S\/V Rainshadow is a Nicholson 38 – that means she is a 38 foot, GRP\u00a0ketch built by Camper and Nicholsons in 1974.\u00a0 She is hull number 126, out of 134.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We (Van and Marilyn) bought her in November 2009 from her previous owners Sid and Stephanie\u00a0Morrell.\u00a0\u00a0Sid and Stephanie had Rainshadow for 27 years and had taken her cruising for three of those\u00a0years\u00a0in\u00a0the South Pacific, all the way\u00a0to Australia.\u00a0 Except for those three years, she’s spent all her time cruising in the beatiful Pacific Northwest.<\/p>\n
“Rainshadow” is an interesting name – separately, rain and shadow are two words normally associated with unpleasantness.\u00a0 “Don’t rain on my parade”.\u00a0“All those moments will be lost in time like tears in rain” \u00a0 “A dark shadow crept over the land”.\u00a0 “The valley of the shadow of death…”\u00a0 But, put together, they take on a new meaning.\u00a0 A rainshadow is a shelter from the rain, blocked by a tall mountain or range of mountains, or perhaps an island in the South Pacific.\u00a0 There is usually sunshine in a rainshadow.\u00a0 It’s a kind of safe harbor – a fitting metaphor for a boat.\u00a0 And finally, Rainshadow has spent the last decade or so in the rainshadow of the Olympic Mountains, in Port Townsend.\u00a0\u00a0 And our home port, in Hansville, is still in the rainshadow.<\/p>\n
BUILDER: Camper & Nicholsons
\nMODEL: Nicholson 38 ketch
\nYEAR BUILT: 1974
\nDESIGNER: Based on John Alden’s Mistral<\/p>\n
BUILDER DIMENSIONS
\n– LOA: 37’10”
\n– LWL: 27’8″
\n– Beam: 10’6″
\n– Displacement: 16,000
\n– Ballast: 6,000 Lead
\n– Draft: 5’4″
\n– Hull speed: 7.75 knots<\/p>\n