The boats we seriously considered were: Mariner 32, Mariner 36, Fuji 36, Allied Princess (36) ketch, Island Trader 37 ketch, Hunter-Cherubini 37, Hallberg-Rassey Rasmus (35), Cheoy Lee Clipper 35 ketch, Allied Seabreeze yawl (35), Cape Dory 36, Westsail 32, Beneteau Oceanis 38, Pearson 365 ketch, Gulfstar 37, Cabo Rico 38. We traveled as far as Florida and California to see boats.  As you can see from this list, I really do like traditional-styled boats. Of all these boats, the Fuji 36 is the most beautiful. It is an Alden-designed ketch built in Japan. Workmanship was excellent, but the boats have one major weakness: the cabinhouse and decks are plywood (not marine!) covered with fiberglass cloth; the Island Trader, Cheoy Lee and Mariner share this fault. As you can see, I was actually looking for a ketch or at least a cutter for easier sail handling. The downside of a ketch though is the inability to point well, and their generally poor performance in light air. During July and August, we often see light air in Long Island Sound, so this would be quite a handicap for local, short daysails. Despite that, we made offers on a Fuji, two Allied Princesses, a Hunter-Cherubini 37, and an Island Trader. Each offer was followed by a professional survey, and none of the boats passed the survey! All of these boats had soft decks and/or cabintops, or worse. In each of these cases save one (the Hunter), the owners would not adjust their asking price despite major flaws. We walked away and kept looking. The owners of one Allied Princess on which we bid rejected our bid outright and before a survey without any negotiations whatsoever. Two weeks later after receiving no other bids they called us back, but we had already moved on to "greener pastures". The reasons we did not make offers on the other boats were:

Hallberg-Rassey Rasmus - despite the fact that I would have to fly 2,000 miles to see the boat, the owner (an old coot of a physician) would not allow me to do a sea trial on the boat until after I bought it. Duh! We passed.

Cheoy Lee Clipper 35 - flew from NY to Sausalito to see this boat but the broker did not show! So-rrry!

Mariner 32 - very nice boat (also made in Japan), but I needed a crowbar to squeeze myself into the V-berth, and once in there felt like I was in a coffin.

Cape Dory 36 - the owner hadn't sailed this boat in at least 3 years; it sat forelorn in my marina unused and unloved. Wife said sell, husband said no. End of conversation. Also, the Cape Dory 36 is a very pricey used boat, although an extremely well made and beautiful one.

Cabo Rico 38 - very, very handsome boat, well designed, well built, but mucho dinero! Could buy 2 or 3 Scanmars for one Cabo!

Westsail 32 - built like a tank, but unfortunately sail like one two. Very well-built, but we felt that the cockpit is very small and uncomfortable.

Allied Seabreeze - very handsome boat, well made, and an excellent sailer. But I was unable to stand up in this boat except in one small area, and it was very narrow as well. Also, they haven't been made since the 1960s, and would need almost every system to be updated.

Beneteau Oceanis 38 - nice sailing boats, fairly well made but (in my opinion) only marginally blue-water capable. They just aren't built as well as most of these other boats mentioned here. We did look at an ex-charterboat, but missed out on the bidding by minutes. Oh well, that was fate!

Pearson 365- fairly well made boats with a good reputation. They are roomy inside (very beamy), but interior is nearly all snow-white fiberglass; no character inside at all, with a very sterile feeling.  Would be like living inside a Clorox bottle.  We only spent 10 minutes looking at this boat and decided we didn't want one.

Gulfstar 37- decent boats of average construction and average sailing qualities.

How did I find my Scanmar? I found a yacht broker I could trust (many are just used-car salesmen in boat shoes, I have heard) at McMichael's Yacht Yard in Mamaroneck (not recommended at all- email me for deatils).  The broker there, Walter C. was showing various boats to me when he was called to the office for a phone call. He tossed me the keys to a Scanmar 35 sitting there, "Grand Cru", despite the fact that I told him I wanted a traditional boat, and definitely not a center cockpit! But since I had 15 minutes to kill, I climbed up and took a look. Once I saw the salon, I was sold. The boat reminded me of a trick room at a fun-house: small outside, but huge inside! 

There's plenty more to tell, folks, but I don't want to bore you (maybe some other time?). This is a sweeping tale of a sleazy yacht broker ("Pancho", whom I dubbed "Puncho" because that's what crossed my mind each time I spoke with him), a dimwitted lummox of an owner, a greedy, money-grubbing marina and a poor, neglected Swedish boat who desperately wanted to be freed of her abusive owner and the goofy name he gave her. "Grand Cru"?!?- how ostentatious and pompous! Just like the mental-midget Palooka who owned her...

(To be continued...)

Although I could see that the Scanmar was well-built with quality materials and was well-designed, I could find virtually no information about Scanmars anywhere. Thus began the search for any scrap or snippet of data regarding these fine boats.  I also discovered that there were other Scanmar owners in the same boat as it were; all of us would benefit from a pooling of our knowledge.  As it turns out, there are several owners I have come across who have owned their Scanmars for quite a long while indeed, and who have proved to be an excellent source of information; many thanks to them for making this site possible.

And many thanks to "the Sailing Swede", Johann Ekstrom, for acting as translator and ambassador to Scanyachts.  Just to prove that the Sailing Swede is not a myth, here is a picture of the two of us sailing on Peregrin just before my traveler blew up during a jibe, scattering parts all over Long Island Sound ....

Bob Padlowski, webmaster