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The Vagabond 47 ketch is a world renowned, classic, blue-water cruiser designed by the famous Canadian naval architect William Garden.   

 

Her form captures the spirit of a time when sailing ships represented the height of technology and her function embodies the strength, safety and comfort of a serious ocean-going yacht. 

 

 Our Boat

Hull number 148 was laid up in the Tiawanese yard of Blue Water Yachts, LLC in 1975 for an Austrian gentleman.  She was christened Incorrigible and claimed Lucerne, Austria as her home port.  The owner sailed Incorrigible across the Atlantic three times.  

She was eventually bought by a Georgia businessman who renamed her Mechaya and sailed her for a few years in the Caribbean Islands.  She sat on the hard at English Harbor in Antigua for five years after his death until his son began to sail her again. The son abused her terribly and left her to rot at dockside while he smoked weed and burned through his father's hard-earned fortune.  She was basically abandoned at Tierra Verde Marina in St. Petersburg, Florida, where I found her.

       Vagabond 47 Specifications:

  • Length:                        46ft 7in / 14.20m

  • Beam:                          13ft 5in / 4.10m

  • Draft:                           5ft 6in / 1.68m

  • LWL:                             36ft 0in / 11.0m

  • Displacement:            40,000lbs / 18,180kg

  • Ballast:                         12,000lbs / 5,450kg

  • Water Capacity:          250gal / 1,136lts

  • Fuel Capacity:             290gal / 1,318lts 

  1. The first day I laid eyes on her
  2. The hull after sandblasting
  3. The hull after gel-coating applied
  4. The hull with topside painting underway
  5. The hull with topside painting completed
  6. Detailed finish work on hull
  7. Aft with all painting completed
  8. The deck before demolition
  9. The deck mid-demolition
  10. The deck after gel-coating applied
  11. The deck read for synthetic teak
  12. The deck with synthetic teak installed
  13. The interior before demolition
  14. The interior with demolition underway
  15. The gutted interior
  16. Interior construction underway
  17. Engine room prior to demolition
  18. The new Beta Marine B90 engine
Interior mid-construction

Interior mid-construction

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After negotiating for almost three months with the widow of the owner we finally reached an agreement.  On August 8, 2008, I met her son at Tierra Verde, wrote him a small check and took ownership of Mechaya.

 

I brought her back to Cincinnati where I began a massive restoration project.  She has been taken down to a bare fiberglass hull and deck and totally rebuilt, inside and out.  She has been re-christened Perfect Love and is now our home.

To view the blog that details the restoration click on the link ...........

  1. Main Salon looking forward
  2. Main Salon looking aft
  3. Galley
  4. Navigation Station
  5. Vanity in Main Head
  6. Hallway to Master's Cabin
  7. Master's Cabin
  8. Vanity in Forward Cabin
  9. Forward Cabin
  10. If the wind is right you can sail away and find tranquility ....
  11. The canvas can do miracles, just you wait and see ....
  1. Shakedown cruise on Mobile Bay

  2. Shakedown cruise on Mobile Bay

  3. Shakedown cruise on Mobile Bay

  4. Shakedown cruise on Mobile Bay

  5. Shakedown cruise on Mobile Bay

  6. Anchored off of Cayo Costa

  7. Cruising off of Marco Island

  8. Cruising off of Marco Island

  9. Cruising off of Marco Island

  10. Anchored off of Bahia Honda

  11. Anchored off of The Marquesas Islands
  12. Anchored in The Dry Tortugas

  13. Anchored in The Dry Tortugas

  14. Anchored off of Loggerhead Key

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