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FIONA: |
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FIONA: |
FIONA is a Westsail 42. My wife, Edith, and I saw the first hull of the series under construction at Costa Mesa, California in 1974. The salesman was very pressing and for a small deposit we arranged to have a hull delivered in 1975. We had sold our beloved Dutch boat, IONA, a couple of years before. On that boat we had cruised the Caribbean with our son Colin, then 3 years old, for 15 months in 1968-69. Both IONA and FIONA have the old-fashioned long keel of the genuine ocean cruiser and when Edith first saw the Westsail 42 on the stocks she exclaimed, “My God, another f-ing IONA!”. This is how FIONA got her name.
Our daughter Brenda arrived on the scene in 1971 and it was clear our cruising days were over for a while. When I saw the Westsail 42 I figured I could complete her in about 3 to 4 years. In fact it took 8 years; she was launched in 1983.
The interior is mostly mahogany and teak. The head liner and most bulkheads are made of white Formica glued to plywood. I added some structural re-inforcing in the form of 1 ½ inch diameter stainless steel poles between the hull and cabin top. These are also very handy to grab for when the boat rolls unexpectedly. The engine is an 85-hp Perkins diesel. The engine room is lined with 1/16 inch thick lead sheet for sound-proofing. There is an engine-driven cold-plate freezer . Eric originally built this using the compressor off a Chrysler Newport air conditioner but in 2004 he installed a 'Sea Frost' freezer kit which uses the newer R134A refrigerant. Electric power is generated while sailing by an alternator coupled to the propeller shaft.
| LOA (Not including bow platform) | 42' 9" |
| Clearance Length, Panama Canal | 49' |
| LWL | 37' |
| Beam | 13' |
| Draft | 6' 3" |
| Displacement, empty | 37,000 lbs |
| Internal ballast (in keel) | 11,000 lbs |
| USCG Net Tonnage | 24 T |
| USCG Gross Tonnage | 25 T |
| Sail Area, working Main | 470 sq. ft. |
| Sail Area, Genoa Jib | 500 sq. ft. |
| Sail Area, Staysail | 150 sq. ft. |
| Sail Area, Storm Main | 310 sq. ft. |
| Sail Area, Yankee Jib | 280 sq. ft. |
| Sail Area, Spitfire Jib | 40 sq. ft. |
| Engine | Perkins, 85 horsepower |
| Fuel Capacity | |
| xxxxxxxxCenter tank | 85 gallons |
| xxxxxxxxPort tank | 50 gallons |
| Water Capacity | |
| xxxxxxxxPort tank | 50 gallons |
| xxxxxxxxCenter tank | 100 gallons |
| xxxxxxxStarboard tank | 50 gallons |
| Mast, Aluminum (deck stepped) | 4 x 7.5" x 50 ft. |
| Air clearance | 59 ft. |
| Rigging | |
| xxxxxxHeadstay and backstay | 3/8" 1x19 stainless wire |
| xxxxxxForestay and 8 each shrouds | 5/16" 1x19 stainless wire |
| Ground Tackle | |
| xxxxxxChain | 7/16" x 280 ft |
| xxxxxxFisherman Anchor | 65 lbs |
| xxxxxxCQR Anchor | 45 lbs |
| xxxxxxDanforth Anchor | 45 lbs |
| xxxxxxDanforth Anchor | 25 lbs |
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| May-Aug, 1983 | Long Island, Block Island | 271 |
| Aug, 1983 | Long Island to Bermuda and return | 1,576 |
| Oct, 1983 | Long Island | 144 |
| July, 1984 | Nova Scotia, Cape Breton Island, St Pierre and Miquelon | 2,540 |
| Aug, 1984 | Block Island | 46 |
| Sept, 1984 | Long Island | 146 |
| July-Aug, 1985 | St. Martin, Virgin Islands, Bermuda | 4,008 |
| Aug, 1985 | Block Island, Long Island | 197 |
| July-Aug, 1986 | Azores, Bermuda | 6,120 |
| Sept, 1986 | Block Island, Long Island | 210 |
| July, 1987 | Bermuda and Maine | 1,900 |
| Sept, 1987 | Block Island | 45 |
| Oct, 1987 | Long Island | 125 |
| July-Aug, 1988 | Caribbean and return to Long Island | 4,530 |
| July-Sept, 1989 | Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Maine | 3,014 |
| June-Oct, 1990 | South Pacific via Panama Canal | 8,073 |
| Nov 1991 -Apr 1992 | South Pacific to Bermuda via Cape Horn | 16,500 |
| June-Aug, 1992 | Bermuda, Block Island, Long Island | 844 |
| July-Sept, 1993 | Newfoundland, St. Pierre & Miquelon, Maine | 2,739 |
| June-Sept, 1994 | Nova Scotia, Cape Breton Is, Newfoundland, Labrador, Maine | 3,332 |
| July, 1995 -Sept, 1997 | Circumnavigation of the globe via Panama and Suez Canals | 38,183 |
| July, 1998-May, 1999 | Caribbean, Panama Canal, Chile , Antarctica, S. Africa | 21,784 |
| Sept-Oct, 1999 | Maine | 1,064 |
| June, 2000-May, 2001 | Newfoundland, Iceland, Spitsbergen, Norway, Scotland, Caribbean | 14,761 |
| Aug-Sept, 2001 | Maine | 963 |
| June, 2002-Sept, 2003 | Circumnavigation of the globe via Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn | 32,869 |
| June, 2004-May, 2005 | Ireland, Scotland, Baltic, England, Portland, Brazil, Falkland Islands | 21,522 |
| Aug-Sept, 2005 | Maine | 1,072 |
| June, 2006-May, 2007 | Canary Is, Brazil, Falkland Is, Antarctica, Chile, Peru, Panama, Bahamas | 19,819 |
| Sept, 2007 | Maine | 1,128 |
| June, 2008-Oct, 2008 | Azores, Greenland, Labrador, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Maine | 8,058 |
| June, 2009-May, 2010 | Greenland, Northwest Passage, Alaska, California, Mexico, Panama | 16,333 |
| July, 2011-April, 2012 | Nova Scotia, Iceland, Scotland, Ireland, Portugal, Brazil, Caribbean | 12,513 |
| Sept-Oct, 2012 | Maine | 910 |
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Total |
247,339 | |
| These distances are culled from eight successive logbooks. Failure of the distance log is not uncommon due to mechanical or electronic problems, or weeding. In this event the distance was calculated using GPS or Loran waypoints, which is always less than the distance actually sailed, thus the numbers are conservative. | ||
