S/V Ubiquity
Pacific Seacraft 34 Sailboat


Ubiquity is a 1987 Pacific Seacraft 34 sailboat, hull #67. Designed by Bill Crealock as a smaller successor to the Pacific Seacraft 37, the Pacific Seacraft 34 is sometimes referred to as the "Crealock 34".*

I am outfitting Ubiquity for my post-retirement cruising plans. I bought her for her suitable design for offshore cruising, her excellent construction quality, and for the considerable cruising gear already on the boat.

For cruising, the design characteristics I like about the Pacific Seacraft 34 include:

So far my sailing experience with Ubiquity has impressed me with her virtues as an offshore boat, including her excellent tracking ability and easy motion in a seaway, combined with acceptable maneuverability in the marina and on the river. You can view video clips I took crossing the Columbia River Bar (view over the bow), crossing the Columbia River Bar (view of helmsman looking towards stern), and sailing off-shore broad-reaching in 20+ knot winds and heavy fog. Whereas more performance-oriented cruisers would prefer a lighter fin keel / spade rudder design, and more traditionally-oriented cruisers would prefer a heavier full keel design, for me S/V Ubiquity seems like the sweet spot for serious offshore cruising, especially for an older person (that's what I am now, even though I don't feel like I am) cruising with no crew or perhaps one crew member.

Her specifications are approximately:

Her cruising sail inventory includes light-air sails to keep her moving in light air--a large asymmetric spinnaker (with dousing sleeve) and a drifter. For higher winds she has the staysail, two deep reefs (65%, 39%) in the mainsail, and a trysail (on a separate track) and storm staysail for very strong conditions. Her new mainsail is heavily made by Taylor Sails in Port Angeles. Counter to current trends, I decided on a battanless, roachless mainsail. Combined with Strong Track hardware for the luff, the mainsail hoists and drops very easily, allowing me to dispense with lazy jacks and instead of flaking the mainsail on top of the boom I roll it into a bunt and tie it on the side of the boom, as taught to me by my experienced cruising friend Dave Mancini, captain of S/V Swan, a sister ship to Ubiquity. Headsail options besides the drifter include a working jib and a 135 genoa.

Ubiquity has very stout bow rollers, befitting a serious cruising boat. Her primary ground tackle is a 44 lb. Rocna anchor (true weight 47 lbs.) on 210' of 5/16" high-test chain, with 210' of 5/8" 3-strand nylon that I spliced directly to the chain if more scope is desired. The vertical Muir windlass operates either manually or electrically. The manual mode using a winch handle works excellently, and I prefer the exercise of manually retrieving the rode.

Pacific Seacraft 34 further information and reviews:

*As an aside, my friend Dave Mancini, an experienced cruiser and captain of Ubiquity's sister ship S/V Swan, reports that in a conversation he was privileged to have with Bill Crealock, Crealock discussed what he had learned from the 37 design that he used to refine the 34 design.

Sailing on the Columbia River in light winds, March 2013:

Sailing on the Columbia River for a meetup introduction to sailing class outing, 2012:

Two photos (on left) of S/V Ubiquity sailing off Port Angeles, before she received her new white paint job (Photos taken by my friend Dave Mancini, sailing his sister ship, S/V Swan), plus one photo (on right) of S/V Ubiquity under sail on the Columbia River during the 2011 Sail for the Cure:

S/V Ubiquity sailing as a cutter, early morning crossing of the Columbia River Bar, October 2012:

Some Other Specific Equipment Details for S/V Ubiquity:

Ship radio call sign: WDG5380
My HAM call sign: KF7QCX
Ship MMSI No.: 367546050