# Golden Gate 30



## Shinook (Jul 13, 2012)

I was wondering if anyone has sailed a Golden Gate 30 or it's sisters (Bodega 30, Bay Island 30, or Farallon 29)? What were your impressions? 

Interesting design, I ran across them the other day and was curious about them.

Thanks!


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## bobperry (Apr 29, 2011)

If memory serves those are all Chuck Burns designs. Chuck worked for Gary Mull before going on his own. Chuck is a very good designer. Why don't you give him a call and ask him about the boats. He's in the SF area I think.


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## Shinook (Jul 13, 2012)

Thanks, Bob.

I was a little nervous about calling him, but I eventually did and he was very nice. He had good things to say about the build quality that Odyssey used, so that's good. 

If all goes well, we will be transitioning from an Alberg design to the GG30, so i was a little curious how their sailing characteristics compare. There isn't a lot of information on them, though, so I guess I'll have to find out for myself at sea trial 

Thanks!


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## krisscross (Feb 22, 2013)

There is a nice looking, reasonably priced Farallon 29 for sale here: Search Sailboats for Sale


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## christian.hess (Sep 18, 2013)

I like them, saw a bunch in san fran bay...they are quite native to this area only...not much info on them...


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## Shinook (Jul 13, 2012)

christian.hess said:


> I like them, saw a bunch in san fran bay...they are quite native to this area only...not much info on them...


So I hear. We looked at a Bodega 30 that the PO had sailed to NC from CA. There really aren't many of them on this coast, that I've found anyway.


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## bobperry (Apr 29, 2011)

Not all NA's are as arrogant and cranky as I am. I think they like to be called and recognized for their contributions to the sport. I had no doubt that Chuck would be happy to talk to you.


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## JonEisberg (Dec 3, 2010)

Shinook said:


> I was wondering if anyone has sailed a Golden Gate 30 or it's sisters (Bodega 30, Bay Island 30, or Farallon 29)? What were your impressions?
> 
> Interesting design, I ran across them the other day and was curious about them.
> 
> Thanks!


You might want to try to contact the sailing writer Ray Jason, I'm pretty sure his AVENTURA is a Golden Gate 30...

I met Ray about a decade ago in S Florida, I had to leave my boat at a marina for a bit, and his was in the adjacent slip... Great guy, got a quick tour of his boat, seemed like a sweet boat, to me...

He's a big fan of the design, he actually had to sell it at one point, and then was lucky enough to be able to buy it back again years later... I'm sure he'd be happy to answer any questions you might have...


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## c.goldfinger (Nov 30, 2015)

This is an older thread, but I've had an original Farallon 29 since 1975. I worked at East bay Boatworks, helped build the molds and have been sailing mine ever since. They are great boats, possibly one of the worlds best pocked cruisers. Several have circumnavigated (Bob Rowland). I took mine to Hawaii and back a few years ago, a great trip. I ran into one of the originals (mine is # 6, there were only 9 of them) that had been rolled over in a hurricane, lost nothing but a winch handle and a jar or strawberry jam. 

Cheers, Chris


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## Michael E. Leonard (Sep 7, 2016)

Hi, Chris. My wife and I own a Farallon 29 which was heavily customized. It has a small wooden house with two bronze ports on either side (like a Morris Frances 26) and is all wood except for the FG hull, mast and boom. I've been refitting it for years in my spare time. We moved it from Alameda to Stockton several years ago. I really like the way it sails.

I'd appreciate any information on the build or history. It was first recorded (documentation) in 1983 by Jeffrey Baker. First name for the boat I see is "Halsey." It was then sold in 1988 to Cheryl Gostisha, again in 1989 to Charles Woods, with the last owner prior to our purchase being Michael Karavasales. He named the boat "Agrietha." The current name is "Luke."

Michael Leonard

PS I'm also Facebook friends with Chuck Burns.


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## Lazerbrains (Oct 25, 2015)

Michael E. Leonard said:


> Hi, Chris. My wife and I own a Farallon 29 which was heavily customized. It has a small wooden house with two bronze ports on either side (like a Morris Frances 26) and is all wood except for the FG hull, mast and boom. I've been refitting it for years in my spare time. We moved it from Alameda to Stockton several years ago. I really like the way it sails.
> 
> I'd appreciate any information on the build or history. It was first recorded (documentation) in 1983 by Jeffrey Baker. First name for the boat I see is "Halsey." It was then sold in 1988 to Cheryl Gostisha, again in 1989 to Charles Woods, with the last owner prior to our purchase being Michael Karavasales. He named the boat "Agrietha." The current name is "Luke."
> 
> ...


