Beleated Hello - Y25 Owner

[drew_d]

I've been lurking since I bought my Yamaha 25 two years ago, and I kept putting off actually posting a thread here... so better late than never, i suppose.

I'm drew, i have a 1977 Yamaha 25-II in Seattle, WA named "Viper". This is actually the second Y25 i've sailed on - my dad bought a traded-in yamaha 25 way back in 1978, modified her to fit under the low bridge at Santa Cruz and lived aboard while he got his degree. Then he taught my mom to sail on a cruise up the Oregon coast - perfect beginner territory, right? After I came along my parents lived aboard with me & then went on a cruise with a toddler to the Sea of Cortez, then out to Hawaii. I wish i remembered some of it, but i'm told the boat did great. My dad ended up singlehanding her back from Hawaii, and I grew up living aboard & sailing with him in SC when I was a kid. We sold her on to upgrade to a bigger boat when i was a teen tho, but I never took to the big boat the way I had to the Y25; it was big and powerful, but too much work for us to sail. i kinda fell out of sailing when i went to college, but then a few years ago a colleague invited me out on his J/24 & all the memories of sailing the nimble Y25 with my dad came rushing back.... eventually I found a yamaha 25 for sale in tacoma; she was well taken care of, with a full set of sails & good engine. she had mostly original equipment that was a bit tired, including a yamaha-branded jib & 70s-tech tillermaster autopilot (still works!)... but she's in plenty good shape for daysailing, and I know she's got the bones for more serious sailing when i can afford a refit. the important part is now she's mine!

i've put a few upgrades into her since but nothing major yet; she's a well-designed little snapshot of 70s japanese engineering, and as built the Y25 makes a perfect long weekend pocket cruiser for 2-4 or a week for 2, which is exactly what I wanted in a boat. My wife has taken to sailing and we're taking day trips on Lake Washington now, but we're hoping to get out for a couple overnights this summer as the travel restrictions let up. I think the state park moorings are open soon in WA state.... everybody keeps telling us to go to Blake Island and I think it's next.

anyhow, this is a fantastic forum and I'm glad I've finally gotten around to introducing myself!

 

[drew_d]

this is the only real modification I've made so far: the boat had dual-lever controls when I bought her, but I had a lot of trouble figuring it out and then the cable failed while approaching the Ballard locks; we had to send someone below and bellow command through the hatch!

so I replaced the shift and throttle cables, and put a single-lever control with a flush mount adapter that takes a winch handle as a removable handle. i really like that feature - no more tangled mainsheets! the new quadrant & flush mount install was straightforward, but I had to change out the large-diameter shift cable for a small-diameter one as there are no single-lever controls available for the thicker shift cable. by the install manual the cable is overloaded, and shifting takes deliberate effort, but it does work with the small cable size. I had to fabricate a mount for the transmission cable but nothing fancy.

I also had to add a pull-to-stop system as the twin-lever control was previously used to kill the motor. again it's off-the-shelf cables from teleflex, acting on the governor to cut off fuel.

 

[kappykaplan]

@drew_d Welcome aboard!

 

[jssailem]

Welcome Drew. Happy you came out of the shadows.
Nice story about a family connection to sailing. It is a remarkable thing that we develop a connection to our early sailing experiences. To hear you are able to have your own Yamaha 25 is terrific.

Sounds like a great modification to your boat. Was that the first time you took “Viper” through the locks. Ever think she may have been trying to tell you something. “Skipper, that big concrete thing looks scary. You sure you want to go in there? No no way. I’ll break something! Aaagghhh..”

Blake Island is a great place. Also Eagle Harbor roughly a bearing of 229M once you exit the locks and Shilshole bay. About 5NM. Nice pub “Harbor Pub” with a dock. Free transit moorage while enjoying their Fish, Chips and a Beer.

Looking forward to seeing you out on the water.

 

[kloudie1]

Welcome Aboard, Drew! That is a beauty of a boat.. I remember when they were introduced and have always liked the design..

 

[seatane]

Hey Drew,

thanks for sharing your families story of adventure in a yamaha 25. Most impressive and an inspiration for sure. I hope to cross tacks with you somewhere on the sound at some point!

 

[Brian F]

Drew,
Welcome. I too have been lurking but have not posted since I bought my y25 about four years ago
I loved your story about your family having a Yamaha25 and doing some pretty amazing traveling on it.
Your family's travels are a testimony to the sailing ability of the Yamaha 25 .
I live in Santa Cruz and am familiar with the North harbor and tabernacle masts. Not fun.
I bought my Yamaha 25 in Oakland and my son and I sailed her down to Santa Cruz. I thought we would motor out of the bay then set sail. It should be a nice broad reach down the coast, but no such luck. We planed on motoring out under the gate on an ebb tide. We had a very strong wind coming straight in the slot on our nose which sturred up quite a chop. The motor buzzer was going off from the pitching so we killed it and spent about three hours tacking out under the golden gate. We made it to half moon bay the first day. The next day we headed out under mild conditions that turned to a small craft advisory. The sea was very confused with two different swells. We surfed at 8 to 9 knots under fully reared sails the whole way down to Santa Cruz. When we reached Santa Cruz, the bay was filled with fishing vessels spending the night because it was to rough to travel up the coast. After that sail I was very impressed with the handling of the Yamaha 25 .
Enjoy your boat and thanks for sharing your stories and pictures