Sea Duty
Hal Sutphen talks about his P424
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| SEA DUTY 1978 Pearson 424, Hull Number 27, Ketch Rig
SEA DUTY (ex-LIBRA) was built in March 1978 and delivered to her original owners a few months later. They sailed her exclusively on Chesapeake Bay and took exceedingly good care of the boat. The current owners, Hal and Helen Sutphen, bought her in 1986, and cruised Chesapeake Bay until 1993. Since then, they have added significant offshore mileage to the boat's logbook as well as additional Bay cruising. The boat has been to Bermuda and back four times with Bermuda Cruising Rallies and has gone south with the West Marine Caribbean 1500 Cruising Rally three times and cruised as far south as Martinique. Two return passages to Chesapeake Bay have been via offshore routes, while one was via the Bahamas and parts of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. Future plans include participation in the 1999 Caribbean 1500 and a winter of cruising southward, perhaps as far as Trinidad. The boat's layout includes a V-berth with a lavatory, hanging locker and bench seat in the forward cabin (some models have a second head there) with a water tank and stowage space under the berth. The saloon has settees port and starboard. The centerline dining table has swing-up leaves on both sides. Each settee has a water tank under it and three stowage bins outboard, plus bookshelves and cabinets above the seats. An L-shaped galley is at the aft port side of the saloon, with a hanging locker (now converted to dry stores) and a companionway and ladder opposite to starboard. Aft of this companionway is the head with separate stall shower. Aft of the head is the navigation station to starboard and a double berth to port, with the main companionway between them. The large cockpit is protected by a dodger forward and a bimini aft that sets beneath the mizzen boom. Dinghy davits are on the stern. The engine is a Westerbeke 60 (rated at 54 HP), located beneath the aft companionway, driving the prop via a V-drive system. The original Grunert refrigeration system, using a compressor driven by the engine or a 110v AC (shore power) motor, is still in service. Numerous small blisters on the underwater hull were ground out and filled in 1986 and Interlux 1000/2000-epoxy barrier coat was applied. A number of small blisters developed about three years later, but since their removal/filling/sealing only an occasional very small blister has appeared in the ensuing 10 years. Many changes have been made to the boat, partly to replace obsolete or worn out original equipment, but mostly to enhance its capacity for extended cruising. The hull-mounted navigation lights were replaced with higher quality lights, a stern light on the stern pulpit and a BI-color light on the bow pulpit. A tricolor light was installed at the masthead. The original Combi instrument system was replaced with an Autohelm Sea Talk system (depth, speed, wind) including model 7000 autopilot using an electric linear drive connected to its own tiller arm on the rudder post. A second manual bilge pump (Edson, large capacity) was installed beneath the cabin sole adjacent to the head. Most of the neoprene-plug seacocks were replaced with bronze ball valves for easier operation. An automatic Halon fire extinguisher system was installed in the engine space. The fixed three-sided engine box was modified into three separately removable pieces to facilitate engine access. The in-line engine raw water strainer was replaced with a canister-style strainer. A three-blade feathering MaxProp replaced the fixed 3-blade prop. The two 4-D wet cell batteries were replaced by gel cells and a separate gel starting battery was added. A Balmar dual-output alternator serves both battery banks through an Amp Hour + 2 smart regulator system. A Heart Interface Freedom 10-inverter/battery charger was added to provide 110 VAC underway, and a small microwave was installed in the galley. The alcohol stove was replaced with a propane system. A TV with integral video tape player was added in the saloon. Five fixed portlights in the cabin and head were replaced with opening ports. The saloon companionway ladder was modified to improve access to the ex-hanging locker and to permit construction of an additional locker at the foot of ladder. An additional deck plate was opened in the saloon sole to gain access to unused storage space under the deck, the cabinet above the galley sink was modified to access more unused space and a double-deck set of stowage boxes was mounted beneath the cabin sole above the very deep bilge cavity in the keel. All deck plates were modified to lock in place. The cockpit cushions have been replaced with closed-cell foam cushions and the interior settees and bunks were reupholstered. Lee cloths were installed for both settees and the aft cabin bunk. Interior incandescent dome lights are being replaced with Alpenglow fluorescent units. An upgraded nav station outfit includes new VHF radio, Collision Avoidance Radar Detector, Loran, GPS, 406 MHz EPIRB and SGC HF single side band radio with automatic tuner. The nav station itself was modified to replace the swing-out stool with a bench/stowage box, and a swing-out extension was added to the chart desk. A Lexan skylight panel was added in the sliding hatch of the forward companionway and sealer strips were installed to control chronic leakage around that hatch. The three deck hatches were replaced with Bomar hatches having lever-operated latches instead of screw-style knobs. The ground tackle was upgraded with a 55lb Delta anchor and all-chain rode, with an Ideal anchor windlass (stainless) to replace the original (mostly aluminum) Simpson-Lawrence unit. A removable inner forestay was added to the rig, with counterbalancing running backstays, and a reefable staysail added to the sail inventory for heavy weather conditions. Aluminum safety rails were installed atop the coachroof adjacent to the mast. Strong padeyes fitted in the cockpit plus sturdy jacklines rigged from bow cleat on each side provide secure attachment points for safety harnesses and allow full maneuverability on deck while at sea. A 6-man life raft was mounted atop the cabin. A deck floodlight was mounted on the forward side of mizzenmast. A cockpit shower unit was plumbed to the pressure water system. The original Hood Sea Furl headsail furling system was replaced with a Schaeffer system. A new mainsail (with three reefs) was added several years ago, along with lazy jacks to ease sail handling. After more than 20 years of service from the original genoa and mizzen, they are being replaced this spring. In the spring of 1997, at the end of the passage back from the Caribbean, inspection disclosed damage to the main mast from unknown causes - an inward deflection of the spar walls on both port and starboard sides just below the spreaders. Incident to replacement of the spar, the reel-type main halyard winch was replaced with a conventional winch, halyards were converted to all-rope and run internally. A Firdell Blipper radar reflector was permanently installed aloft and all standing rigging was renewed. The mainsail slide system was replaced with the low-friction Strong System by Tides Marine. SEA DUTY has been a thoroughly enjoyable cruising boat. Her relatively short rig, 13 foot beam and less than 6-foot draft mean she's no race horse to windward, but she surely loves to reach off on a stiff breeze. Driven into a head sea, she'll occasionally pound quite hard, and the large flat panels of the bow section (adjacent to the V-berth) will flex in a heavy sea, but have not done so to a dangerous degree. She'll carry full working sail until apparent winds get above 20 knots (forward of the beam) and then a reef in the main will improve her ride without loss of speed. Her enormous cockpit is a joy in port and in fine weather at sea, but with only two relatively small cockpit drains, the boat must be sailed cautiously in a following sea or in conditions that create risk that boarding sea could fill the cockpit. She motors at close to 6 knots in most conditions and on offshore passages she has averaged a similar speed, remaining under sail even when winds drop to single-digit strength. Characteristics: LOD 42' 4" (with bow anchor platform and stern davits, 47' 6") |
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