty, designed following the lines of William Atkin's Ingrid and built with almost paranoidal pride by Betty arid Don Chapman of Alajuela Yachts in Huntington Beach, California. |
Alajuela 38 - Colin Archer/Wm. Atkin LOA-38'0'' LWL-32'7'' Beam-11'6'' Draft-5'7'' Displ.-27,000 lbs. Ballast-10,000 lbs. Sail Area-880 sq. ft. |
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| It all began like the story of so many other cruising boats, with someone who wanted to build a safe, comfortable cruiser, but could afford it only if he built a good number of them and sold all but one. Such was the case of Mike Riding in the early '70's who had dreams of cruising with his lady whom he had met in the little Costa Rican town of Alajuela. With help they built and filled and ground away at a plug for over three years, until they were satisfied that it was as good as they could get, at which point they pulled a mould, and voila, Ala-juela was born. | Now three years for a hull may not
sound like too much to you, but many companies tool up a hull and a deck
in three months. Mike and his friends lived and worked in a dusty lot,
while up the street in a clean and airy building, Westsail - who had started
not much before - was the star of Time magazine and was popping out boats
at the rate of fifteen a month in different stages of completion.
Meanwhile, Alajuela caught fire too. They decided no more fooling around, rolled up their sleeves and finished tooling up the deck in twenty-two months. Then they puttered and fidgeted, making their own bronze castings for gudgeons and pintles and portlights - that don't store even one drop of water - into pieces that would make a jeweler proud. |
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