Kaiser Gale Force 34

Owner's comments

Creole Belle is a 1984 Gale Force 34. She's 34 ft on deck and 39.5 ft with bowsprit. I believe she is number 31 of 33 Gale Force’s built by Kaiser Yachts of Wilmington, Delaware. I have had her for 15 years and would not be selling her now but for the fact I am 84 with failing eyesight. Gale Forces are very high-end semi-custom builds and Creole Belle is one of the finest and most expensive that Kaiser Yachts built. 

Creole Belle was designed and built to cross oceans. She is cutter rigged with roller furling self-tacking staysail, a roller furling genoa, a Hood in-mast roller furling main, and a drifter with down wind pole attached to the front of the mast. The original owner wanted a boat that could be easily single-handed which I have done many times. The roller furling self-tacking staysail and in-mast roller furling main make it easy to reduce sail without leaving the cockpit. The genoa, main, and staysail are in good condition.

She has a full keel that narrows as it goes forward. This makes Creole Belle very sea kindly and offers great protection for the propeller and rudder. The rudder is transom mounted with a trim tab on the trailing edge. It is attached to a small tiller and the Edson wheel pedestal in the cockpit.  Should the wheel steering ever fail, the trim tab can be adjusted to balance the rudder on any point of sail. Should damage to the rudder occur in that distant tropical anchorage, It can be removed without pulling the boat out of the water. The rudder will float. 

The primary autopilot is a Raymarine unit that drives the wheel directly.  The backup unit is an Autohelm 1000. It drives the helm bypassing the chain and cables associated with a wheel drive. The Autohelm stores in its own custom mount.  

Creole Belle has a tall mast for a 34-footer with a high aspect ratio main making her an excellent sailer. The large sail plan is counterbalanced by lead balast in the bottom of the hull. 7,000 lb of 35 lb ingots are internally sealed in a bonding agent and entirely encapsulated in fiberglass. This provides a “double bottom“ effect. You would need to get through the fiberglass hull and 7,000 lb of ballast to take on water. 

On the exterior, a 3/4-in thick lead grounding shoe of approximately a 1000 lb is epoxied to the underside surface of the keel.  This runs from the external rudder shoe to forward of the mask step area. No fastening bolts are used, as the shoe is fiberglass to the hull. Only the late Gale Force builds have the external lead shoe. 

She's a beautiful boat. I get many compliments. I spent the winters of 2009 and 2010 in St Lucia with Creole Belle out of the water completely refurbishing her.

Teak decks are wonderful if done correctly. They add much to the beauty and safety of the boat. Creole Belle’s teak deck is laid down with 3M 5200 adhesive.  Not a single screw penetrates the fiberglass body upon which the teak is laid. Exterior teak bright work is coated with Cetol.

Cockpit seats and cockpit sole are slatted teak which I have never varnished for safety reasons. There is a complete set of closed cell cockpit cushions. Closed cell will not absorb any water. The cushions all have removable cherry red Sunbrella covers. Very attractive.

The closed cell cushions for all cockpit seats store nicely in the pilot berth. There are two heavy eye bolts in the cockpit to attach safety harnesses. Jack lines for both side decks to attach to when going forward while underway. Two solar-powered deck vents can be switched to inflow or outflow. Great when leaving the boat for a period. 

All the original electronics has been replaced with Garmin GPSMAP. 740 series chart plotter, radar, sonar, wind speed and direction indicator, speed through the water sensor. Raymarine wheel autopilot and Standard Horizon VHF.  The VHF has both a cockpit and main cabin station.

There are three anchors on board: a Bruce, a Danforth, and a Luke. The Luke is a large three-part anchor which stores in its own cradle below the cabin sole.The Bruce is my everyday anchor. The power windlass is a Lofrans with 250 feet of chain and an untold amount of anchor line stored in the forepeak.

The engine is a 65 hp Saber Perkins M65. I had the engine remanufactured by Perkins Pacific. Perkins Pacific was the West coast distributor for Perkins at that time. They said remanufactured means that everything is brought up to the original new engine specifications. There is only 443 hours on the engine since it was remanufactured. When buying a used boat engine rebuilding can be a very large expense.   

Freshwater is stored in a 90 gallon tank under the cabin sole and a 20 gallon tank under the starboard main cabin setee. A freshwater electric pump supplies water to galley and head sinks. 2 foot pumps in the galley supply both saltwater and fresh water. When rinsing off dishes the salt water pump saves a lot of freshwater. A hand pump in the head supplies freshwater from the 20 gallon tank. For safety, the foot pump supply to the galley sink has a lower outlet from the 90 gallon tank than the electric pump. Therefore, a left on faucet supplied by the  electric pump can never run the main water tank dry. Another safety feature, a propane valve in the propane locker can be manually shut off from the galley. 

Wood burning soapstone fireplace, can be converted to propane. Parts list for the conversion is on board.

