Pagoo

The sailing vessel Pagoo, probably my largest and most complex project prior to the monorail. A 1974 Bayliner Buccaneer 240, Pagoo was named after a book by Holling Clancy Holling, one of my favorite authors as a child. I acquired this boat for free, and in poor condition, while I was in college at UAF. To give you an idea of the condition it was in, I had previously turned down an opportunity to buy it for $100! Free was just too good to pass up, however, and my folks were generous enough to get it home, haul it out of the water, and scrape off the worst of the marine growth from the hull. I spent the next several years stripping, refurbishing, and rebuilding everything to working condition, as well as learning how to sail. Pagoo gave us some great summers of sailing and exploring around northern Southeast, making several multi-day trips and runs to various small towns. Although I’ve since moved to Minnesota and sold Pagoo, I learned a great deal about sailing, boat maintenance, and marine design which I still use today.

I’ve re-worked this page to include a few new pictures and a slightly different layout, both for my friends to see and to provide information to other Buccaneer owners.

Before:

Here are a few “before” pictures of the boat when I first got it:

There was a lot of water damage, rot, mold, and rust. The sails were rotten, the interior was ruined, electrical was destroyed, and someone had applied redneck Alaskan skills to build some goofy additions onto the hull, like a sliding motor mount made out of surplus plumbing.

After:

These photos show the culmination of a couple summers’ work. I started with the interior the first summer, then exterior and rigging the next summer, and later did some finishing touches and minor additions. I did everything from stripping to re-lining, re-carpeting, painting, fiberglassing, new electrical, re-caulking hatches and windows, building cabinets and doors, rebuilding the galley, re-running all rigging, replacing sails, installing radios, re-surfacing wood, and much much more!

During Refurb:

And here are just a few photos from the “in-progress” part of the refurbishing. These are from several different years and many different steps of the process.

Stripping out and sanding down the interior, and ripping out rotted wood.

Installing new wiring for cabin lights, nav lights, outlets, antennas, speakers, and instruments.

The dinette and galley cupboards were almost totally rebuilt, with new storage drawers, laminate surface, and hardware. The V-berth was also re-lined with marine grade carpet.

Exterior Repairs:

Exterior work included patching fiberglass damage, sanding off all barnacle remnangs, and painting. I also removed the damaged rub rail and fiberglassed the joint between the top and bottom hull sections, after replacing the bolts holding the sections together.

The mast was removed and the rigging was replaced. I also replaced the cheap flimsy bracket holding the mast with a large stainless steel plate. This, combined with a beam from the cabin trunk to keel, would help hold and distribute the weight of the mast under load. While the mast was off I rebuilt the navigation lights on it and restrung the electrical and antenna wires through the inside. Hoisting the mast back into place required a tree and some creative rope work.

Launching Pagoo using some ancient technology: rollers, jacks, ropes, and pulleys. The high tides in Southeast Alaska helped a lot, we only had to move the boat to where it would float at flood tide.

Sailing:

Finally, here’s a collection of sailing pictures taken by myself and others:

Al. B. took this picture in Cross Sound outside of Elfin Cove.

Joel Bennet took these while I was on a trip into Juneau.

A few pictures from trips out Icy Strait to Elfin Cove

The trip I made several summers in a row from Funter Bay to Elfin Cove. I usually stopped somewhere along the way overnight, either in Flynn Cove or Gull Cove.

And a few more in and around Funter Bay.

Tied up at Auke Bay in Juneau.