Lifestyle Sailing Blog

Powerful Expedition Cruiser For Sale

If you are ready to go sailing, we invite you to come to New Zealand and visit this beautiful craft. She is our bench mark for a state-of-the-art live aboard yacht built to serve a couple that is both adventurous and wants the comfort and safety that is possible in a strong modern sailing yacht.

Read on for more details.

Crusoe is in peak condition and ready to go:

Are you sitting in front of your computer in a busy city, dreaming of helming your own boat as it slides across a warm tropical lagoon somewhere in the South Pacific? This could be realized in just six weeks. Ready to go and waiting for you in Auckland, New Zealand is Crusoe. Jump on a plane and come sailing…

Man’s perspective

For me, the world is a place begging to be explored; the only limitation is the ability to get there. With Crusoe, we have an expedition boat that is built to go anywhere from the Antarctic (will sit on ice) to the Tropics or the shallow water ways of Europe.

The limitation of most yachts when it comes to serious exploring is their draft, here we have a rare exception, a serious yacht that with her lifting keel and rudder make her able to go anywhere you can find a meter of water to float in. Her 25mm bottom steel plate means no amount of going aground will worry her. What ever adventures you can dream up, Crusoe is a floating home that will deliver you safely there.

 

Facts and Technical Details

Built in 1999 by owners, John and Pam Robinson in Wellington, New Zealand.
Designer: Bruce Askew
Length: 17.7 meters, 58 feet
Beam: 4 meters, 13 feet
Draft: 1 meter with keel up, 3 meters with keel down.
Displacement: 25 tonnes
Keel: Ballasted hydraulic lifting keel with 4.5 tonnes ballast.
Rudder: Hydraulic lifting rudder.
Construction: Steel 25mm bottom plate, 6 and 5mm sides and 4 and 3mm decks.
Engine: GM 471 140 hp gives 9 knots.
Diesel: 1000 litre tank; 1000 miles range at 6 knots
Sail: Ketch rigged with inner and outer headsails, 254 sq meter sail area.

Price: $775, 000 NZD

Crusoe has a Category One safety clearance for sailing out of NZ, has all the gear aboard and there is nothing that needs fixing, changing or upgrading for setting out for the tropics right away (except it is hurricane season in the South Pacific you will probably want to wait till April).

The original plans

Woman’s perspective

From a woman’s point of view Crusoe is a floating delight, an extremely woman and family friendly yacht.
If you look at the photos you can see the light pouring through the hatches, which gives the whole interior this open and airy feel.
The other delight is the water maker. The en-suites are not just to impress, they can be used freely as fresh water is plentiful. The water maker produces enough water for showers in the mornings, after swims and when going to bed. Washing or rinsing clothes is no problem either, just use fresh water. As a result both you and the boat are clean and that horrible feel of salty water residue on yourself or the seats is just not there.
All fabrics, your skin, your hair and the beds are feeling soft and dry, how is that for enjoying life on a boat.

The Pilot House

The pilot house provides shelter for adults and babies alike and is a great place to keep the person on watch company.

The first time you come sailing on Crusoe you may lug your wet weather gear on board, which is a totally wasted effort. In bad weather you are snug as a bug in the pilot house and out of the weather you can helm the boat in your slippers. You always sail in style, comfort, feeling safe and dry. What more do you want.

Women can sail the boat easily.

Pam feels totally adequate to sail and steer the boat, with all the controls and GPS inside the pilot house. I have seen her sailing while the men didn’t pay attention at all even when we were approaching our anchorage. With hydraulic winches there is no need for force or brute strength, No woman has to feel inadequate and clumsy on Crusoe.

 

Aft Boarding Platform

Access on and off a boat has been my bug bear for a long time and I can tell some horror stories.

Crusoe allows you to come on board anywhere with grace and ease which is remarkable. To get on the boat from the side is easy with a step which hangs of the side of the boat. It is as easy as stepping into a house. Then the swimming ladder. I have forgone many a swim off a boat because I couldn’t see how to get back on. But here there is no problem, a fantastic long and broad ladder at the back of the boat will let you graciously rise out of the water onto a swim platform to die for. An easy to use hot water shower on the stern will rinse off the salt water.

