Mohawk said:
Greetings Bill and Iain
Yes! It looks like our build numbers at Halmatic and Le Compte are sequential with your boat built (in theory) before mine - or certainly numbered earlier. I note she is now a sloop. Was the 'conversion' carried out by yourselves? If so, or if you know more, how was this done to keep the yacht 'in balance' so to speak - without its mizzen? Surely the centre of pressure would move slightly forrard when removed??
What do you know of her history?
I'm virtually 'there' re owning 'Mohawk' (built as 'Prion' in 1960) with final balance of payment and transfer of ownership likely next Monday, Tuesday (25/26 Nov) - so am quite excited even tho' little sailing will be done before next Spring!
Good luck with your sale. What sort of condition is she in?
Best wishes
Jonathan Barker/UK
Season Greetings to you, Jonathan,
Congratulations on finalizing your purchase of Mohawk! By experience I can tell you that the Alden Challenger is often the loveliest boat in the harbor and I'm sure you will enjoy her thoroughly. To Iain's and your point about sequential builds, I took a look at the pictures in the listing on Mohawk and your original interior is virtually identical to the original elements in Marguerite.
Regarding Marguerite's present description as a sloop, I've been told that it was done at the hands of a storm, prior to our owning her. In fact, I have segments of the mizzen mast, the original mast base, a complete mizzen boom, spreaders and complete standing rigging, mizzen and mizzen staysail and I'm looking for a suitable spar to replace the mizzen mast.
We've sailed her over the last 15+ years as a sloop. Under full genoa and strong winds, she has quite a weather helm, so we furl the genny or replace it with the jib in early spring and late fall when the wind blows. For the most part, she is perfectly balanced with the main and jib, under all but storm conditions.
I saw your post regarding the propane deck box. Since Marguerite became a bit of a hybrid of old and new treatments before our time, I'll share that we have dual hatches built into the afterdeck and an integral, below deck propane locker that is fully isolated and vented overboard in the starboard locker. You can see these hatches in the photos on the listing at this site
http://www.POPYachts.com/View/39618.
It's probably a bit heretical but it works well with a Xintex sniffer/alarm under the stove and remotely controlled propane gas valve in the propane locker. We are always amazed at how much additional space we have below those two deck hatches. We use the starboard locker for the propane and the port for our stern anchor, spare bower and docklines etc. The dorade in the aft deck works perfectly as a location to feed the propane line to our sternrail mounted gas grille. I know, such a tragedy to mount all that stuff in full site on her stern
.
Regarding her condition generally, I'd say it is very good mechanically and electrically and the interior finishes are good as well and have been substantially upgraded over the years. Her wooden spars (mast and boom) and standing rigging are in first class shape from top to bottom. She needs to have who knows how many coats of antifouling stripped (3 different colors can be seen) and an awlgrip job from waterline to toerail, but we've opted to spend time sailing, rather than tackling those projects, other than as needed on an annual maintenance basis.
Best wishes to you and your family and Mohawk and may you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Bill Poleatewich