Avalanche is a custom built 60′ aluminum cutter designed by Guy Dumas and built in 1986 in the Trehard yard in Antibes, France. She was built for 2 couples from Chicago who enjoyed cruising together. After sharing a boat with unequal staterooms for several years, the wives requested a boat with identical staterooms, and that was how the boat was designed–for convivial, comfortable and equitable cruising. I have met the single remaining original owner, who is a vivacious, healthy, vigorous, out-going woman, probably closing in on 80!

The boat draws 5′10″ with the board up and 11′6″ with the board down, and her beam is 16′3″. We carry 250 gallons of diesel, 500 gallons of water and have a watermaker. Our sails are all roller furled and we have electric winches to control them. We have a Volvo 132 hp diesel engine and a Northern Lights 12kw generator, which provides power for the watermaker, freezer microwave, and 220 outlets. Our 4-burner stove and oven runs on propane.

The diagram to the left gives you an idea of Avalanche’s layout.  We have 4 staterooms:  a queen bunk forward; 2 identical cabins aft of the mast, which have twin bunks which can be made into a not-quite-king-sized bunk, and a double aft to starboard.  Each stateroom had an ensuite head.  When we’re at anchor we use the 3 forward staterooms and use the aft stateroom as our “garage”.  When we deliver the boat between Jamestown and Antigua we use the forward stateroom for storage because it is impossible to sleep there in a seaway.  The salon and galley are an open space across from each other, which makes family-style cooking easy and fun.  The navigation station is aft of the salon and can be accessed from the deck either by a ladder aft or the main companionway ladder.  It is the electronics center of the boat both at anchor and underway.

When we’re vacationing on Avalanche, whether in Rhode Island or the Caribbean, we use our 140 pound anchor and 1/2 inch chain.  It’s like having our own mooring.  We run the generator to charge the batteries, to make water, to heat the water, to chill the freezer and to provide heat or air conditioning when necessary.  We have a large freezer and refrigerator, so we can plan meals just as we would at home.  We swim off the back deck and shower there when we get out.