The Galley

Providing meals will be a breeze and a pleasure in this well equipped, large, practical and beautiful kitchen with a wide and long stainless steel bench. The bench gives at least two people enough space to cut, lay-out and dish up food easily. The wall of the lifting keel gives a natural support when sailing. Above all the pleasure of preparing food is not spoiled by an inaccessible fridge. In this galley the fridge is big enough for the drinks AND your food and you can reach everything with ease with its side opening door.

Privacy

Because of the spaciousness and the lay-out of this yacht it is easily and pleasantly accommodating family, friends and whoever else you would like to take cruising. All 3 cabins have their own en-suites with fantastic easy to use showers and toilets. Just your foot on a pedal and it is flushed. There are plenty of spaces on the boat to sit away from the crowd. The saloon is a fantastic roomy and comfortable place. The pilot house is great if you want to be where the action is. The swim platform at the back is once anchored in the tropics a very inviting place to sit and watch or feed the fish. The cockpit and the deck are spacious and offer comfortable places to sit or sunbathe.

Safe, safe, safe

Safe as they come:
Safety is always an issue when considering sailing oceans. Often these days safety is based around speed, the ability to quickly sail away from trouble. Fine in theory, but limiting in practice, because, for the true adventurer, sooner or later you will find yourself amongst bad weather and there is no finer peace of mind than to know that your boat can handle the worst the ocean has to offer. Crusoe, built in windy Wellington, by owners used to strong winds, has this ‘safety in storms’ thinking built into her.

Going aground, the most likely hazard for all boats is of little concern for Crusoe. With the keel down, going aground is solved by simply lifting the keel and rudder, so she floats off. And if the keel is already up when you go aground, the 25mm bottom plate gives you piece of mind, as no amount of bouncing on rocks will hole the hull.

Safe places to anchor; when you draw only 1 meter, there are a large number of quiet and secure anchoring spots that become available that deeper draft yachts can not consider. Great places to be on stormy nights.

Built to Class VIII, NZ Ship standards, Crusoe is strong and can take you anywhere, from Antarctica to the Artic. Crusoe is constructed with a crash bulkhead in the bow and is divided into four watertight compartments, so should one part of the boat flood, the rest of the boat will stay dry.

Better than new

If you already have a boat, even a new boat, you will remember that when you bought her, there were a number of issues that needed sorting or fixing. John and Pam have lived on Crusoe for four years and as both builders and sailors have tested and sorted every aspect of this vessel. She is ready to give years of reliable and enjoyable sailing. With their pride and perfectionist ways they have kept the boat in an impeccable condition. Not even the photos can do justice to the tip top level of up keep and maintenance that Crusoe has enjoyed since launching. Every system on the boat is documented with a maintenance schedule, so you know how to look after her.

My experiences with Lifting Keels

Lifting keels give you huge advantages over a normal keel.
Our 58 ft ketch Crusoe has a 4.5 tonne lifting keel and draws 1m when up and 3m when down.

We spent 5 years cruising in the South Pacific and even though we have two depth sounders, one a forward facing one, we hit the bricks 3 times. You do need to be watching the dials to see coral and sudden reefs. And lets face it, as a sailing friend of mine is often heard saying; “You haven’t been sailing, if you haven’t ‘parked’ the boat a time or two.”

We have found the lifting keel invaluable while cruising in the Pacific and on the east coast of Australia.

We can go many places other cruisers can’t owing to shallow bar entrances or lagoon entries.

Her history and proven track record

Launched in Wellington, New Zealand in November 1999 and after sea trials was commissioned in 2000.

2002: Crusoe and her owners Pam and John set off from New Zealand for the South Pacific, taking five days to reach Tonga, then cruising on to Fiji, Vanuatu and New Caledonia before returning to New Zealand for the summer hurricane season.

2003: Crusoe returned to the South Pacific for the southern hemisphere winter and continued on to Australia, then cruised the Great Barrier Reef and the east coast of Australia, returning to New Zealand in 2005.

To find out more or come sailing:
contact John Robinson at johnpamcrusoe@xtra.co.nz

or phone +64-9- 428 1519

Crusoe is berthed at Gulf Harbour Marina, Auckland, New Zealand.