"S/V Narnia"
- Type Sail
- Condition Used
- Model Custom
- Manufacturer Alajuela
- Price $139,900
Narnia is a unique blue-water cruising yacht which will appeal to traditionalists who enjoy simplicity coupled with modern materials and smart design ideas. Narnia will appeal to sailors who might lust after a Bristol Channel Cutter but who cannot live in the cramped space that the BCC offers. Narnia will appeal to sailors who appreciate the seakeeping qualities of a double ender and who can live with the cockpit storage limitations these designs have. Narnia will appeal to sailors who understand the beautiful feeling of a well-balanced tiller-steered boat that signals when it’s time to reef and at the same time transmits the thrill of water flowing over the transom-hung rudder.
The Alajuela 38 is a derivative of William Atkin’s Ingrid 38 Ketch and, in the case of Narnia, the design was further modified with the assistance of naval architect Ed Joy. The interior was completely changed from previous versions, the mast height was increased and the bowsprit lengthened to create a functional and powerful blue-water boat in the double-ender tradition. The yacht shows like a new yacht both inside and out, from the gleaming low-hours Yanmar to the superbly executed welds on the stainless steel to the crisp sails and well-executed green canvas.
Narnia’s redesigned rig with increased sail area provides performance improvements not found on earlier versions of the Alajuela design. The hull shape is lean and graceful and benefited from hull design tweaks over the original Ingrid design, improving the yacht’s light-air performance. Narnia is a true voyager’s yacht designed and equipped to take on the world’s oceans.
Narnia started out as a hull/deck and bulkheads project for an owner in California. The hull was laid up in 1974 (hence the hull number reflects a ’74 build). The original owner never really got going with the project and the uncompleted and never-launched hull was sold to the current owners in 2010. They trucked the hull and deck to Maine’s Great Island Boatyard where the project took a further six years to complete. The yacht you see today was first launched in 2016. (Please note that Narnia is advertised as a 2016 due to its final completion though the hull number shows a 1974 build date.)
The previous owners sailed the coast of Maine on shakedown cruises in 2016 and 2019. In the interim years the yacht was stored indoors in a heated storage facility in Maine. In September 2021, Narnia was trucked to Zimmerman Marine in Deltaville, VA, and recommissioned. The owners then sailed it south to Florida for the winter of 2021–22. The current owner purchased Narnia in 2023 and had dreams of a Bermuda passage and other offshore adventures. After a year of sailing on the Chesapeake Bay and a major refurbishment of the vessel, his circumstances have changed and he has decided to sell this beautiful boat.
Narnia highlights include:
Please contact the broker for details of equipment and inventory.
Maintenance Project at Yankee Point Boatyard, Virginia.
The hull was professionally peeled twice, reglassed, epoxy coated, and bottom painted. Fore and aft hatches were removed and re-bedded, and new through-hulls were installed as part of the bottom job. New windlass foot switches were installed, below-waterline seacocks were grounded to a new grounding plate, new covers were fitted for the Lifesling and tiller, and the engine was serviced.
Other 2024 maintenance and new items:
The forward hatch was removed, the opening was ground back, reglassed, and re-bedded; the aft hatch was removed and re-bedded; new windlass foot switches were installed; the Lavac head was rebuilt with a rebuild kit; and new covers were fitted for the tiller and Lifesling.
