Taiwanese Tuesday!

Taiwan is a small island nation off the coast of China proper, and has a long history as a boat building region. Taiwan might even have had the highest concentration of yacht yards geographical, anywhere in the world, through the 70's and  80's.  Boats from a great many manufactures and designers were and are built in Taiwan, and nearly every sailor knows brands from that area.  Many of my personal favorites are built in this area, and so we will feature boats from Taiwan on Tuesdays often.  One important issue to be aware of when looking at boats from this area of the world - the stainless steel used on vessels here is of inconsistent quality and must be considered unreliable. Any vessel must be carefully inspected to insure that the chain plates and other structural fittings in stainless steel are free of corrosion and in sound condition. It would not be unreasonable to issue a blanket 'must replace' on any structural stainless more than 25 years old on vessels from this area.. and again at any age it must be inspected carefully before being put into service.

Toady we will talk about the Passport 42.  Passport Yachts have been offing well designed and constructed offshore cruising yachts since 1979 and they were all built in Taiwan up to the mid-nineties when boat builders began to shift to factories on mainland China.   Passport owners have banded together and created the website http://passportyachts.org/ where you can find a wealth of knowledge and quite surely owners (current , former or would be ) who will be ready to share what they have learned with you.   The Passport 42 is a sister of the Slocum 43, a vessel which I had the pleasure to sail earlier this year.  A powerful and stiff vessel that shows a surprising turn of speed and will prove very comfortable in offshore conditions as well as being fun to sail too!

The vessel I have noticed and want to share with you is currently lying in Annapolis MD and has recently been well refit including deck re-core, standing rigging replacement and complete refinishing of the hull and interior; which combined with stout original construction mean this would be an ideal choice for a couple or small family wishing to voyage under sail.   This vessel has the additional benefit of fiberglass water tanks- an improvement over the commonly found 'black-iron' tanks on vessels from this area - and what tanks they are!  120 gallons of fuel and and 150 gallons of water mean you can get just about anywhere, and don't really need a water maker to get their either.  If I were buying this boat for offshore cruising I would look to add: a windvane self steering, two solar panels, a 12v fridge and a new chartplotter/radar - and then hit the high seas!     She is for sale asking $95,000 and was built in 1984. There are at least 4 other Passport 42 Sailboats for sale on the market today;  If you would like full details of this vessel or any other please email me : yachtbot@gmail.com

You can see a link to the boats page here:
http://www.yachtworld.com/boats/1984/Passport-42-New-Decks-42-2632493/Annapolis/MD/United-States#.Up345sRwqSo


BVI Yacht Sales is a used boat brokerage office located at Nanny Cay Marina in Tortola, British Virgin Islands. Selling nearly 100 boats each year. BVI Yacht Sales is the largest independent yacht brokerage in the Caribbean, selling more than double the volume of boats than any competitor and over 20% of the Caribbean market each year.  Brian Duff is a Yacht Broker at BVI Yacht Sales and a former yacht refit specialist in yacht rigging as well as a cruising and live aboard sailor. Email yachtbot@gmail.com today !