Serendipity for Sale

(*Serendipity has been sold)

Getting ourselves ready to sell Serendipity is one of the hardest things we’ve ever had to do.  Much harder than selling our house, cars, and all our personal belongings to begin our vagabond lifestyle.  She’s the perfect boat for us.  She’s a perfect boat in general.  Great for two people (or maybe even a family of three), easy to handle, and very safe and strongly built.  We can tell you from experience that she’s ocean worthy too.

We even spent the past few months contemplating our cruising life and seriously considering putting the ‘Dip back in the water, hightailing it to the Caribbean, and enjoying a few more years relaxing on her.  She’s the perfect boat for that and we would have been more than happy living on her amongst the palm trees for the foreseeable future. Why spend the next year throwing time, sweat, and money into a new project when we have a perfect boat at our disposal right now? But even though life is about the now it’s also about the future.  And our future has high latitudes and ice fields in it which means that an aluminum boat is the best way to go.

So with a fairly heavy heart we have spent the past two months getting her in impeccable shape for her new owners, whomever they may be.  The hull is shining like new, every cabinet, nook, and storage space has been scrubbed clean, and the bottom has just received a fresh coat of paint.  She is literally completely cruise ready, no more work necessary.  It’s 100% ready for new owners to move their belongings on and sail away. Heck, we just sailed across the Atlantic and back with her last year.

(New exterior photos coming soon, photos above taken in Jamaica in 2013)

Isn’t she pretty?  Sigh….if only we had the funds to keep both boats.

On to costs, that’s probably the biggest question and at the forefront of any minds that are considering purchasing her.

$62,000 USD

* She is currently sitting in Indiantown, Florida; approximately 10 miles east of Lake Okeechobee. We will consider delivering Serendipity along the East Coast of the US or Florida’s Gulf Coast with purchase.

Serendipity is a 1989 Sabre 34 Targa, and here are her dimensions:

• Material: Fiberglass
• LOA: 34 ft 2 in
• Beam: 11 ft 2 in
• LWL: 28 ft 3 in
• Minimum draft: 4 ft 6 in
• Maximum draft 4 ft 6 in
• Displacement: 11,700 lbs
• Ballast: 4,800 lbs

Engines

• Maximum speed: 7 knots

Tanks

• Fresh water tanks: 2 (55 gallons)
• Fuel tanks: 1 (30 gallons)
• Holding tanks: 1 (30 gallons)

Accommodations:

• Number of single berths: 1
• Number of double berths: 3
• Number of cabins: 2
• Number of heads: 1

So now that you’ve gotten just a taste of what she looks like inside, let’s go over all her features section by section.

Galley

• Grunert refrigeration (increased box insulation in 2011)
• Regal two burner stove/oven converted to LPG
• Sliding cover for extra counter space over stove
• Two 6 lb aluminum LPG tanks installed in propane locker
• Propane solenoid
• Saltwater tap at sink
• Whale foot pumps for fresh and salt water
• Pressure water
• Two bowl stainless sink
• Pull out trash
• Microwave in aft cabin
• All Spartan bronze seakcocks (greased 2015)
• All thru hull hoses were replaced in 2011

Head

• Raritan PHII head (new 2012)
• 30 gallon holding tank
• All hoses replaced with Trident in 2012
• Shower sump box
• Fan for wet locker
• Whale foot pump for fresh water
• Pressure water

Drivetrain

• Westerbeke 30b three 1989 with 1,750 hours
• Transmission rebuilt in 2013
• Cutlass bearing replaced in 2015
• PSS dripless shaft seal 2013
• Three blade feathering Maxprop
• Shaft rope cutter
• Hydronic bus heater
• Dual Racor fuel filters
• All hoses replaced in 2011

Electrical

• 475 watts of solar on bimini and davits (2011)
• 1000 watt Xantrex Pro inverter (2011)
• 450 amp hour 6 volt battery bank installed 2012
• Bluesea 422 battery monitor system (2011)
• Bluesea Automatic Charge Relay (2011)
• Xantrex solar charge controller (2015)
• Vetus 105 amp hour start battery installed 2015
• All LED lights except aft cabin
• Camfro fans in galley, head, settee and v-berth

Electronics

• Raymarine C95 chart plotter with North American Navionics charts (new 2012) in rotating Navpod
• Raymarine RD418 Radar (new 2012)
• Raymarine SPX 10 Autopilot (new 2012)
• Raymarine type 1 linear drive (below deck autopilot) (new 2012)
• Raymarine ST6002 autopilot head (new 2012)
• Raymarine rudder position sensor (new 2012)
• Standard Horizon Gx2100 VHF with AIS receiver (new 2012)
• Raymarine ST60 wind, depth, and speed sensors (speed through water does not work)
• Standard Horizon Ram3 mix in cockpit (just stopped working)
• Vizio LED tv installed in cabin (2011)
• Pioneer CD player with cockpit and cabin speakers

Deck

• Lewmar Concept 1 Windlass ( new 2011)
• 175 ft ACCO 5/16″ G4 chain (new 2012)
• Fortress anchor (new 2012)
• 2 x 100′ 3/4″ 3 strand anchor rode
• Large/strong cast double anchor roller
• Garhauer rail midship cleats (new 2012)
• Garhauer 1 1/4″ dinghy davits (new 2012)
• 6 Stainless ports with tempered glass (all except cockpit which are OEM plastic)
• Deadlights were replaced in 2013 with tempered glass and Dow 795
• Dodger stainless frame
• Bimini stainless frame
• Amsteel/Dyneema lifelines installed 2012
• West Marine Jacklines
• Revere throwable and inflated lifesling (needs new mount)
• Stainless stern ladder
• 2 Bomar deck hatches (rebed in 2014)
• Port side stainless jerry can holder
• Lewmar wheel with elkhide cover
• Stainless steel emergency rudder bracket and mount on transom
• LED stern, bow, and anchor lights

