Motor Sailers by Philip Rhodes & John Alden

I belive its my 78 you're reffering to...

http://www.cheoyleeassociation.com/a_modelsgraphic.htm

I had her delivered in 1995 and sailed here happily since then! She was the third and last to be delivered. Her two other sisterships where lauched in 1988 & 1989.

I am actually surprised that only 3 of the 78's were built.

I remember when they first came out, I was running a 63 ft Cheoy Lee Motorsailor at the time, and the owner had expressed an interest in going to the larger one.

It seemed they had all the good characteristics of the 63, in a larger package.

When my client was in the market, he had a choice of two of the 78s: "Tarot of Jersey" had the dark hull, and "Quixote" had white topsides. Both were in South Florida at the time. He bought the latter amidst the replacement of the main bulkhead which was supervised by Steve Seaton at Derector's.
Then, there was this mystery 78, the third one, owned by some Italian guy...

MedRascal, the owner of one of my 63s ( "Blackship" ) met up with you in the Med about six (?) years back... said you circled each other, said "hi" and then went on your separate ways.

Small world.

By the way, that 63 handled nicely around the docks. The 78, in my experience, requires a lot of planning when in close quarters.

I guess I'm that Italian guy then... Never thought I was a mystery!

Yes, I remeber the "Blackship" encounter, it was outside of the Porto Vecchio bay, in South Corsica!!! Its indeed a small world!

Previous my current 78' (hull #4562) I had a 63' delivered in 1991 that was hull #4413. I sailed 4 seasons on the 63' before moving up to the 78'. I bought both my boats from a broker based in Palma that back then was the European dealer for Cheoy Lee. Shame that today they stopped the sailing range ...

True! Experienced from the 63', I had my 78' fitted with a 30Hp hydraulic bowthruster while under construction...

I had always attributed the good handling of the 63 to the reversing props which gave the same bite in forward as in reverse.
I remember putting that boat in and out of some pretty tight spots that earned me kudos for the old timers watching me. Little did they know that the boat handled so well it made me look good.

I had a bad accident on my former 63' with its reversing props... their reaction time when you need to switch from fwd to reverse is terribly slow bringing the action need late to avoid the accident.

I had them eliminated during the building of my current 78' installin fixed ones. It gives more drag when sailing, (to avoid this, i keep engines running even while sailing) but at least, the responce while manouveing is in "real time"...

For what I know, over 25 Cheoy Lee 63 MS were built in spite of only three 78s. Strange that in spite of many owners moved from the CL 52 to the 63, almost none besides me, moved from the 63 to the 78...

Brian,

What do you think of the new Island Packet SP Cruiser motorsailor? I know she's a lot smaller than the beautiful boats you have shown us, but it seems there are a few modern motorsailors cropping up.

Trout fishing in America

Some things just don't fit into tidy little boxes, so I apologize for my lack of thread continuity in advance. Today, my younger sister died from the complications associated with her chemo threapy. (Our metabolism is probably much the same, mind you I never go out for fast food.) The odd thing is that I had fore-knowledge, since way back in '72. This came from an elderly African-American, widely known in the Delta for being a faith-healer and a seer.

She told me I would die just after my sister, (but didn't make reference to which one.) In fact, she didn't say the date, only that I would have a heart attack at age 55. From that day forward, I have never forgotten a menacing, recurring dream, always repeating the number 6/01/09. -Just before I turn 56! I say all this just in case anyone wonders why I'm ready to hit the high seas, and rediscover my roots in some place like Bali.

On a sad, minor chord, Kurt Vonnegut also died today. He was a really old codger. Always true to form, but somewhat less effective as time wore on. I always liked his futuristic predictions, until they started coming true.

That's pretty much why I haven't been myself lately. And I won't have much time to correspond for a while. Thanks for your blessings. Happy sailing.

Max, for myself and others, condolences for your loss.

As for Mr. Vonnegut---and I've been a longtime fan-- his chain smoking of Pall Malls finally overcame a huge heart.

As for you, my friend, I have seen folks worrry themselves to death; don't be one of them.

+1
Max, extended road trips always worked for me.

Hi folks,

I'm new to the forum and found this thread. Interesting as I have a Cheoy Lee 63. I have loads of photos and original drawings if anyone wants them. Mine is hull number 3949

Mine dosen't have reversing props, they must have been options.

Do you keep it in gear or just let the engines idle?

I enquired with Cheoy Lee shipyards and they told me they had built 15. I've tried to contact various owners so I can hopefully get some assistance and comparisons with mine.

I don't suppose anyone would know the history of mine?

What are some of the former names of your Cheoy Lee 63?
I used to run "Fantasy", which had a cream hull and gold anodized spars... the only one I have seen like this.

James McGarvey has a great CL site at Cheoy Lee Association--give him a call.

I think she may have been called Coo Too

I joined that forum but no one has any history of her.

According to the local Cat dealers the engines were originally under warranty with a customer in Washington but that's about as far as I've been able to trace.

Thanks.

JoeQ:
Have you tried contacting Cheoy Lee directly?
But Yang Lo runs the pleasurecraft end of the operation.

Yes, I've had several converstaions with Jonathan Cannon at the shipyard, he was unable to assist with any history.

I did find a USCG number 656360 on the vessel. Would this help trace her history?

Thanks.

The USCG Database indicates that "Coo Too" is no longer a USCG documented vessel.
At least one previous owner was Custom Yacht Services, Inc.

Thanks for the info, is there any way of finding out which "Custom Yacht Services, Inc."? I did a Google but found loads?

Thanks.

Hi JoeQ,

My current CL78 is Yard # 4562 and my 63' built in 1991 was #4413.

I guess your must be one of the first 63' built in 1985 or so?

When I cruise with my sals up, I keep the engine rpms at +/- 1400 (I have twin Perkins 135hp). This gives also a good charge at the batteries for a good use of the Inverter to have 220V all the time without need of the genset.

Where do you keep your 63'?

I've attached a photo of the yard plate, it probably means mine was one of the first.

I haven't been able to use my main sail yet as the furling system in the main mast is siezed. Hopefully soon! I run both engines at 1500rpm and cruise very economically at 8.5knots. Twin cat 3208NA 210hp.

I keep the boat in Troon on the West coast of Scotland. The Clyde and the Western Isles are my cruising grounds, not the warmest but certainly the nicest!

Where do you cruise with yours?