This 1st Blog is a documentary of our experience and aspirations starting with the purchase our recent sailboat Here and Now. We purchased Here and Now in January 2009. A 1986 Celestial 48’ Cutter Rigged Sailboat.

Previous to purchasing this sailboat we owned a 1997 Catalina 34' named Mystic, 1986 Mirage 30' named Current Effect and a 1979 Whitby 27' named Fluid Drive. We sailed Lake Ontario for the past 20 years, currently out of Bluffers Park just east of Toronto. With Here and Now our aspirations are to cruise to and around the Mediterranean, experiencing the cultures on the north and south shore and adjoining Seas. We are currently on a 5 year plan to know Here and Now intimately, its’ sailing characteristics, mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems, and upgrading her for our comfort and safety. 2014/15 is our planned departure time trucking her to Beaufort or Annapolis, then sailing down the coast spending 6 months in the Caribbean before our transit across the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean.

Our first year with Here and Now is our trial year to get a feel for apparent defects and areas requiring immediate upgrades, and plan for operational and comfort upgrades over the next four years.

Before I continue with our plans let’s first provide some additional background and I’ll take you through a tour around Here and Now.

Here and Now – 1986 Celestial 48’

Here and Now is a Canadian Registered sailboat we purchased from her third owner in Owen Sound in 2009. We had her trucked to Port Whitby Marina on April 2 and launched her on April 3. As far as we can tell she sailed most of her life in fresh water in Georgian Bay and Lake Ontario, with a delivery voyage just after original commissioning from Hong Kong through the Panama Canal to Port Credit Ontario.

Here and Now was designed by Bryce Fuhriman and built by Celestials Yachts Ltd. on Xiamen Island Fujian Province in China. Here and Now was built to spec. by her original owner.

Here and Now Rigging and Performance

The Celestial 48 is good light wind performer and is surprisingly agile for a center cockpit cruiser with a displacement of 32,000 lbs. Because the Genoa sheets are led to tracks on the cap rail, sheeting angles aren’t particularly tight so the boat will point to about 40 degrees, much higher than that and she will stall, especially if pushing into head seas. With all canvas up the boat will do 6 to 7 knots on a close reach and 8 knots and higher on a beam or broad reach in about 15 knots of true wind. Although she needs to be reefed early, in light wind, she moves like a luxury car and will scoot along at 5 knots even in only 8 to 10 knots of breeze.

As a cutter rig the sail area is 1,292 square feet on a Kenyon, keel stepped double spreader main mast which is relatively tall at 65 feet above the waterline. On a beam reach, the boat stays on her feet and does best under a 140% genoa and main and can be easily managed short handed.

The mainsheet was originally led to the forward end of the cockpit much like on an aft cockpit layout. However, this does not let the helmsman have control within reach and there was always a bit of friction in the line. Given the layout of the cockpit there is no convenient place to install a mainsheet winch close to the helm. A heavy triple block and second triple block cam cleat, 5000 lbs. capacity load in a double ended arrangement is installed to allow for mainsheet tuning by the helm, and under heavier loads trimming with the forward end cockpit winch.

Under power, the Celestial 48 is very maneuverable due to her large skeg hung rudder. With a 3-blade folding Gori propeller, she will turn in her own length using a back and fill technique. The boat will power up to 7 knots @1800 RPM on her diesel Mercedes and with the Gori in over drive, depending on sea conditions.

Follow the link to Celestial 48 review for further information about Design & Construction, and below deck configuration.