How are Sabres higher quality?

[jssailem]

But from what I see they start at $4,000! yikes..

Just because you see YouTube sailors taking off with no knowledge and sailing across big waters, you did not think it would be for free.
Outfitting a boat, even one advertised as "Ready to take you Cruising" cost money. If you have room to store water you take away room to store food. Water makers allow you to make your own water so you have the room to store food. At $4000 it less expensive than adding another 2 feet to the boat length for water storage.

 

[jviss]

I believe it's actually 44 gallon, I may have messed up the numbers.

It's 38 gal. according to sailboatdata.com.

We use the water for washing ourselves and dishes; usually use bottled water for drinking. Cook with water from the tanks.

On the C36 with kids on board it was getting water every other day. With just my wife and me, every four days or so.

Surely for passage making you'd be drinking that water, and would be stingy about washing yourself, i guess. A lot of our showers, short as they were, were to rinse off the salt water after swimming.

My primary objection to a watermaker besides cost and maintenance is the power consumption. I would be running my main engine all the time! Coastal cruising there are plenty of places to pick up water, and in some ports there's deliver available! (Nantucket, Block Island.) And ice, too!

 

[JK_Boston_Catalina310]

A watermaker is a possibility to reduce water storage needs (just emergency rations only). But from what I see they start at $4,000! yikes..

First rule of cruising early (we started at 40) is that you only buy electronics that come new in a box.

We bought our watermaker for $1500. If I had a larger boat I would have bought a Spectra unit I found used for $2000. That was also a 12 volt unit but made 15 gallons per hour for the same 18 amps of power. However it is a physically larger unit and I couldn't find the space to install it. So instead I showed it to a friend with a 38 foot catamaran. He bought it which made his unit for sale. So it worked out in the end.

 

[Scandium]

It's 38 gal. according to sailboatdata.com.

We use the water for washing ourselves and dishes; usually use bottled water for drinking. Cook with water from the tanks.

On the C36 with kids on board it was getting water every other day. With just my wife and me, every four days or so.

Surely for passage making you'd be drinking that water, and would be stingy about washing yourself, i guess. A lot of our showers, short as they were, were to rinse off the salt water after swimming.

My primary objection to a watermaker besides cost and maintenance is the power consumption. I would be running my main engine all the time! Coastal cruising there are plenty of places to pick up water, and in some ports there's deliver available! (Nantucket, Block Island.) And ice, too!

Yes in a passage scenario I don't think you'd use fresh water for showers, and 50/50 saltwater for dishes etc. Could make it last a bit longer. I used to spend week+ at a cabin with only well water (carried in buckets up a hill), and wipe your face with a damp cloth was the only "shower" we got that whole time

Power use is certainly an issue. Guess have to count that vs saving storage for food etc. From what I see watermakers use 4-9 amps and up. That would be 70-150 Watts of solar for example. Water production for the smallest was 2 hr per day to get water for 4 people, i.e. 8 amp to get your daily water. That can be an issue on a smaller boat with smaller batteries and less space for solar..

 

[jssailem]

That can be an issue on a smaller boat with smaller batteries and less space for solar..

Only if you engineer it to be. Boats are engineering compromises attached to financial limitations. You want to sail from LA to Hawaii, 2,200 miles, it has been done in a 15 foot boat. Mostly stock with lots of stuff strapped to the deck. 36 days transit.
http://www.msog.org/yarns/hawaii15.cfm
Many things are possible. What you need to consider is what do you want to do.

 

[JK_Boston_Catalina310]

We added the watermaker in St. Thomas. We had been out for almost 2 years. Doing the east coast with a 35 gallon tank was easy. Water stops are plentiful.

The 6 months we spent in the Bahamas was the most difficult for water. The way our boat is setup there is the 35 gallon tank, the water heater is 20 gallons, we would carry 2 5-gallon cans on the rail and we had a 20 gallon bladder. I would use the bladder for water runs and had a pump setup to empty it into the tank.

