1983 Birdsall 72 Expedition Yacht

Features of Silver Fern

Silver Fern is a raised salon, staysail sloop designed to be sailed by as few as two people.

• Length:  70 ft, 21.3 m

• Beam:  4.5 m

• Depth: 2.2 m or 7’2”

• Mast Height: 23.5 m

• Weight: 32 ton

Construction: 

Hull and decks: 5 mm steel plate; Cabins: wood and fiberglass

Built:    Original hull: 1983 in New Zealand.  Designer: Beau Birdsall

Rebuilt in 2001-2004 to Maritime NZ standards; approved by construction marine surveyor throughout project.  Rebuild took the boat down to the bare hull; hull was lengthened by 3 m; completely new build onto the hull.  Designer for new boat: Brett Bakewell-White

Refurbished: 2016-2017, Whangarei, New Zealand

Note:  A recent surveyor’s report and a recent rigging condition report are available on request

Special Features

• Raised salon style.  When seated in the main salon, the sailor has an almost 360-degree view outside.  You can enjoy the view, see who is coming past, and stand watch if conditions allow.  Because the instruments from the helm are duplicated at the nav station, you can get information and steer the boat from inside.

• Engine room.   Silver Fern has a stand-up walk-in engine room, complete with workbench with vice, drawers, tool and spares storage and easy access to the systems.

• Swim platform.  The swim platform swings down from a position parallel to the transom.  This is ideal for swimming, makes a nice place to sit, and provides an area to clean fish without getting blood in the boat, using a custom fish-cleaning table.  There are also salt water and fresh water taps for quick rinse after swim.

• Large lazarette.  At the stern of the boat is a large storage area.  One section is large enough for full-size bicycles or a small motorbike, and there are built-in holders for scuba tanks, petrol, and LPG tanks.  There is also a block and tackle and storage bar for raising the outboard motor off the dinghy and storing it in the lazarette.

• Canoe-style boom.  The scoop boom and lazy jack system enhance the ease of dropping the fully battened mainsail.

Cabins and Interior

Finishes: walls and cabinetry are American cherry, inlaid with maple.  Floors are hand-laid solid wood, also of cherry and maple.  Finish is matte varnish on cabinetry.  Bedroom walls are finished with macro suede; headliners are vinyl.

Main salon has open plan, with nav station at aft end and steps down to galley at forward end.

• The glass windows around the salon are Armour-plated, with the front windows 12 mm thick and the sides 10 mm thick; in each case they are 2 mm more than required by design engineers

•  A wrap-around black screen covers the windows on the exterior, reducing interior glare

•  Diesel-powered Eberspaecher heater, to warm main salon and forward stateroom.

•  There is an amazing amount of storage under the floor, with built-in racks to hold storage boxes

•  Extra storage/small berth under straight settee

Galley

• Three burner gas stoves with oven and grill

• Separate refrigerator, freezer, and a drinks cooler is located near companionway entrance

• Double stainless-steel sinks

• Granite chip countertops

• Microwave oven

• Hot and cold fresh water; cold salt water

• 230 outlets for plug-in appliances

• Lots of cupboards over the counter and drawers below; plus, multiple under-the-floor storage areas

One double stateroom

V-berth: extra-long and wide berth; 2 hanging lockers and sets of drawers; bookshelves; opening hatch large enough to exit; storage under bed

• Forward double: double bed, opening hatch large enough to exit; large closet and drawers; row of cupboards; storage under bed and behind headboard

• Aft double: double bed, writing desk, bureau with four drawers, overhead hatch large enough to exit, storage under bed.  Comfortable reading chair.  Large hanging locker in passageway.  Ensuite bathroom: toilet, sink, enclosed shower.

• All cabins are ample, with full headroom, fans and lights

Two full heads

• Made from fiberglass and painted for easy cleaning.

• Electric toilets, one-button activation.  Macerators.  Black water holding tank in bilge.

• Showers and sinks have hot and cold fresh water.  Grey water holding tank in bilge.

• Domestic-style clothes washing machine

Navigation station:

• Desktop compartments for computers

• External monitor for computer-generated chart display or entertainment

• Repeaters of instruments outside including Autohelm steering

• AIS system with dedicated screen; will also display on computer

• Printer

• Radios, pactor modem for weather fax and emails, radar, chart plotter

Cockpit:

• Stainless steel wheel for steering

• Large U-shaped seating area

• Removable table

• Instrument and steering station

• Overhead lights

• Stereo speakers

• Two large cockpit drains

• Storage for LPG bottle (9 kg)

• Overhead fishing rod holders

• Three electric winches and two manual winches; all reefing lines, sheets and main halyard come to cockpit

On Deck:

• Permanent mounting area to store dinghy when under way

• Contained in dedicated bag: large parachute anchor with associated gear for use in case of major storm

• Contained in dedicated bag: Furler for lightweight/light air headsail.  Continuous furling style.  Sail will fit in bag also.  Sail not supplied.

Ground tackle

• Maxwell windlass (with two chain lifters, and one rope drum). Push-button operation at bow, or remote operation from steering station in cockpit.

• Three anchors:  Rocna, Plow style, and Fortress — see Equipment List for details

• Six fenders

• Spool of polypropylene line and small length of chain mounted on stern rail – to tie the boat back to a tree or rock after dropping anchor

Sails and Winches

• Mainsail: Built by Rolly Tasker, 2009.   Two-line slab reefing system, lines come to cockpit.   Fully battened.  Three reefs can be taken without getting out of the cockpit.  Halyard comes to cockpit.

