boat buying itch stopped

[frank durant]

Like most dreamers , I've long been drawn to the 'Flicka"...just a neat little boat built like a tank ! Way too expensive,slow but there is just something about them. One has come up for sale here in Canada...a 93,fresh water sailed,seldom used.lots of good options,PRESTINE,only 380hrs on the little diesel,even my favorite colours AND the price is exellent for what it is. I went and looked.After the initial excitement , I realized it did not have the room,the storage,we couldn't comfortably sit across from each other for cards,drinks or dinner like on #50, The head is SO tiny I'd be afraid to fart...I'd blow my eardrums out.They are a great boat, pacific seacraft a great builder, but in the end ..I'm just too attached to #50.When the cushions are done , we'll be able to each sit back in a couple of very comfortable settee's to read, have a couple of nice double bunks (flicka's cockpit only 5ft long) and it will be a VERY personal boat with my changes.I got over the 'boat buyers itch' on the drive home. Ole #50 still is MY 'favorite lil boat'

[c_amos]

I too have a 'thing' for the Flicka. More so even the Dana, as there has been one sitting in the slip across from me for sale for the last couple months.

Man, can someone tell me how do they fit a 30+' salon into a 24' hull?

The interior is BEAUTIFUL as well.

I just keep telling myself she must sail like a pig..........

....if anyone knows otherwise, please keep it to yourself.

[epiphany]

Bruce Bingham, the original designer of the Flicka, years after he introduced the design, finally got one of his own. They named her Sabrina, and he and his wife lived on her and cruised for at least a couple of years.

She wound up owned by a local guy, and sat unused and apparently unloved at a local marina which we waterskied out of for several years. I looked longingly at her every time I was there, wishing that I could give her the care she needed. Then one day she was gone, and I didn't see her for a number of years.

After I moved my boat down from Little River to Winyah Bay, I ran across her again, moored out on the Sampit River right in the downtown area of Georgetown. Sadly, she is in a very advanced state of neglect and disuse. Her current owner, when I asked about buying her last year (prior to becoming an Ariel owner), replied was that he would have to ask more than anyone would think she was worth. That's a shame - a piece of nautical history (as I see it), going to waste for no good reason. He's not a bad guy, but I sure wish he'd sell her to someone who would take care of her and get her under sail again.

I boarded her last year to have a look (with permission), and am sad to report that, as she sits now, I'd be hesitant to take her for a daysail, much less a real voyage of any length.

Yep, the Flicka's are built like a tank, and they'll handle whatever the sea throws at 'em, but I think the Ariel is a FAR better vessel for all around use.

But I may be prejudiced a bit.

As a side note, when explaining to my bro-in-law just why I wanted to get some 40-ish year old boat, one of the reasons I gave him was that one of the only companies making production hulls how I like them is PSC, and with a dear old gal like an Ariel, I was able to get a hull as strong as what they make, for far less cost.

Last - I haven't sailed on a Flicka, but I'd bet money that an Ariel will outsail a Flicka by a nautical mile (or two!).

PS - I have pics of Sabrina, I'll find them and post a pic or two someday...

[ebb]

Same waterline. Same beam. Flicka 800/900# more displacement and 50 square feet less sail area. Other measures about the same. Tho sections may be quite different.

Surprising that Ariel seems to have more room below and more stowage. Think you're right, it's more of a feeling AND what you have done in your remodel. What the Flicka has is imco a kind of frowdy bluewater look of sparkling anchorages and romantic adventure.

But one of these sleek bodied remodeled world class Ariels... we show 'em you don't have to be dumpy to be a pocket world cruiser!