A cutting board which stores in a locker behind the stove can be used in three locations.  Over the chart table seat, over the stove top, and over the galley sink. This greatly increases the workspace for the galley. Lots of storage in the galley. Large sink. Two very large port holes allow fresh air and a view of the ocean while cooking. One of the finest aspects of the galley design. In addition to all the storage space there is a spice rack, wine glass holder, wine storage rack, knife rack, cup and glass holder, countertop cutting board, plate storage and excellent communication with people in the cockpit. Cabin sole is holly and teak.

Creole Belle has a very well insulated ice box. It will hold over 100 lb of cubes. Should you want to install a refrigeration system the original compressor was mounted on a shelf in the starboard locker. A wind scoop which I have on board screws into a deck plate just above  where the original compressor was.  The saltwater foot pump can be switched by a valve under the sink to pump out the ice box.  My preference has been to buy ice.

Creole Belle can sleep more people than you would ever want on a sailboat. The two  settees in the main cabin pull out to form singles. There are two pilot berths, ideal in rough seas. The starboard pillot berth folds out into a large double. The forward cabin can be made into two V berths or a double berth by putting in the insert. Photos are without cushions. Two can sleep on the cockpit seats. They are long enough but a little narrow. Lots of storage forward.

Excellent ventilation.  There is screening for all the port holes and hatches with the exception of the two large port holes. Two dorade boxes with large chrome scoops. There are three fans in the main cabin and one in the forward cabin. They are the type you can stick your finger in without getting hurt.

Interior lighting is all LED with the exception of mini fluorescence in the galley. The four LED lights that mount to the cabin side in the main cabin have three modes– white, low intensity, red, and high intensity red. Red light does not affect night vision. The cockpit has a dimmable LED light that can be set to either white light or red. At its max setting it is very bright. The max red setting is great when you're returning to your boat in a crowded anchorage. You might say it is outstanding in the anchorage.

Effluent from the Groco toilet can be pumped into a 25 gallon holding tank or directly overboard. The holding tank can be emptied via a deck fitting or, if at sea, via a hand pump.

All tools and spares stay with the boat. There's every tool you will ever need to maintain her.

Cockpit sunshade. The cockpit awning is stored rolled up and lashed to the boom crotch. It rolls out attaching to the twin backstays. Three side curtains then zipper to it. Fold out cockpit table with glass holder.

Hot water tank under galley sink, needs new heater element. Can shower in either head or a cockpit. Shower hose connects to both head and galley sinks. 

2.5 horsepower outboard motor + hoist. You will need a new dinghy.

• Dinghy wheels
• Overboard rescue system 
• Inflatable life preservers
• Hand operated Edson bilge pump
• Anchor, deck saltwater washdown pump. Has two outlets.  Switch is under the sink.
• Liquor Cabinet
• Pots and pans
• Gimbaled drop leaf table with two drawers storage and liquor cabinet .

I HAVE SAVED THE BEST FOR THE LAST.  John Kaiser, Creole Belle’s designer and builder, put together a 190 page manual extensively describing all systems on the boat. I found it invaluable. 

And she comes with a painting of the mermaid Creole Belle. She will always be with you guiding you safely on all your future voyages.

As long as I'm alive and my primary care doctor says I'll live into my 90s, I would be happy to help the new owner with any questions they might have about Creole Belle.  Even though I have to let her go she will still be my baby.

Fair Winds

Galley

• 3-burner propane stove
• Single sink
• Pressure and manual freshwater system. Manual saltwater foot pump

Electronics and navigation

• Garmin 24-mile range radar
• (3) Standard Horizon VHFs: cabin, cockpit and handheld
• Raymarine autopilot
• Garmin chartplotter
• Garmin depth sounder
• Garmin wind speed and direction
• Garmin knot/meter log
• Compass
• Alpine stereo

Electrical

• (2) main batteries, (1) engine
• Battery parallel switch
• 12V DC electrical system
• Installed Marine grade battery charger
• LED interior lighting
• Dockside electrical cable
• Alternator

Mechanical

• (2) auto bilge pumps, (1) manual
• Raw water sea strainer
• (2) Fuel filter
• Stove and engine fuel shut off
• Overboard head
• Manual holding tank
• Heater
• Wheel steering
• Hurth transmission, engine alarm
• Tohatsu 2.5 outboard

Deck and hull

• (3) Anchors: Bruce, Danforth and Luke
• 250 ft. of chain and much anchor rode
• Lofrans electrical windlass
• Bow rollers
• Deck, tricolor and spreader lights
• Lifelines
• (2) gates
• Boarding and swim ladder
• Emergency folding step on the side of the rudder (in case you're in the water without the boarding ladder extended)
• Dodger and cockpit awning
• Teak deck, no screws

Sails and rigging

• Sails: Main, #1 Genoa, Staysail, Drifter
• Mainsheet traveller
• Mainsail in-mast furler, jib staysail
• Aluminum mast, keel stepped
• Wire standing rigging
• All lines led aft

Safety Equipment

• (3) Lifejackets
• Lifesling
• Double jack lines

Disclaimer

The Company offers the details of this vessel in good faith but cannot guarantee or warrant the accuracy of this information nor warrant the condition of the vessel. A buyer should instruct his agents, or his surveyors, to investigate such details as the buyer desires validated. This vessel is offered subject to prior sale, price change, or withdrawal without notice.