• Genoa: Roller furled, Bamar furler. Built by Rick Royden Sails, 2004

• Continuous furling system for light air sail (gennaker) by Sea Rig-KZ Marine; no sail supplied

• Inner staysail: Roller furled.  Built by Quantum Sails, Dec. 2007

• Storm trysail: On deck with dedicated track up the mast.

• Winches:

  • Two electric Lewmar 66 winches for jib sheets and main halyard

  • One electric Lewmar 54 winch for main sheet.

  • Two manual winches in cockpit for general purposes.

  • One manual winch near mast for handling spinnaker halyard and lifting dinghy.

Ground Tackle

• Maxwell anchor windlass: two chain drums for 13 mm chain and one rope drum.

• Three anchors:  Rocna 88 pounds; CQR-Plow style 75 pounds; Fortress FX-55 high-tensile aluminium.

• Two chains dedicated to the two bow mounted anchors:  Both are ½ inch (13 mm) galvanized steel, and they are 100 m (295 ft) and 60 m (200 ft) in length.  –

• One spare chain/rope combination:  30 m length of ½ inch (13 mm) chain spliced to a long length of 1” nylon anchor rode.

• One stern-mounted spool of ½ inch polypropylene line spliced to a 3 m length of chain, for tying the stern to a tree or rock ashore.

• Pressure saltwater wash at anchor area on bow.

Steering 

• Hydraulic steering, two rams.

• Hydrodynamically designed rudder, hung from a stainless shaft.

• Emergency manual tiller.  

Propulsion and Power 

• Yanmar 4LH TE, 110 hp diesel motor, 5,000 hours

• Beta Gen 7 Kw marine generator. New.

• ZF 220 V-drive hydraulic gearbox, installed new in 2012; with a new Centa coupling

• J Prop, with feathering blades

• Side Power bow thruster, 10 hp

• 12-volt alternator on the Yanmar for charging the start battery

• Eight 6-volt deep cycle batteries (Trojan) for the 24-volt system; 450-amp hours in each bank

• Four 6-volt deep cycle batteries for the 12-volt system; 440-amp hours each bank; new April 2018

• One start battery, isolated from the others, but they can be linked

• Two 80-watt solar panels to charge the 24-volt system

• One 80-watt solar panel to charge the 12-volt system

• Smart regulators, chargers and sensors

• Latronics DC-AC pure sine wave inverter; boat is 230 volts

Radios and Communications

• GME Electrophone VHF

• ICOM IC-M710 MF/HF Marine Transceiver (Single Side Band)

• Uniden Voyager handheld VHF

Navigation

• Acer Aspire 3620 computer for displaying electronic charts; using OpenCPN software

• Acer External monitor for viewing electronic charts (and watching DVDs)

• Deluo GPS (USB-style for supplying data to the electronic charts in the computers)

• Chart plotter in nav station: Ray marine c80.  Also functions as radar.

• GPS in cockpit: Garmin 441S

• Extra GPS built into the AIS system

• Ray marine autohelm in cockpit; Ray marine 6001 autohelm at nav station; spare controller unit (brain) and spare flux gate compass are already installed should they be required

• Ray marine ST60+ wind and Tridata (depth, speed) in cockpit with repeaters at nav station

• Ray marine c80 radar and radome

• AIS transceiver – Vesper Marine brand – receive and transmit.  AIS ships display on the electronic charts and on a stand-alone unit that uses only milliamps.

• Magnetic Compass, Sestral — 2 units, one for each hemisphere (north and south)

• Sextant, plastic

Safety

• Survitec 6-person life raft; serviced in October 2018

• Man overboard pole

• 2 horseshoe rings

• Parachute anchor with approx. 125 individual drogues woven into removable line (can be used off stern as drogue, or can be used with parachute off bow)

• EPIRB ACR brand

• Fire extinguishers

• Electric bilge pumps, manual Whale gusher

• Offshore style orange life jackets

Tender

• Southern Ocean 3.2 m inflatable rigid aluminium-hull dinghy

• 2 custom Sunbrella covers: one for everyday use; one to keep water out when stored on deck

• 15 hp Yamaha 2-stroke outboard motor

• Danforth style anchor with chain and rope rode for dinghy

Other Systems

• Water maker – 20 gallons per hour; driven by electric motor from generator

• Grey water holding tank for forward head

• Black water holding tank

• Isotherm stainless steel hot water tank; the water is heated by motors or electric element

• Domestic style washing machine for clothes

• Eberspaecher diesel heater for main salon and port cabin

Galley

• 1 Open Sea marine stainless gas stove, 3-burner with oven and grill

• 1 microwave oven

• 1 gas BBQ (Weber Baby Q)

• 3 nine-kg tanks for LPG (propane)

• Double stainless-steel sinks (2), one with dish drainer

• Refrigerator, freezer and drinks cooler (3 separate units); driven by electric motor from generator

• Countertop: granite chips in polyester resin base.

• Cupboards and drawers, also under-floor storage

• Two 24-v pressure taps: one for fresh water, one for salt water

• Shelf for cookbooks

• Dedicated cupboard for wine and champagne glasses

• Protected area and safety strap for cooking under way.

Entertainment

• 12-volt stereo system w cockpit and cabin speakers and subwoofer

• External computer monitor for entertainment (swings around from nav station to face salon settee)