Pacific Seacraft Orion Hull #54, S/V Saoirse
Saoirse (sur-sha) is a traditional Irish feminine name meaning “freedom” or “liberty”. If I could pick one word to describe what this boat means to me, that’s it.
List making. My most favorite pastime.
Saoirse is a 1982 cutter-rigged Pacific Seacraft Orion 27. She’s a floating one-bedroom apartment, one that I can take anywhere over 70% of the earth’s surface and 220,000 miles of coastline if I desire, and under the power of the wind. She sleeps five, has a navigation station, two-burner propane stove and oven, shower, double sink, and refrigerator. There is plenty of room for storage of food, clothes, backpacking gear, and camera gear. It’s the best liveaboard sailboat for me. Upgrades I’ve completed since acquiring in September 2011 include:
- Solar panels
- Cape Horn self-steering
- Furuno backstay-mounted radar (later removed after three years)
- Katadyn PowerSurvivor 40 Watermaker
- New standing rigging
- New tanbark sails
- LED lighting
- 12V DC marine refrigeration
- Whale Gulper Sanitation Pump
- Wheel-to-tiller conversion
- New interior cushions & cushion covers
- New VHF radio w/ AIS receiver
- Airmar Triducer w/ Garmin GPSMap 527
- New electrical distribution panels
- New AGM batteries
If you go to the “sailing” category of this blog you’ll find my own tips about how to live on a sailboat. 
S/V Saoirse, Orion Hull #54
- Christened: 9 Oct 2011
- Length Overall: 27’4″ (30’11” w/ bowsprit)
- Beam: 9’3″
- Draft: 4′
- Displacement: 10,000 lbs
- Sail area: 508 sq ft
- Headroom: 6’2″
- Mast Clearance: 41′
- Engine: Yanmar 2GM 13hp diesel
- Water tankage: 30 gal
- Fuel tankage: 20 gal
- Holding tankage: 10 gal