In 1997 we decided to look for a cruising yacht that would take us round the world in comfort with a vessel that would really look after her crew. We wanted the ease of handling and safety of an AeroRig and found Bill Dixon, world renowned designer, happy to adapt his plans for a 60ft, steel hulled cruiser.

Steel plates were computer cut in Holland and shipped to the builders on the English South Coast, where the hull was welded and faired, and the yacht completed to a very high standard.

The AeroRig is an unstayed carbon fibre mast with a boom that continues ahead of the mast to carry the headsail. It rotates freely and since there is only the mainsheet to play with once under way, would not satisfy yachties who love to continually fine tune the rig! It is, of course, an old principle, similar to Chinese junks and Arab dhows, but with modern techniques applied for long-lived efficiency. We have to point out frequently that while the bi-planes of yesterday had the equivalent of standing rigging, no such thing exists on planes of today. In light airs there is no collapsing headsail, and no deck sweeping genny destroys visibility. If you do need to fiddle with something, there is always the variable pitch prop where seeking to extend cruising range invites attention to pitch while motoring/motor sailing.

SeaGlass is a magnificent yacht for two couples, with two double cabins and two heads (master en suite, complete with bath, a must-try while passage making!), also having a side cabin with two berths and a washbasin ideal for captain or kids. Heads are fresh water Vac U Flush with none of the odour prevalent with salt water.

We opted for a deck saloon, which enables us to have a great view outside and maximises storage available under the side decks. There is a nav station to starboard with a flat screen monitor for the navigation software which is repeated to the flat screen TV and to another monitor in the cockpit. All three are capable of repeating movies when at anchor/in port. The Furuno radar here is also repeated to a slave in the cockpit.

We fell in love with solid wood on another yacht and decided to have her furniture completed in Canadian Maple, giving a light and airy feel to the interior. Seating in the saloon is all leather and fitted crew covers protect this while passagemaking.

There are two fridges plus a deep freeze, and to avoid the continual need to circulate raw water we have installed keel coolers. No more blocked raw water filters and peace of mind leaving the fridges running when not on board.. There is also an ice maker without which no cruising yacht would be complete! Two water makers round out cruising capabilities – a DC Spectra Clark pump which is very quiet and a SeaFresh hydraulic version for when larger quantities are needed. Power is supplied from a 1200ah battery bank supported by 2 Heart inverter/chargers, and in addition to the 220 amp Balmar alternator driven by the Perkins 135 there are two generators. The Northern Lights 16kva for when electric cooking and aircons are needed and also powers the hydraulic bow thruster. The Mastervolt Whispergen 6kva is copes when lower loads are needed.

The galley is all electric so there is no gas (save for the custom – built BBQ where the bottles sit in the open air aft), and a garbage compactor makes really light work of the air that occupies so much of onboard garbage. A washer/dryer next to the forward head is complemented by a large laundry storage locker, and all lockers have air circulation vents

The deck has been replaced with 29mm teak and the holes left by the old “screw and glue” method welded up; to further reduce the likelihood of water ingress we had steel plinths welded to the deck on which to mount windlasses etc, thereby avoiding the usual problem of compression of the teak.

Lifelines are higher than normal and the stanchions have been moved outboard into sockets welded to the hull lip through the caprail to maximize safety and the sense of space on deck. There is a large drop down platform in the transom giving easy access to the water and a fresh water shower aft. A further deck wash/shower is located midships.

Davits aft hold the dinghy and optimal use made of the aft windlass which is used to raise it hydraulically; we make much more use of the dinghy now we don’t have to crank it on board! The large lazarette contains a Bauer dive compressor, and a wet locker behind the forward heads stores wetsuits and foul weather gear.

There are double windlasses and two big Danforths, both with 80m of heavy chain, and a lifting keel which reduces draft from 12 to 6ft approx and the spacious centre cockpit is fully enclosed by screens which can be rolled up or removed.

We have enjoyed timeless cruising round the world and many idyllic anchorages where SeaGlass’ independence has looked after us so well, and passagemaking with the Coursemaster autopilot could not have been more enjoyable. Having crossed the Atlantic we have traversed the Panama Canal, cruised French Polynesia and the Pacific, Australia, Thailand, Myanmar and back round the North side of Borneo, Indonesia and PNG.

The originally planned round the world trip turned into the “lets stay here” cruise, and we are now imported into Australia and loving it.