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Our Boat: 1977 Aleutian-51 Ketch, a powerful and sea kindly sailing machine.
We bought Tulum V in February 2018 and moved onto her as a whole family in July 2018. I also retired in July of 18; so I’ve been working on her consistently since then. She’s in need of LOTS of TLC, overhaul of several systems and just simple regular maintenance. But…I’m in love with her. She’s got strong bones, has proven to sail well, has well-thought out blue water features and is built like a tank (in Taiwan).
From information collected on this website before, during and after the sale of the boat, we think only 11 of these sailboats were built, but they are still considered production boats. Some were built in Taiwan and several were built in Canada. I’ve been in contact with at least five different current or former owners, who all rave about the boats. There’s a great deal of work to be done on her, keep following for those updates as we go along.
Throughout this year, we’ve been adding supplemental equipment that didn’t come with the boat, the list is below in the stats section, but most of the gear would be needed or wanted by most sailors anyways, especially as we looked forward to extended cruising.
In August of 2019 we had the engine removed and completely rebuilt, just two months before we had planned to leave the US with Baja Ha-Ha 2019. The rebuilt engine went back in the boat the week before the Baja Ha-Ha started…and we motored out of San Diego into a new life on schedule.
Tulum's Specs
Type: Sail,Cruising-Ctr Ckpt- Aleutian 51 Ketch
Year: Model-1977 Mfg-1976
LOA: 51′
LOD: 51′ / 15.544m
LWL: 43′
Beam: 14′
Max Draft: 8′
Disp: 36,000 lbs
Fuel: 180gals
Water: 110gals
Range: 1000
Bridge Clr: 68′
Headroom: 6′5
Flag: US
Builder: CHUNG HWA BOAT BLD CO (Formosa, Taiwan)
Model: Aleutian CC Ketch
Hull Mtl: Fiberglass, Cfg: Keel / Color: White
Deck: Teak
Top: Ketch
Naval Arch: S.C. HUNTINGFORD
Engines: Single x 120/hp Diesel IB 1977 Ford Motor Co 8994971 (Ford Lehman) (Rebuilt 2019 by VB Engineering)
Overhaul: 2018-2019
Max Speed: 8k@2000rpm
Cruise Speed: 5.5k @1000rpm
Accom-Gsts: Yes
Galley: Yes, pass through
Crew-Accom: No
Ballast Mtl: Unk
Ballast Wgt: 12000lbs
Supplemental Cruising Equipment: (didn’t come with the boat):
12 ft Zodiac RIB
20h Honda 4-stroke
Forspar Outboard Engine Lift
Six extra solar panels with two Blue Sky MPPT Charge Controllers
Magnum Energy Invertor/Charger
SilentWind 400+ Wind Turbine
Tank Tender
CPT Autopilot (backup)
Revere Survival Offshore Commander 8-person Liferaft
66-pound Bruce (original).
43-pound Danforth (kedge/backup)
New main and mizzen sails from cruising sailmaker Jamie Gifford (S/V Totem) and Zoom Sails (2019)
- New Stak Paks for both main and mizzen from Zoom Sails (2021)
New (HUGE) Jib from Zoom Sails (2021)
- Lithium Batteries (House Bank) (2021)
Iridium-Go from SeaTech Systems
Long Range WiFi and Cellular Antennas with Broadband Router from SeaTech Systems.
- New Chainplates and Standing Rigging- (2020)
Our First Boat: Tulum IV
Tulum IV
2000 Hunter 460
Our first sailboat was a 2000 Hunter 460 and only had two owners prior to our purchase of her. She wasn’t perfect, but she was perfect for us at the time. In November of 2017 we sold Tulum IV to the right buyer. I’m a huge proponent of the fact that a boat will sell when the right buyer comes along, it can’t really be forced. The new buyers told us they were going to prep Tulum IV for the 2018 Baja Ha-Ha and sail away in October of 2018….and they did. I’m proud that they did what they said they were going to do.
I started looking at boats on the internet in 2009 but didn’t actually start looking at boats for real until 2011. Once I started looking at actual boats, I toured lots of boats (more than 50) and dragged my wife through tours of at least 25 different boats.
Rightly or wrongly, I was set on a leaky teaky (something older, heavier and built in Taiwan)….but also realized that buying an older, heavier boat might require a lot of money AFTER purchase to bring up to a cruising standard. I did find older boats that had already been brought up to a high standard, but the prices reflected. I also learned the financing and marine survey game. Basically, if the Marine Survey won’t support the accepted offer you make, most banks won’t finance the purchase or will require you to put down the difference in cash.
We wanted to buy with a Zero Down Loan (since we had little cash), so we needed to find a boat where the survey would match our offer. We also learned the game of buying an older boat that might have gear we wanted but needed cash to upgrade or buying a slightly new boat (more expensive up front) that had gear we wanted but needed less cash for upgrades. After hauling and surveying two different sailboats, we chose a 2000 Hunter 460.
At a mini-boat show event at Yachtfinders in 2013, we actually went aboard the same boat that we would eventually buy, but didn’t realize she was the right boat and it wasn’t the right time to buy anyways. We would eventually realize she was the right boat and would agree as a couple that we wanted to buy a boat AND go cruising. This is important to me…..my wife wasn’t just agreeing to buy a boat, she was agreeing to go adventuring with me and the family!
