Hughes 38 Who’s Who

   jon with                ?

Ahoy mate!  Im jon, the Commodore of Hughes 38 Owners group.  i have always been fascinated with boats, especially sailboats.  i’ve been sailing since i was 10 when my father bought me a Penguin, complete with trailer, and i began to sail first in Millerton Lake then Huntington Lake in California.  i sailed that boat till i was 40, leaving it for many summers beached on the shores of the lake and driving up every Saturday or Sunday to sail.  In addition to Jorny, my Penguin, i have sailed Flying Juniors, Lidos, Thistles, Hobie 14s and 16s, sailboards, San Juan 21s, MacGregor 25s and a 40’ plywood ketch.  i spent much time in my mid twenties building SV Zenobia, a William Atkins design ferrocement cutter Eric – a cousin to the Westsail 32.  i am now modifying a Hobie 14 to be an experimental hydrofoil, to be named Stray Cat Strut. 

Several years ago, i began to research boats for use in the ocean – where, as a lake sailor, i have always wanted to sail.  i read ads on Kijiji and checked out each design that interested me on sailboatdata.com.  At first, i was attracted to boats like the Pearson Triton, the Alberg 28, and the Acadian Yawl. i overlooked the first Hughes 38 that i came across, SV Red Castle, because i was focused on slightly smaller boats around 30’ like my Eric.  Reading about the limits of singlehanded sailing, i came to believe that around 600 sq ft total, 100% foretriangle was the maximum for the average sailor.  This led me to research longer boats, like the Catalina 38, the Yankee 38, the Cal 40, the Corbin 39, and finally the Hughes 38.  It was at this point that i realized what a great value the Hughes 38 was, (for reasons i extoll on another part of this website).  Since then i have been researching and collecting data on all the Hughes 38’s that i can find on the web.  In order to organize my findings, and because i wanted to build a website anyway, led me to start hughes38.com.

The family is now planning on moving from Montreal to Halifax, perhaps in the summer of 2017, and i am planning on buying a boat – a Hughes 38 of course!

Mike and Courtney with SV Athena

Dear Commodore,
Mike and I bought a 1974 boat tagged 50/50 and she has become a legend. Renamed Athena on launching in May of 2017 we left Canada and have visited the Azores, Barbados, and islands passing through to the Turks and Caicos group on the Bahamas Bank. Then we returned to the Azores and the Mediterranean Sea to Greece. Returning west we are now in Portugal and expect to do a western run to the Caribbean and up the coast to Canada. So 
far the best adventure one can take a boat on. The Atomic 4 has had a few service jobs and the sail inventory is looking a bit worn but it really is an amazing cruising craft. We have a Windpilot type servo pendulum self steering system. Essential for ocean 
passages.
 Regards,

Mike and Courtney

Kadin and Savannah with SV Titania

My name is Kadin and my wife is Savannah. We purchased a H38 MKIII a few years ago with the intention of refitting her completely. I’ve made a lot of progress but we still have a long ways to go.

She is powered with a Universal Diesel 25HP. The motor only has 50 hours +/- but we have decided that we are happy with the technological progress in electric driven systems and are planning next spring to sell the diesel and drop in an etek motor with a lithium power plant in place of the diesel tank. We believe it is a good candidate for electric conversion because of its sleek narrow beam and the cramped nature of a diesel engine. While its nice to have a heavy diesel in the keel there are other problems. For example, we had problems putting in a water lift muffler with that much of a rise to get the exhaust to the stern so we had to manufacture a water-jacketed system. With our current exhaust system there is no noise muffling of the exhaust so our boat sounds like a farm tractor and will drive you mad after a few hours of motoring. Also, the floor has turned into a giant radiator that heats the cabin up to unbearable temperatures in the summer. This does not take into account that the floor had to be modified to accommodate the size of the diesel. I now have a big trip hazard in the middle of the dinette. I dream longingly of the last day that I have to handle hydrocarbons (aka oil changes, diesel, grease).

We plan on doing a bit of off shore cruising especially in the Caribbean, Central America and South America. We purchased the boat for 10K and have a small house in NC also. We went for a boat that is smaller that didn’t suck up all of our financial resources and at the same time could survive a strong blow. It is perfect for us as a couple but we definitely wouldn’t want to go any smaller. There are times we think about how an aft-cabin, a larger cockpit, and L-shape galley would be very pleasant but the trade-offs (expense, maintenance, sailing ability) are too big at this time. We want to accomplish our sailing dreams and the H38 puts that within our reach.

I’ve been researching H38 material for a long time and I am grateful for your time in putting together an owners group where we can share information and resources. Plus, there is a psychological effect as well as it brings owners together to build pride in their boat’s S&S heritage. In a way, H38’s have suffered from a branding problem in the past few decades and so many potential cruisers have passed over this gem in lieu of inferior built boats with more creature comforts. However, don’t misunderstand me, Hughes are not without their host of problems. I am just making the case that is is an excellent pick for a budget cruiser or singlehander.

We have a blog site you can visit http://svtitania.com where we are trying to document our progress towards our goals. Feel free to link to us or pull any pictures off our site to include in your Owner’s Club photos.

Best Wishes,
Kadin

Scott with SV Thula Mama

Hi all,  Just to introduce myself, I live in Melbourne, Australia. I bought Thula Mama from a Dutch couple who sailed from Darwin to Indonesia. They originally purchase Thula Mama from a couple who sailed from the US to Australia across the Pacific.

Eddie with SV My-D-Fun

Doug and Stephanie with SV Wildflower in Rowayton, Connecticut 

She’s a 1969 vintage with an Atomic 4. She appears to be largely original, but we didn’t know anything about Hughes boats until we first saw her, so I might have to amend that statement after further review. We fell in love at first sight and can’t wait to get her launched. She’s been sailed all these years, according to the prior owner, whom she’d been with since 1980.  Here are a couple of photos of Windflower.  One is of the lettering on the transom. We went very classic.  In a lucky coincidence, a neighbor happens to be an artist who did a lot of hand lettering of classic boats back in the 60’s & 70’s.  It took her 2 1/2 days to do the job and we’re very happy with the results.  Doug has spent a lot of time on the Atomic 4; he’s quite intimate with it by now. He also replaced the gas tank and did about a thousand other things that I couldn’t explain, but that I know I’m grateful for! He will be replacing the deck this winter.  We feel fortunate that she was with her previous owner for ~36 years, so he knew her well and kept her pretty original, we think. He also doesn’t mind when Doug calls to ask the occasional question.  We’ve had a good experience.

Boy, does this boat sail beautifully.  She sails SO WELL to wind.  She’s so sure and steady and it sometimes feels like she sails herself.