Samoa 34 Zait. A wood/epoxy cruising sailboat

Zait, one of the most beautiful sailboats ever built from the Samoa 34 stock plans, finally had its inaugural trip officially accomplished. Our friend and client Daniel Sequerra sent us an e-mail reporting details of the event, also telling about the whole story of his boat, as well as his future plans:

Dear friends from B & G Yacht Design, 
I’ll try to make a briefing about Zait’s story, so it might become an incentive for some other nuts like me. My first contact with you was in 8/17/2004 when I sent you an e-mail with all possible questions about the various plans and different building techniques you had to suggest for my intended sailboat.  

My wife Diana and I were in doubt between the Samoa 34 or the Samoa 36 stock plans, but two decisions we had already made:
      1)  The boat would be built by Flavio Rodrigues: www.flab.com.br
      2)  It would be a wood/epoxy construction 
In 1/20/2005 I purchased the wooden list specified in the plans, so from then on I crossed the point of no return, the chosen boat being the Samoa 34.
I can’t claim Diana and me of being two absolutely sane persons, since we were finishing the construction of our new house which cost us twice as much as we preliminarily reckoned. We had our marriage and honeymoon scheduled for the next few months, all these expenditures having to come out from my drained kitty, and getting involved with the building of a yacht which would end up costing five or six times my original budget.
Of course we went bust, and even today I still have to cope with a huge overdraft in my bank account. However, one day I will overcome this stalemate!
So far so good! Many years passed by, many alterations were made in the original design and outstanding luxuries were included in poor Zait’s package, as air conditioning, two fridges, freezer, boiler, state of the art electronics, holding tank (since Diana, as a biologist, would never admit polluting the neighbour’s waters, obliging them to swim in other people’s poo), electric windlass, and, last but not least, a handcrafted teak deck laid over plywood sheathed with glass cloth saturated in epoxy.

Notwithstanding, I didn’t stop using Zait before she was 100% ready. The maiden trip was from Ubatuba, the launching place, to Rio de Janeiro, this accomplished under very bad sea conditions. Later we made a trial of taking Zait to Angra dos Reis, a town one hundred miles west of Rio, where we intended to install a custom-made bimini, but when halfway from there we were caught by a fierce storm with 32 knots winds on the nose and heavy seas. We decided to go back in spite of the boat not taking into account the bad weather, but for lack of sea legs from the part of the crew. In the next trial we extended the trip to Almada, a gorgeous cove where Flavio, our boat builder, has a wonderful beach house. 

The return trip was once more under tough conditions, and Zait behaved like a swan in spite of running in appalling breaking seas. Miguel (my father in law and my favourite mate) and I were feeling miserable, soaked to the bones, so much it rained.

Between Christmas and this New Year we went in the other direction, sailing to Cabo Frio and Búzios, two beach resorts about one hundred nautical miles east of Rio de Janeiro. Then came the great day when we scheduled the inauguration party, Diana taking the boat by herself to the Yacht Club Rio de Janeiro, Angra dos Reis branch.

I must admit that all my fantasies turned the boat into becoming a bit heavy, to be exact, 8000 kilos, but that was no reason to jeopardize her performance, which remained excellent, especially when reaching. However, what impresses me most is the feeling of safety the boat transmits to us. With the so frequent filthy weather we had to endure so early in Zait’s incipient sailing career, never a single froth of breaking waves landed in the cockpit. As a matter of fact I really get impressed when the boat’s bows “pretends”  to burry in the next wave. Instead, as if a giant spring was propelling it, back it comes up in a blink. And besides the heavy bowsprit I asked to be installed, other heavyweights like, windlass, eighty metres of chain and spare anchor, which are installed in the forepeak.

The manager of a painting workshop in Yacht Club Rio de Janeiro made a really interesting comment. He considered Zait to be built like in the old times, when no efforts were made to save costs in detriment of quality. He would advise the outcrops in Rio de Janeiro Bay to be careful in avoiding a collision with Zait’s keel.

I have been building my dreams, some of them contemplating offshore passages with my beloved yacht (it seems, being a wooden boat, she has a soul). However, for professional reasons I am restrained into accomplishing them, at least for the time being. On the other hand, the family increased considerably, and this population explosion, enhanced by my eldest daughter’s boyfriend, and friends of him, the boat seems to be shrinking. Actually, I have to thank my daughter Helena for me to realize the true situation. We scheduled a trip from Cabo Frio to Rio when she invited three friends of hers to help us as deckhands. Just in case, she gave them an overdose of dramin, and what happened was the nitwit having to perform a never ending watch, while the whole crew were slumbering in the cabin’s bunks.

In spite of all the love and dedication I have with the boat (my wife calls her my mistress), I am feeling a bit under pressure by the increase in the family’s number , and am beginning to realize that we need a bigger boat, since Zait became too small   for our present requirements.

Just mentioning the possibility of building a new boat was reason for Flavio not answering my phone calls, and running away from me like Dracula from garlic, since I believe he has no guts to endure one more time this crazy client of his. Foreseeing this new challenge, B & G yacht Design shifted the office from Rio de Janeiro to Perth, Western Australia, and when the hiding placed was discovered, moved again, taking temporary refuge in Singapore. At any rate, perhaps someone may be interested in acquiring this authentic Rolls Royce of the seas, and I’ll find a way to convince my favourite yacht designers and boat builder to create another jewel for their old buddy.
February, 24, 2010.

Daniel Sequerra.

Contact: daniel@veleirozait.com.br

Click here to know more about the Samoa 34