# Islander 30 seeking other Islander 30 people



## Creager

Hi,

My name is Jerry and I have an Islander 30 MK II for the second time. I bought the boat new in 1974 and sold it to a close friend in 1978. I bought the boat back in 2009 after recoginizing the sail number on the internet.
I have it on Lake Guntersville in Alabama. I would like to correspond with other I 30 owners as I know there are a lot of I 30's out there.


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## dacap06

Welcome to sailnet! You'll find lively discussions on all kinds of topics. Look around and make yourself at home.

There are a few of us Islander 30 owners here, as well as other Islanders. I'd recommend you post your questions and comments in the Islander forum in boat builder's row. Some of us hang out there.

Regards,

Tom


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## LakePirate

Hi Jerry,
Yes there are quite a few of us islander 30 owners here. I've owned mine since 07. I'm on Texoma. The marina I'm at (Cedar mills) has at least 8 islander 30's that I know of.


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## Creager

Thanks for the reply guys. Tom, I hope you survived Sandy since I saw you were in MD.
Some of the pictures I saw made me want to cry. Anyway, I hope everybody made out OK.


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## ECS-IB30

Hi and welcome to sailnet! - 
I am a recent owner of an '81 Islander Bahama 30, and can easily see what would prompt you to buy the same boat twice - Mine was in less than good condition, but still had the potential to be a great boat - working on this boat has been a pleasure - seems as though the layout and construction was well considered - so far I've found few things on the boat which have been overly difficult to get to or repair - 
Would be interested in hearing what differences are between the MKII - and any tips you might provide on do's and don'ts in terms of rigging and sailing this boat - since I know inherently that "Good decisions come from experience, and experience comes from bad decisions" I'd like to try to avoid some of those bad decisions! 

Thanks
Eric


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## Creager

Eric,
Thanks for the reply. The biggest difference between the two boats is the layout of the main cabin. I am not all that familiar with the Bahama but from photos of boats for sale the big difference is below deck. The rigging and cockpit is pretty much the same. Mine has a Palmer P-60 gas engine. I know a lot of the Islanders had diesel engines but it was the only Islander at the dealer where I bought it so I was stuck with the gas engine. I bought the boat when I lived in Michigam and it was on Lake St. Clair and Huron until I bought it back three years ago. So its been in fresh water all the time and is in good condition. The gel coat topsides has some issues but the hull and deck are sound. Look forward to hearing from you on how your project are going.


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## bahamas

*Rerobleme de quille sur Islander 30*

je recherche les plans d'implantation de la quille.Je viens d'acheter un bahamas 30 mais la quille bouge.
Savez vous ou sont implanter les boulons et combien il y en a.
Est ce que c'est bien ce systeme de fixation.


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## GeorgeH

Hello there! My best friend and I just bought an 1970 Islander 30. It is the first boat for both of us, and needless to say, we are pretty excited. We are in Santa Barbara, CA. We are starting to fix it up and be ready for the summer to take it out to the Channel Islands off of the coast here. I am looking forward to learning as much as I can from all of you on here. It is good to see there are quite a few Islander 30 owners on here. I am sure I am going to have lots of questions.


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## jeffgauvin

Creager, just saw your post. I have a 1979 Islander Bahama 30 and love it. I am in Santa Barbara like GeorgeH. I see from your last post you spent time on Lake St. Clair. I am originally from Detroit and spent many days fishing on Lake St. Clair. Small world. I have had my Islander for about 5 years now and have done lots of upgrades. Feel free to contact me anytime. Sorry again for the late reply. 

GeorgeH, I’m in marina 3. My islander is the one with the Michigan State flag. Feel free to stop bye anytime.

Cheers


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## dacap06

George,

Congratulations on the purchase of your new boat, and welcome to the Islander Community! The I30 is a great sailing boat, surprisingly so for a coastal cruiser. Most Islander sailboats are located on the West Coast. I guess that makes sense given that they were manufactured there. I understand they are also fairly common to the Bahamas, which makes sense since they are well suited to the depth and wind conditions there.

