Caprivi is a McCurdy & Rhodes Navy 44, built in 1988 by Tillotson-Pearson in Rhode Island, USA.
This one-off design was built specifically for training midshipmen as an offshore cruiser/racer for the Naval Academy out of Annapolis, Maryland. She is 44ft (13.42m) long, 12ft 5in (3.78m) wide, 7ft 3in (2.21m) deep and 65ft (20m) tall from the waterline. Sloop rigged by design with a removable inner forestay, a contemporary fin keel and skeg-hung rudder, and built from fiberglass with a foam core.
We bought her for her foundation, rig and offshore capabilities.
We purchased her at the end of 2016.
Our first six month refit in 2017 focused on the exterior, where we repainted her hull, bottom and topsides while reconfiguring the deck layout and rig handling for a crew of two instead of ten. This included removing and redesigning the placement of winches, dorades, hatches, cockpit lockers and the main traveller.
She had a very minimal interior with nine bunkstyle berths, ten sails and a total of twelve substantial winches on deck.
Over the next five years while living on her we extensively refitted the interior to become our home and updated the systems for off-grid living. We moved and added bulkheads; cut and welded water tanks; added doorways and doors; painted all surfaces; re-powered; built a hard dodger; had new sails made; added all new electrical systems, electronics and added luxuries; as well as a custom settee and berths, a walnut sole and cabinetry throughout. This list does not include the hundreds of little nuances.
It’s been quite the makeover. More details are now on The Refit page so check it out!
Some more specifics:
- 12,310 pounds of bolted on cast lead ballast
- 27,654 pound displacement
- Diesel auxiliary, 2015 Yanmar 4JH57 (57hp)
- 3 blade max-prop feathering
- 50 gallons fuel capacity
- 150 gallons fresh water, approximately
- Lithium-ion batteries (840ah)
- B&G electronics (chartplotter, radar, AIS)
- 560w solar panels
- Force Ten three burner stove
- Refrigeration and freezer
- Refleks diesel stove heater
- Spectra watermaker
- Lecomble & Schmitt autopilot
- Monitor self-steering windvane
Follow along below.
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- Kodiak, last minute crew and a homebound crossingThe weather was remarkable, at least from what I had assumed late September would be. The sunshine abundant and the seas glistened. We untied.
- An unexpected False PassWe didn’t mean to only spend two days in Nome but it happened quickly and precisely. Celebrations were minimal with a round of drinks.
- A thousand nautical miles to NomeA quick turn around in Tuktoyaktuk was both surprising and necessary. The Arctic weather bombs didn’t muck around, each giving us a few days.
