48' Herreshoff/Covey Island Pilothouse Ketch (1997) - WALRUS

48′ L.F. Herreshoff / Covey Island pilothouse ketch.
Walrus is the ultimate “cruising machine”. Efficient, comfortable, and easily handled, she will take you where you choose in a vessel that you can view from your dinghy with admiration and affection.

We enjoy the game of maximizing efficiency when sailing Walrus. Our most common setup is some degree of motor sailing with one engine at reduced RPMs. In calm weather she will motor between 7.2 – 7.5 KTs under one engine alone at about 1800 RPMs. Both engines can push her well over 9 KTs or into a headwind and sea when required. We call our time aboard Walrus “slipper sailing” since that is our usual footwear. She is both cozy in the cold and comfortable in hot, sunny weather. Thirteen screened opening ports, four opening windows, two side doors and an aft companionway keep the breeze flowing through. Espar hydronic diesel heat and a Luke soapstone and brass woodstove keep things warm in the shoulder seasons.

Walrus combines the warmth and tradition of a classic wooden boat with the maintenance level of fiberglass. The hull was built with strip planking over filleted, laminated frames and covered with three layers of biaxial fiberglass set in epoxy. The deck and deck structures are marine plywood also covered in fiberglass and Awl-Grip paint. The rigs are aluminum with an Awl-Grip finish. Deck hardware is all bronze while the rigs have most hardware in stainless steel.

Our “five year plan” with Walrus is now up and we have reluctantly listed her in order to pursue other interests. She is currently available for sail with Brooklin Boatyard, where more complete information can be found.