s/v Gaia
Pearson 424 ketch 1979
A little bit about her:
Her designer is William Shaw of Pearson Yachts from Portsmouth, RI. Gaia is a ketch rig, meaning you see two masts not one (the aft mast being shorter).
Ketch vs Yawl: Gaia is a ketch because the mizzen is stepped before the rudder post (our helm), as opposed to the mizzen aft of the rudder post (a yawl).
Length OverAll (LOA) 42 feet. Beam (width) is 13 feet. Draft is 5.25 feet.
Gaia displaces 21,000 lbs, holds 170 gallons of water, & 70 gallons of fuel (+4 jerry cans adding another 20.4 gallons of fuel).
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- Gaia’s stern davits and solar panels
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- modified full keel and skeg rudder
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- two 10 gal propane tanks for hot water, baking, & cooking
Energy:
Mike rigged a wind generator on top of the mizzen mast which makes Gaia unique and easier to find amongst dozens of other masts.
Mike also added davits to the stern and added 3 solar panels each rated at 85 watts. On a sunny day, we’ve seen up to 15 amps being generated!
Lastly, if we’re running the engine, that is the largest source of energy. Mike performed a full engine repower in 2012 and replaced the engine with a 42 hp Beta – 4 cylinder diesel (kubota tractor engine – I like the fact that most boats use tractor engines ).
Living off the grid….
The day we left. The salon
The galley. (old photos of Gaia)
Side hatch, really great feature!
V-birth we have a sink
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- We’ve tried to make Gaia, the best live aboard sailboat we could
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- But sometime’s we weren’t all that great
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- Thank goodness for friends
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- And thank goodness we don’t live in the state of California (joke from all marine warning labels)
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- In the end, we have a great place to lay our heads and call home.