Experiences of Bavaria 38 Ocean gratefully received!

[pipemma]

Hello! New to the forum as we're seriously looking at a 1998 38 Ocean centre cockpit. Although we've sailed plenty of Bavarias in our time, this would be the first time owning, coming from Jeanneau. We'd very much appreciate your thoughts and experiences on the model. We hear really good things about them, but would like to know what things in particular we should look for and what the common faults/issues are. Forewarned is forearmed.

Also a few specific things we've noticed after initial inspection:

- The gypsy (furling drum? sailmaker called it a gypsy) for the outhaul on the mast(in-mast furling) seems to be a little loose - is this common? If not, and/or if worn, is this a relatively easy fix?
- What size is the standard hot water tank?
- There seem to be very few sockets, either 220V or 12V - is this usual? Is it fairly easy to retrofit?
- The spray hood design seems a little difficult to drop, as it requires unzipping the whole thing. Does anyone have any good solutions?

We are fairly competent at boat DIY but our time is limited.

Thanks a million in advance!

Pipemma

[Yngmar]

Welcome. If you peruse the forum search, you should find a thread or two about the 38 Ocean or the similar 40 Ocean (2 years later model). Like this one.

There's also a long thread where owners report common issues with their models here.

As for your questions, the hot water tank is, uhm, maybe 40 - 60 litre? I've not really measured it. As you'll have probably have the MD22 engine it will be full of 90°C hot water after running the engine for a while, which means mixed down with cold water to non-scalding temperatures it will last quite a while! We usually get at least four showers out of it. We had to fit a thermostatic mixing valve on ours as it was too hot for the plastic pipes (bit of an oversight by Bavaria then).

Sockets are easy to retrofit as access to places is surprisingly good by comparison to other boats! We've got them in every cabin, although it was already done that way when we got the boat.

Our sprayhood on top of the glass windscreen requires undoing two straps and then opening two zips on the sides partially - takes about one minute to drop, not that we do this often - the center glass window is openable after all.

I don't know what you mean by a gypsy on the mast. Our gypsy is on the windlass?

If you've not found a boat yet, our 40 Ocean is coming up for sale this winter in Spain

[symphony2]

The manual for the inmast furler is here support.seldenmast.com/files/1426855956/595-063-E.pdf and I assume you are talking about the furling drum. This does a lot of work furling and unfurling the mainsail so not surprising after more than 20 years there may be some wear. Suggest you get a Selden rigger to check it out.

[pipemma]

The manual for the inmast furler is here support.seldenmast.com/files/1426855956/595-063-E.pdf and I assume you are talking about the furling drum. This does a lot of work furling and unfurling the mainsail so not surprising after more than 20 years there may be some wear. Suggest you get a Selden rigger to check it out.

Thank you, I'll have a read of that. I was talking to a sailmaker the other day who reckoned that replacing the furling drum is a mast-down job - is that correct?

[pipemma]

Welcome. If you peruse the forum search, you should find a thread or two about the 38 Ocean or the similar 40 Ocean (2 years later model). Like this one.

There's also a long thread where owners report common issues with their models here.

As for your questions, the hot water tank is, uhm, maybe 40 - 60 litre? I've not really measured it. As you'll have probably have the MD22 engine it will be full of 90°C hot water after running the engine for a while, which means mixed down with cold water to non-scalding temperatures it will last quite a while! We usually get at least four showers out of it. We had to fit a thermostatic mixing valve on ours as it was too hot for the plastic pipes (bit of an oversight by Bavaria then).

Sockets are easy to retrofit as access to places is surprisingly good by comparison to other boats! We've got them in every cabin, although it was already done that way when we got the boat.

Our sprayhood on top of the glass windscreen requires undoing two straps and then opening two zips on the sides partially - takes about one minute to drop, not that we do this often - the center glass window is openable after all.

I don't know what you mean by a gypsy on the mast. Our gypsy is on the windlass?

If you've not found a boat yet, our 40 Ocean is coming up for sale this winter in Spain

Thank you for the links and info.
Afraid we don't want any larger the 38 - we're in Greece, Tepai and all that. We're also downsizing with a view to the next 15-20 years

[Yngmar]

The furling drum itself can be replaced with the mast standing. Just had it out to replace our broken tensioner. Only the furling foil that runs the length of the mast is a mast-off job, as the masthead has to come off.

The 40 Ocean is 11.99 meters hull length, which is on the official design documents and therefore on our official boat papers. That's 30 EUR a month when we were in Greece ;-)

[pipemma]

Dear all

Thank you for all your feedback. We made an offer on the boat - costed and based on market rates - but it was rejected (unsurprisingly as the asking price is about 50% over recent selling prices). However, we very much liked the 38 Ocean so would be grateful for a heads-up if anyone hears of one come on the market in the eastern Med (Italy, Greece, Croatia etc.)

Thank you in advance!
Pipemma

[Jeffatoms]

For the record, we are thrilled with our Ocean 38.  We lived aboard for four years and cruised extensively in the San Juans and Canadian Gulf Islands this past summer.  The boat is simply a joy for a couple in our late 50s to enjoy.  It's initial stability makes it fun to go out in a stiff breeze and there are few things we would change. That said, at 24 years old, most original equipment is showing its age, predictably.  The best part of owning it is being a part of this owners group where others are ready to help solve any issue that comes up.  With regular maintenance, the Ocean 38 is a spectacular value.