About The Boat

Polerys is a 1963 Chris Craft Sail Yacht 35. Yes, Chris Craft made sailboats back in the day. She was designed by Sparkman and Stephens. With a long keel, aft cabin, and a roomy engine compartment, she is the perfect boat for me. A ballast of 5000 lbs, keeps this 35 by 11 foot boat afloat, with a 5 foot draft.

The name comes from two places. First, sailors of old used to navigate by the stars. That gave me the idea of Polaris. I’m also a huge Game of Thrones/ASOIAF nerd, so I decided to spell it in a pseudo High Valerian way. Thus, Polerys was born. Or, rather, renamed.

My plan is to essentially gut her, and redesign the interior to suit my needs. I don’t have children, so I don’t need a family style layout. The aft cabin has two twin sized beds, that I’ll convert to a queen. The v-berth isn’t really needed and is too far aft, with a sail storage area in the bow. I’m not sure what I’ll do with all of that space. I would like to increase the size of the head and add a shower. The galley might be enlarged, as well.

She’s currently powered by a 50 hp Perkins 4-108 and 120 gallons of diesel. I’m going to replace that with an electric motor, solar panels, and a ton of batteries. While I would love to get a wind generator, that might be too expensive for right now.

The electrical system needs to be completely redone. All of it. Just. All of it. Wires are readily hanging in the cabin. Some of the gauges are not even soldered, they are taped. The shore power goes into the head. It’s a nightmare.

She needs a new anchor and chain. And bow roller. And windlass.

The hull seems to be in great condition, with no blisters or delamination. Though, she does have a lot of old cracked paint, so weeks of sanding are in store.

There are many other updates I’d like to do, but it’s all about the budget and time.