head to starboard. We use a pressurized kerosene cook stove, carry our water in one-gallon jugs, and have a portable head. The saloon has port and starboard


bench seats that double as quarterberths. We have seated six people without any trouble. The centerboard trunk is hidden by a fold-down table, but there is still space aft of the centerboard to walk around and have a ladder to the companionway hatch. (I modified the design a little to put a cooler under the bridge deck.) Tere’s a lot of headroom in the main cabin, 58-inches in the head area, and it goes up to 62 ½ inches by the companionway. It is easy to walk around. I added an inch to the companionway sliding hatch to make it 6 feet-high un- der the hatch. Tat way I can say I have standing headroom in a 21-foot boat (even though I’d have to move the lad- der to stand there). Yogi has a bed under the starboard cockpit seat, and we store bulky items on the port side. Te cockpit is on the small side, and


If I could change anything I would add a little more space, but we have sailed with five people in the cockpit. It rides a little low in the back when we do. Mostly we sail with just the two of us and then it is fine. Tere are two lazarettes in the stern area, separated from the cabin space, that I modified by cutting out part of the bulkheads to fit my fuel tank in the port side and a spare anchor, ditch bag, and other safety gear in the starboard side. The wider coamings make good seats, and offer storage for four fenders, dock lines, tiller pilot, and other odds and ends. All the lines are led aſt to a row of cam cleats on the cabin top. Te boat is very easy to handle that way and single- handing is no problem. We haven’t found a need for winches for the jib sheets. I chose the gaff sloop rig, but other


options were available. I love the gaff mainsail and its adjustability, and we have a roller-furler for the jib. There is 1,000 pounds of lead in the shoal-draſt keel with centerboard. Te boat draws about 16 inches with the board up, so it’s easy to launch. I usually barely get the tires wet. The boat feels very solid and handles strong winds comfortably. It gets to hull speed in 15 -20-knot winds. We like to reef at about 15 knots; it is easier to steer if it is sailed below 10-15 degrees of heel. Te centerboard is easy to adjust


SMALL CRAFT ADVISOR


and raising it can ease weather helm as the boat heels. Four Seas took me about two-and-half


-years to build—relatively fast because I have a heated shop and I can do epoxy work and painting in the winter—and as it started to take shape I got very excited to get her in the water. Te boat weighs about 2,600 pounds empty, and she and double-axle trailer together weigh 4,140. My 2006 Toyota Tundra tows it without any trouble. (It’s a wider load than previ- ous boats I have owned, so I have to be careful taking corners.) We launched in March, 2018, and


so far we have sailed her on 14 trips, ranging from short daysails to an 11- day trip to Desolation Sound. We have spent a total of 39 days sailing it on Lake Coeur D’ Alene, Lake Pend Oreille, and Priest Lake, all in Idaho; the Snake Riv- er-Lower Granite Dam, in Washington; and Desolation Sound, in British Co- lumbia. I also had it in the Wooden Boat Festival in Port Townsend, Washington, in 2018. Many of the trips have been


with the Lewis Clark Sailing Association of which I am a member and cruising coordinator. I’m really thrilled with the way Four


Seas turned out. She is comfortable, feels safe, sails better than I could have imag- ined, and she makes me smile every time I see her. •SCA•


Tell us about your boat! Send 1200-1500 words and a few photos to: smallcraſtadvisor@earthlink.net


Penguin Designed by John Welsford


Length: 21’ Beam: 8’


Weight: 2138 pounds empty Ballast: 992 lb Draft: 41.5”


Sail Area: 235 sq ft Plans: www.duckworksbbs.com 17


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