 Rigging

• Solent stay added in 2013

1. Wichard adjustable/removable turnbuckle
2. Wichard 6056 folding padeye on deck
3. Wichard 6056 folding padeye below deck fitting
4. Wichard Mast Tang
5. 1/4″ stainless rigging with Norseman fitting

• All standing rigging replaced in September 2012
• Most running rigging replaced in 2011
• Hall Spars mast and boom
• Garhauer adjustable genoa cars installed 2011
• 2 Lewmar ST 43 winches as primaries
• 4 Lewmar 16 on the cabin top and on mast
• 9 Spinlock clutches added 2012
• Mainsail, Spinnaker halyard, boom vang and topping lift control back in cockpit
• Tack and clew reef lines back in cockpit for either 1st and 2nd or 2nd and 3rd reefs
• 3.5″ Spinnaker pole used as bulletproof whisker pole (15.5′)
• Harken roller furling
• Harken traveler
• Hydraulic backstay adjuster  (should be rebuilt soon)
• North Sails Mainsail with three reef points (ok condition)
• Dutchman mainsail handling system
• North 120% genoa  (usable, but should be replaced)
• Staysail with reef points (old)
• Storm Jib (new never used)
• North Sails asymmetrical spinnaker in North sock (very good)

Solent stay attached to turnbuckle for storage

Solent stay attached to deck and ready for use.

Sabres are fantastic boats, but even so, not every Sabre is built equal.  Between the Targa model (which we own) and the Classic model, we’ll tell you why we think the Targa stands above. Let’s take a walking tour of Serendipity, shall we?

Sabre Targa vs the standard layout

The Targa is an aft cabin/head model-  This layout features many cruiser requirements over the standard Classic model.  The aft cabin creates a closed off storage area, which is how we use it, or you can have a large private sleeping cabin. A much better set-up than the open berth of the Classic layout.  Access while sailing to the aft head on the starboard side is also much easier, safer and drier, unlike the Classic, where one is dripping seawater from wet foul weather gear throughout the cabin on the way to the head!

The port and starboard longitudinal bulkheads that make-up the aft head and berth makes traversing the companionway steps very safe and secure with something to lean against the entire way down. She also has real companionway steps, not some thin ladder like most boats.  Behind the head, there is a hanging wet locker with a fan to help dry your foulies.  The Aft cabin has storage under the berth, under the microwave, and sliding door cabinets along the hull.

The L shaped galley puts the sink where it should be, over the center-line of the boat where the draining is best. This gives you a very large and usable refrigerator inboard of the sink, two storage drawers, a utensil drawer, pull out trash and great sliding storage along the hull.

The starboard side has a real navigation seat that doesn’t use a settee or berth cushion to just make due.  Along the hull is your circuit panel (with open spots for additional equipment), with Blue seas Vessel System Monitor (battery, A/C, bilge pump alarm and holding tank monitor), CD player, and VHF.  Below the navigation seat are your 4 6-volt batteries making 450 AH. The nav desk has top load storage, two drawers, and a cabinet door for excellent storage.

Moving forward, you have a U shaped settee on the port side and a straight settee on starboard.  Both have great storage below, behind, and above in the beautiful tambour teak sliding door cabinets.  The cushions are very comfortable with the fabric still in very good condition.  The folding table, as it came from Sabre, took up a lot of space and required you to slide through a narrow gap to gain access to the port settee.  We have modified the table to give a very open feeling and so much more floor space.  This is the way they should have been built!

The Achilles heel of most Sabres is the mast step’s drain clogging, rotting the beam that holds the mast, requiring an expensive and invasive repair.  Great news! The Targa model has a fiberglass mast step/pan that cannot rot like the others.  Serendipity also has a custom cast aluminum step allowing draining far superior to the original.

The inside tour ends with the V berth. Serendipity has plenty of clothes storage in a hanging locker to starboard and cabinets below the berth and to port.  The bed is 6″ of comfortable foam with a great ventilation from an overhead hatch and two ports.

What makes Serendipity special vs other Sabres?

• Solent stay installed for a storm jib or staysail.
• All lines including reefs brought back to cockpit.
• Adjustable genoa line cars
• Windlass with wired remote
• Amsteel Lifelines
• 475 watts of solar makes us power self-sufficient at anchor
• Garhauer davits
• Shallow draft of just 4′ 6″.  Keel was removed in 2013 to rebed and check for keel bolt issues.  Bolt was replaced with stainless due to corrosion.
• All rigging replaced in late 2012 and chainplates were removed and resealed
• A real below deck autopilot and not a toy wheel pilot
• Refrigeration is already installed and is not just an icebox
• 450 AH of batteries installed… try fitting that comfortably in most 34′ boats
• Stainless steel ports and new tempered glass deadlights (they’ll never go foggy on you!)

So you can see why Serendipity is such a great boat and why we spent so long deciding if we should even sell her.  If we knew she could make it through ice fields there would be no need to!  But alas..we don’t want to attempt that, which means she needs to go on the market so we can begin outfitting our new (to us) aluminum boat.  We hope Serendipity goes to a great home and we know whomever purchases her will love her just as much as we do.

Again, we are asking for $62,000 USD while selling through owner.  We think this price is very competitive in the Sabre world.  There are currently others in the market…one at the moment for $69,000 which has none of our cruising features and older electronics; or the Classic models which are selling for $50,000 – $96,000 with what we think is (sorry!) a less logical layout and usually older equipment.  So to get the Targa model and in ready to cruise condition…we think this is a steal.