When we were heading to some more deserted islands, like Lee Stocking our favorite spot in the Bahamas, we would tie the bladder down on deck and fill it. In this configuration we could go 3-4 weeks. This would include bypassing the water heater and draining it into a bucket to put the water in the tank. Typically we would run out of gas for the dinghy before water. We would not rinse off every day and we did crazy thinks like bucket water from cisterns at abandoned houses for laundry. Dishes were washed in salt with a very light fresh water rinse and we even boiled things like lobster, pasta and eggs in saltwater.

We did have issues with places that claimed to have fresh water in the Bahamas. Often. We would test the water and it would be over 1000 ppm TDS. Or they would tell us it's not drinkable. We have had to sail 30 nm out of our way for water. Even bought some gallons of water at $5 per gallon once while desperate.

We also never paid more than $0.50 a gallon for water (except those few gallon we bought. So you can't justify the cost of a watermaker by how much you pay for water. It's convenience and an Independence thing. But that governs a lot of decisions on our boat.

By the way, we removed the 20 gallon water heater. Just too big and it was starting to rot out in a few spots. We put a 6 gallon back in. So that wouldn't be worth the trouble to bypass and drain. But it did leave room for a 6 gallon rum tank .

 

[JRT]

it did leave room for a 6 gallon rum tank .

Seriously this needs to be documented for others to see and copy! I'd want 6 gallons of bourbon instead

 

[Scandium]

It's 38 gal. according to sailboatdata.com.

By the way, minor point, I'm not sure that's correct. The old Sabre catalogs on their site say two 22 gallons tanks.

 

[gatotom]

New to sailboat forum but not new to owning a sailboat.
The interesting part of this thread is only one person actually owned a Sabre.
Well I own a Sabre 38 mk 2 the last 5 yrs, before owning a C&C 36, a fine boat, sailed wonderful but as I was aging, now 72, the work on the C&C was getting to brutal. Let me explain, working on the engine thru the lazarette was brutal, fine for a young person. Also ventilation was non existent, no port windows. The toenail was always leaking somewhere and minimal woodwork inside but then again a blast to sail.
The quality and workmanship on a Sabre is evident the minute you walk on it, it has 7 port windows, plus 6 hatches for ventilation. The engine is now easy to work on with a engine cover in the stern bedroom. Water tankage is 106 gals, fuel 45 gals and holding tank 30 gal. Going out for a week, we rarely use all the water, my wife is not a water conserver. The fit and finish inside is teak and being a 1988 built is as pretty as it was new.
The sailing is wonderful, yes, I have a furling main with electric winch and I would never change back and it’s bs to think that a main without battens is inferior, you can control the shape just fine. With the C&C on 20-30 k winds, the main was down and it was a headsail day. On the Sabre, the main is up with the headsail down, the center of gravity is way better than with headsail only. The Sabre has a skeg rudder which makes it aliitle harder to do a pirouette but plays well in a 25 degree heel sail.
My slip neighbor owns a 37 C&C and we have been sailing for over 16 yrs. when he bought his C&C, he did look at a Sabre 38 mk 2 but bought the C&C because of the price. It was a good decision at the time but every time he walks on our boat, he kicks himself for not buying the Sabre.
Would I sail our boat anywhere on this planet, absolutely, I have no doubt on its built. It has sailed in desolation sound and in 2022 will sail to Alaska. Bottom line, this is our last boat and when the time comes to sell it, I will be sad for owning a Sabre was a joy that keeps on giving.

 

[Sheddski]

from what i see in my own search for a 28-30 its a tossup but the hulls sound the same tapping on them the decks look the same but go below and then the Angels Sing thats the money shot all Wood No Fiberglass so then you decide OK Stockup on Varnish and Teakoil And put down throw rug or just put down the extra cash in pocket to Buy the Catalina or Hunter and go Sailing to me thats the difference i drive a toyota but the Engine is a Lexas ? so im still driving a High end product but im not paying upfront for it ?

 

[FastOlson]

the extra cash in pocket to Buy the Catalina or Hunter and go Sailing to me thats the difference i drive a toyota but the Engine is a Lexas ? so im still driving a High end product but im not paying upfront for it ?

Your analysis does not credit the huge difference in design and construction when you buy the superior boat. As the decades accumulate, this makes a huge difference in both sailing joy and the cost of maintenance and upgrades.