Michael -

I can't help with any information on your boat, but I own a Bodega 30 with a factory finished interior - it looks more or less like the standard layout in the original Farallon 29 schematics. I do know at least 5 of these (Golden Gate 30/Farallon 29/ Bodega 30) have circumnavigated, and most have gone offshore - not bad for a fleet of less than 100 hulls. I have never talked to Chuck Burns, but recently discovered he is only a few blocks away from my house - I should go ring his bell one of these days.


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## MDana (Nov 12, 2017)

My wife and I have a Golden Gate 30 we purchased in Florida.
We've since cruised about 3,000nm on her and couldn't be happier with the offshore capabilities of this little cruiser.
I'm trying to find out more about ours in particular because someone before us installed an all wood interior of tiger stripe maple, birds eye maple, teak, holly, mahogany etc and it looks like they spent a lifetime doing it.
I'd love to talk with the person who did it.
The boat's name is Heike, and she was registered out of St. Augustine FL when we bought her but she'd recently passed through a few hands and I'm not sure how long ago this interior was put in.
Any help would be appreciated.

Matt


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## Lazerbrains (Oct 25, 2015)

Glad to see Heike landed a new home - I remember the previous owners did a lot of work on her. I have a factory Bodega 30 and I believe Heike's interior is custom - the layout is different than mine, or what the original plans show.
Would love to see some pics of her.

You are right, these are great offshore boats - built like a tank, yet easily driven and go to weather well - best of all worlds.


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## MDana (Nov 12, 2017)

Lazerbrains said:


> Glad to see Heike landed a new home - I remember the previous owners did a lot of work on her. I have a factory Bodega 30 and I believe Heike's interior is custom - the layout is different than mine, or what the original plans show.
> Would love to see some pics of her.
> 
> You are right, these are great offshore boats - built like a tank, yet easily driven and go to weather well - best of all worlds.


Hi lazer,
Yeah she's a beauty, we get compliments everywhere we go.
Have plenty of pics as we are getting ready to sell her and move up to a larger boat.
Would love to know more about any of the previous owners, do you know who did the wood?

Matt


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## Farallon29hull001 (Sep 13, 2018)

It's great to see some other folks with Farallon 29's/GG 30's. I have owned a Farallon 29, Hull 001 in San Francisco Bay for about 13 years now. Cruised up and down the California Coast, mostly single-handed. I have been enjoying the solid, full-keeled 'landings' in some of the more frisky weather. I'm always looking for other Farallons/GG's to sail and share information with.


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## Lazerbrains (Oct 25, 2015)

Welcom to Sailnet Farallon29 - hull #1, that is pretty cool. I've been busy refitting my Bodega30 - just finished all new standing rigging and chainplates. I singlehand mine all the time back and forth between San Pedro and Catalina - just love the boat and her sailing characteristics. PM me if you want to chat.


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## anonymoussb (Jan 5, 2019)

I've recently purchased a Golden Gate 30 and it sails wonderfully, but there are some questions I have that perhaps someone on this forum could answer, or even Chuck Burns himself if someone has his contact info. Unfortunately the "call" link on the first page of this topic is just SPAM for hunting website.

Question 1: What size bolts are used for the upper rudder strap?

Question 2: Is there a good pre-fabricated trapezoid hatch replacement for the V-Berth?


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## richland.ranger (Jun 22, 2017)

Add my vote for the Farallon 29/Golden Gate 30! Hard to find information on these boats for some reason. Just rare I guess? I purchased my 1976 Farallon 29 last summer and couldn't be happier with it so far. Except going in reverse. To-port prop walk is a bit insane, but whatever...you deal with it I guess. Attached a few pics for fun. I believe the interior was owner-finished as the head is where I think the chart table was on the original drawings.


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## paulinnanaimo (Dec 3, 2016)

Looks like a nice boat. It appears that the forward hatch opens backwards, is that standard?


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## richland.ranger (Jun 22, 2017)

I'm not sure. I've seen both. Here's another with the reverse orientation: sailboatlistings.com/view/79039


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## Lazerbrains (Oct 25, 2015)

Just checking in, but yes, mine has the reverse hatch as well - I think it is the standard way they were built.


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## aliissari (Aug 31, 2021)

Any chance any of you are moving on or moving up and would like to sell your Golden Gate / Bodega / Farallon 30? I realize this is an older thread, but there are just so few of these boats...


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## tgreenwood (9 mo ago)

I have a Golden Gate 30 that I purchased around 2015 and refit. Unfortunately the old website that documented the refit has been disbanded (klipsun.weebly.com), the wayback machine captured some of the website: 

http://klipsun.weebly.com/

I love this boat. She's heavy duty and points into the wind well (inboard chain plates). Per the web site posts, she was purchased as a bare hull built by the previous owner. Her only downsides are the teak decks and the funky galley. The builder opted for 2 full size settee berths... so no nav station, stove is over the engine, galley is awkward to port, no shower, etc. I'm contemplating fitting her for offshore cruising... for me this means pulling the teak decks and going with nonskid, replacing the cockpit lockers with glass, etc.