I will recommend that your peruse Sailnet's Islander bulletin board, participate there, and review it regularly. There is a lot of good Islander information and advice there, including some specific to the Islander 30.

Since you are new to the boat, I thought you might like some links to shorten your learning curve. There's not a lot of information available about Islander Yachts, and what there is can be hard to find. One of the best summaries I have found is the Tradewind / Islander History at Sailboat Data. From what I have read, I can only conclude that Islander was full of skilled boat builders who were not great businessmen -- the finanaces were not as well managed as they might have been.

There are three models of I30 -- the I30, the I30 mod 2, and the I30 Bahama. From the manufacturing date, I'd say you have an I30-2, which Islander first produced in 1970. You really need to be certain you know which one you are talking about. You can tell whether you have an I30 or an I30-2 by the deck layout and salon windows. See the links in the list below for pics. 
The original I30 was designed by Islander's owner, Joe McGlassen, and is very different in nearly every respect from the other two models. I've never seen one and frankly I don't know a lot about them.
The I30 mod II is a Bob Finch design intended for coastal cruising. It has an encapsulated keel either at standard draft (5') or shoal draft (4'), a solid FRP hull and a sandwiched deck done with plywood rather than balsa wood, as it was thought to produce a stiffer, tougher deck that stood up better to water intrusion. 
The I30B is also a Bob Finch design and shares a hull with the I30-II, but the rigging, interior layouts, and tank locations were different. The Bahama version has a bigger SA/D and different rigging. My Bahama has slightly more upscale woodwork inside than the I30-2 I saw, but I'm not sure if that is generally true (the history link above notes variations). My Bahama also has an aluminum toe rail rather than the wooden one used in the I30-II.

There are a number of other hyperlinks you may find useful. Here are those which I have:

Here is Jeremy Randall's page on othe I30B. You may find it useful, especially some of the PDF pages from his original manuals. I expect your boat came with one of the old Atomic Bombs (Atomic 4 gasoline engine), you might appreciate Jeremy's documentation on the project to replace his.

If your sails are old, stretched and tired, new sails, while a major expense, make a huge difference in the way the I30-2 and I30B sail, as I found out. This reference is sailrite's page on the sail sizes for the I30-2. I don't have any experience with sailrite's sails and can neither recommend them nor warn you away, but you may find the measurements useful when getting quotes.

This Canadian Site has a lot of good information on Islanders of various models, including the I30-2. The site itself is pretty moribund, so I use it as a static reference only. I have yet to find a lively Islander only site that addresses Islander common interests. Sailnet is the best I have found.

If you run across other good data, please share it in the Islander Bulletin Board. 

Hope this helps!

Tom


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## jeffgauvin

Tom,

Thats a great list of resources. Thanks for posting.

Jeff


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## GeorgeH

Thanks to everyone for posting here. I am pretty excited to learn everything I can about my boat and this forum seems like a great place to do just that.

Tom: That is a great list of resources. I really appreciate you posting that. I hadn't seen the photo of the Islander 30, only the 30-2 and the Bahama, and I wasn't convinced that either model was the one we had. Now that I have seen the "Islander 30" photo and layout, I am pretty sure that is the one I have. The windows, interior layout, and rigging look exactly like mine. Again, thank you for posting the information and helping me clear up that question that I had been trying to answer.

Jeff: Glad to meet another Islander 30 owner in Santa Barbara. I will stop by some time. I was hoping to get down there today, but this weather isn't really cooperating is it? I am in Marina 4, L Dock down at the end on the left. There is a bicycle leaning on the locker all the time. I am pretty sure it is my neighbors. Also feel free to stop by anytime. 

-George


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## jeffgauvin

Thanks George. I'll stop by soon. I look forward to meeting you.


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