Alice Gale is for Sale

Having enjoyed Alice Gale since completing the build in 2011 I am moving into another chapter of my life and have the necessity of selling Alice Gale. She has been maintained covered and garaged for her entire storage life. Made with top quality woods and parts she has been a remarkable joy to have owned and sailed or motored (electric propulsion) around the bays and lakes in Southern California. A few trips up the coast to Washington allowed me to tow and launch Alice Gale in new locations. These trips are the highlights of ownership. Current condition of Alice Gale is excellent with all fittings in solid condition. The fit and finish remains the same as when completed. A few stains on the floorboards the only indication of age. How does one price an object that was produced with your own hands over a two year period. The joy of building Alice Gale was reward in itself so I consider any labor on my part to have already been reimbursed. So looking back at the actual cost of Alice Gale for all parts and materials to date I have an investment of $18,650. If labor was standardized Alice Gale would be around $35,000 if build by a commercial boat house. I will be offering Alice Gale in two modes of sale. One is complete as she is currently fitted, a full sailboat, motor sailer, and electric launch. You go boating with or without the mast and sails if desired. I have found having the electric motor just ticking over overcomes the motor and prop resistance and gives a 1/2 knot boast in speed resulting in a very nice ability to point upwind. The current condition of Alice Gale includes the Elco 9.9 electric motor (48v), four 100 amp hour 12V batteries(all new), and two new upgraded Genius 10amp dual battery chargers on board. My asking price is $18,990.00 and includes the current boat trailer. If an electric launch is not your thing and you have a small outboard ready for use I can remove all the electric and battery options from Alice Gail and my asking price in this configuration is $15,990.00 If your new to my blog please spend some time exploring the building of Alice Gail. You can contact me through my email listed on this blog.

Launch Day

Newport Back Bay back in 2015. Looks the same today except for new Elco 9.9 electric motor

One of our trips to Washington

Lake Havasu on a windy day, reefing required

End of a great day out in Alice Gale

This will be missed

 

Early Afternoon sail

Ready for an early afternoon sail in Newport Harbor (Aug 2018)

This is taken from Newport Dunes launch ramp.   This is the only public access launch ramp for Newport Harbor.   I usually do my sailing midweek to avoid overcrowding at the ramp.  Parking can be limited here along with periodic closures due to local events.

 

Motor sailing with Alice Gale

This video is my first sail with Alice Gale after the Elco electric conversion.  I have comments about the sailing and handling in the video.   In summary,  I am super pleased with the outcome of the conversion.

Since this video I have had other opportunities to sail.  What I discovered was a wonderful way of motor sailing.  With just a minimum thrust from the electric motor I am now able to significantly improve my pointing ability.  The motor has eliminated all concerns about cruising the harbors in Southern California.  The boat balance feels great.

 

Alice Gale is now a “Happy Ohm”

After several years of motoring out to the sailing area of Newport Beach I have desired an electric conversion to allow smoother and quieter operation, provide a substitute power source for relaxed cruising with friends, and allow access to the canal homes in our area.   An electric conversion would allow us to significantly expand my local area of exploration. My gas 4.0 motor was not particularly happy at super slow cruising speeds and liked to run at quarter throttle which for the Alice Gale was approaching hull speed.    I desired an electric motor that would have zero to max power available with the twist of a knob or throttle.

I have researched multiple sources for electric propulsion and found a direct solution for my use without significant modification to Alice Gale.   Elco Motor Yachts started distributing 9.9 hp motors that have the exact footprint of my existing 4.0 hp Mercury motor.

As a reminder to my followers,  my number one usage of Alice Gale is harbor cruising under sail with friends while enjoying the views and a glass of wine with snacks.  Boat speed was never an issue, so a fast responding quick moving sailboat is the opposite of my desires.    Under perfect conditions I wanted a responsive boat that would move comfortable under a range of wind conditions and be stable enough not to concern the captain or passengers of ‘dangerous capsize conditions’.     Alice Gale has always been a responsive and easily driven boat under light to moderate wind conditions.  Under erratic and higher wind conditions greater then 10 knots required more sailing focus from me or reefing to de-power  the boat for comfort sailing.

With this in mind I have been comfortable trading boat acceleration for more stability.

The following photo’s explain my changes to Alice Gale in making her a truly multipurpose boat.  She is rigged for both sail and as an electric launch.

My design updates included adding 550 lbs of lead acid AGM batteries to the center line of the boat.

This modification has done an excellent job in lowering the waterline on the bow of the boat and raising slightly the stern to match the designed waterline originally intended for the Ebihen 15.  Alice Gale was alway a bit tail heavy and looks better with several passengers sitting up front.  With the added battery weight clearly centered on the boats center the boat sits very comfortable in the water, though it now may be an inch or two overall lower then design.   It has made the boat several inches longer at the waterline, so in reality I have a slight increase in maximum hull speed.    As the owner of the boat I am extremely happy with the changes.

Alice Gale sitting nicely at the dock with electric propulsion

llSo starting from the beginning of my modification.  After determining by measurement and balance I selected an installation of the batteries directly below my forward seats on  the center balance point of Alice Gale.   I designed and made brackets and a battery shelf to both secure and hide the batteries from normal view.    All of my parts where first constructed with thin ply patterns.   I experimented a number of times to come up with the final shape, shelf height and overall look.

Brackets cut and notched for cross members

Removing finish for Epoxy attachment

Bracket and cross members installed

With the weight of each battery at 61 lbs I made sure I had sufficient cross bracing to support the weight of four batteries.  Each support member is epoxy attached to the adjoining frame.

Shelf

Battery support

More prep

Adding a door rail

Door rail detail

Door rail detail

Door rail installed

Prep and paint the shelf brackets

Shelf installed

Painted to match hull color

Dry fitted door panel

Identified Left/Right side for perfect fit

First battery install

Cutouts for Gauges

Filled old master Switch location

Master Switch, Amp Meter, and Charger outlet

Finished look

Finished look

The tight areas under the seat shelf has the added benefit of allowing stowage of fenders and life jackets without the clutter of being underfoot or hidden away in cabinets.

Installed charger

I installed NOCO Genius dual 10 amp chargers for each 12v bank.  I hooked up across each 6 volt pair to individually charge two batteries independently from the other batteries in the bank.   Each side of Alice Gale has a similar row of batteries (4 – 210 amp AGM) and a 2 bank 12 volt charger as shown.

Shunt and bilge pump wiring

I used my previously wired bilge pump and required to a 12V bank.  The lower shunt provides details to the running amp meter from Victron Energy.

Ready for our first cruise

 

 

 

Alice Gale gets a cover

Gail and I made a cover for Alice Gale.  We purchased Sunbrella cloth online and designed a fairly tight fitting cover using heavy plastic sheeting from Home Depot as a template for each panel.   A PFAFF quilting sewing machine did the heavy work (a bit difficult with multi-layer seams).   It took about three days to put it together.   We have used it so far for several overnight stays in campgrounds while heading up north to Seattle with good success.  It has kept the dirt and dew out of the boat.

Fitting the area for the belt strap

 

Setting Sail

Time for some driveway sailing.    I stepped the mast for the first time and set the sails in the driveway.   A few adjustments and “Alice Gale” will be ready for launch.

Mast stepped

Jib and Main set

Aft view

Balanced lug, with jib.

We took “Alice Gale” down to the water to get the centerboard set into its proper location.  Might as well take a quick sail while we’re at it.   Our official launch party is a few weeks away.

Stan and Alice Gale, ready for launch

First (pre) Launch, dropping the center board.