Endurance 35 Needs New Home

Dear Chuck,
Our decision to build the Endurance 35 was based on a long list of positive factors:

1) It was the winning design in an international competition for the ultimate all-weather cruising boat capable of going anywhere and being handled by a small crew. We wanted a
boat large enough to do whatever we wanted, to be a liveaboard, and yet small enough to be easily handled. The design parameters matched our desires perfectly.

2) It had received good reviews in "Yachting" and "Motorboating and Sailing", and had been featured in Arthur Beiser's book The Proper Yacht

3) It had a number of attractive layouts

4) It could be rigged either as a ketch or cutter

5) It had already proven itself worthy of the title Endurance, and I wanted a boat capable of high-latitude sailing

6) My wife, Jean, however didn't enjoy being cold and wet, so the inside steering station not only gave us a steering backup, but warmth and comfort.

7) Jean was in concrete research, so we knew exactly what ferrocement is capable of, and it was our material of choice. Besides some bad publicity about backyard ferro boats, we knew both good and bad boats could be built in any material. The end result was the product of the perseverance and standards of the builder, not the material.

Having chosen the boat, however, we decided to take a short-cut and had the hull built by Ferro Boatbuilders in Maryland. They obtained the plans from Peter Ibold, the
designer, and did the hull and deck as an integral unit, eliminating the worrisome hull-deck joint. Lab and engineering tests were done on the materials and pieces from the hull at each stage.

(click image to enlarge)

Both because I'm a safety-at-sea fanatic and it was to be our home, we went with only the best equipment and materials---silicon bronze, 316 stainless steel, Westerbeke
diesel, Edson steering, Dickinson stove/oven/heater, teak outside, Harborlite, white oak and cherry inside, etc. The hull was faired using the same materials used on America's
Cup and most other one-off boats giving us a finish to rival any quality hull.

Then reality intervened. The boat was about half-completed when Jean was diagnosed with Lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. She'd had pneumonia 8-years in a row
and her health was deteriorating much too fast. Finally, the doctor gave her a choice. "Have your affairs in order or be out of the Mid-Atlantic area before the coming winter."
We moved to Florida, leaving our home to our oldest son and abandoning the boat. We've been in Florida ten years, Jean's health has improved, but we still can't escape the
fact that she'll never go back to sea for any time, we'd never live aboard, there'd be no high-latitude sailing. In short, we and the boat are unfortunately traveling separate paths, and it makes sense to let her go to someone who can complete her and realize her potential.

In November, our son decided to sell the house, so we moved the Endurance to near St. Augustine, Florida, giving me the change to get her back in peak condition. Right now her value is estimated at $125,000. I have $28,000 in the hull, tanks, shafts, rudder, engine, etc., and over $55,000 available in materials and equipment, a lot of what's needed to complete assembly. I'll let her go for $12,000 for the hull and pieces integral to it (bulkheads, sole bearers, tanks, installed ballast, custom stainless work, rudder), or $16,900 for that plus installed engine and bed, shaft, panel, stainless aqua-lift muffler, wiring harness, etc., or $28,000 for everything. A complete 4-page list of equipment and study package is available.

James R. Neal
4275 Flagler Estates Blvd.
Hastings, FL 32145
904-692-1920