Or I may sell her and purchase a Pacific Seacraft Crealock 34 or similar.


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## Shinook (Jul 13, 2012)

MDana said:


> My wife and I have a Golden Gate 30 we purchased in Florida.
> We've since cruised about 3,000nm on her and couldn't be happier with the offshore capabilities of this little cruiser.
> I'm trying to find out more about ours in particular because someone before us installed an all wood interior of tiger stripe maple, birds eye maple, teak, holly, mahogany etc and it looks like they spent a lifetime doing it.
> I'd love to talk with the person who did it.
> ...


For some reason I'm just now coming back to this thread and missed your update. We bought Heike from the lady that did the interior woodwork. I also spent a good deal of time talking to Chuck Burns about the design, who was extraordinarily helpful especially since we had to rebuild the rudder. He sent us the original diagrams for the rudder.

I'll leave her details out for obvious reasons and I don't know the entire story of the boat prior to her purchasing it. I'm assuming that the boat was a kit when she acquired it, as she did all the interior work herself over a long period of time. I have the original ad listing for these somewhere that listed 3 finish levels: bare hull/deck, bare hull/deck/rigging, and complete, I assume she acquired the boat in #2 state but do not know entirely. I understand that she had some work contracted out including the rudder, electrical, and canvas work. I believe her main focus was the woodwork and the rest was contracted to others. She had intended to sail the boat and cruise on her, but I believe she had to move on after completing her and let her go. She seemed grateful when we bought the boat to have someone get her and sail her as intended.

Sadly, our plans of doing the same never really worked out. When we hauled we were removing the barrier coat, which was applied improperly at some point and had blistered badly only to find the rudder shaft had been "replaced" at some point by welding a piece of narrow prop shaft onto the old, larger diameter, stainless shaft, it was bent and the welds were deteriorating. We had to have the rudder rebuilt, which was done by a very diligent guy who has done it many times for similar boats, I watched him assemble it and it was built to a higher standard than original with an entirely new properly sized stainless shaft. At the same time, we painstakingly ground off the old barrier coat and reapplied it, along with fixing one large blister and allowing the hull to dry out some, as time in the St Johns had caused some moisture accumulation in the hull. The motor was also out of alignment and was re-aligned, we upgraded some plumbing fixtures, and rewired the panel. The only reason I think it possible the boat was not a kit was the damage to the original rudder, it appeared to have corroded, which would lend to some belief it was in the water for a period of time prior. Again, I do not know.

After splashing, we had her in the water about 2 months and I found I had to move inland and we reluctantly sold her. My understanding is the person we sold her to immediately flipped her for nearly twice the sales price, as we were desperate to not have to drive 9 hours to deal with selling the boat. I believe Matt was the new owner who bought her from the person we sold her to.

I spoke with a man for a long time on the phone who circumnavigated on his. He sent me a lot of documentation on the boats, I will see if I can hunt it down, scan it, and post it, some of it was interesting and covered his route, but also the design of the boat.

Our previous boat was a Cape Dory and the sailing characteristics were very similar, she was tender to a point then dug in and stood up well. We had her in some pretty intense breezes and against some heavy chop, but she never had any problems holding a course and balancing her out was very easy. The interior was really spacious and roomy, but at the cost of cockpit space, we found having 4 aboard trying to stay behind the dodger to avoid spray a bit cramped. I think this is ultimately a good thing for a cruising boat, as it adds more space to the cabin and reduces cockpit volume, but it made it tricky tacking with 4 others trying to huddle in the cockpit. She was quicker than you'd think, but certainly not sporty. Handled really well and I'd have no qualms about getting another. I appreciated the boat had some functional features that made it more practical for cruising as opposed to sleeping as many guests as possible and/or aesthetics like some of the Cape Dory boats do.

The only build issue we had was a large amount of water around the ballast. I can't speak to how this happened, but we had a blister that ran all the way to the ballast that we ultimately ground out and repaired, there was a void around the ballast that appeared to have filled with water at some point. The rudder was also a problem, but more due to the way it was originally repaired, apparently the original had an issue with the shaft and had filled with water. I do not know specifics of why she had that work done, but we had to have it redone entirely. All of this was repaired before we splashed, but other than that, I don't recall any issues with the build of the boat.

I regret having to sell her but sadly she'd have sat unused given where we were moving and our subsequent life changes, I'm glad to hear someone sailed her the way she was intended by the previous two owners.

For anyone interested in specifics on the boat itself, I'll see if I can find the packet of information I was sent years ago and scan it in. I did a lot of digging around and tried to uncover as much as I could, but details were sparse, talking to Chuck filled a lot of gaps in but that was too long ago for me to remember many details.


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