Bayfield sailboats were built here in Bayfield and nearby in Vanastra Ontario, Canada. They are loved by their owners for their sweet traditional lines which give them great seaworthiness. Others find them slow and criticize the amount of external wood work that needs to be maintained. To each his own - but we sure like ours. I'm told there were about 350 of the Bayfield 29s built.

I've asked others what to look for when buying a used one. There doesn't seem to be a lot of common problems, but;

• look at the wood support under the bowsprit, they've been known to rot.
• Many Bayfields - especially in salt water - develop leaky fuel tanks. Ours, a fresh water boat was starting to show slight corrosion so we sliced an inch of the bottom of the tank.
• Cutlass bearings have been mentioned, we replaced ours and discovered the prop shaft was too long to remove the propellor without also removing the rudder or the engine. Since our engine was already half removed for other work, we did it that way and cut 1 3/8" off the shaft. Now we could easily remove the prop ourselves.
• Ours - a 1981 - had a separation between the coachouse and bulkheads by the galley (a problem that was fixed in later production years) which we fixed this winter. See photos

   That Scroll Work isn't just pretty - it's Practical.....

Many people make the logical erroneous assumption that the fancy scroll work on the wooden trailboards and aft end of the cove stripes is simply for the aesthetic value. No question it is attractive but it really has a most practical purpose. Simply put, when old King Neptune with his 3 pointed fork looks up from the depths and sees that scrollwork going by - he sees only seaweed and allows an undisturbed passage!

Ours isn't the only sailing vessel called Providence. 

• There's an 86 ft Ketch in B.C.

• There's a 62 ft Schooner in Australia

• There's a 35 ft racing yacht in Lake Michigan

• There's the reconstructed 110 ft sloop of John Paul Jones (web site seems elusive)

This is a sistership called Winsome, owned by Jerry Polson. The picture was taken by Jeff Olson on Lake Pepin on the Missisippi. Lovely shot isn't it?

---

I know it's considered bad luck to rename a boat (without going through some kind of ceremony) but I've done it before.

We were looking for a new name for ours. She was called Finally, and that just doesn't fit. Many things have worked out for us, and this boat. Some would call it serendipity, but we consider it Providence and Providence she's named..

A major modification which turned out to work!

We really wanted some protection from the sun, and decided that a bimini would be best for us - if we could only make it big enough to be worthwhile. You can see that we met our goal. We have lot's of shade, yet it's still easy to get in and out of the cockpit (even if swimming off the stern) 

It turns out that it also looks "right" - we have had many compliments. 

To get this we had to raise the boom and move the mainsheet..............

I figured I had 16" available to raise the boom (space between the sail headboard and top of the mast) So I chose 14" to be careful. This gave me much better sight lines, and allowed standing headroom under the bimini (which also means far fewer headaches!)

The mainsheet was reconfigured by adding a second one (just like on the bigger Bayfields) anchored to substantial padeyes on the outer corners of the coach house. By using snap shackles, these then work also as vangs or preventers. I'm very pleased with this change. (The only draw back is that on the port side it interferes with the halyard cleat)

1988 Page 1

1988 Page 2

1983 Specs

Description by Pat Sturgeon

| The Other Part of the year... |

Debates rage on about how well Bayfields point to weather. The secret, I'm told, is to set the sails a little different than the usual practise.

1. Trim the yankee 'till the tell tales set perfectly
2. Trim the staysail till the tell tales set perfectly
3. Now - let the staysail sheet out 6 inches.
4. Don't worry too much about the main - leave the traveller to leeward (avoid weather helm) - if it's working right the front third will be back winded.