Construction
DeFever Designed for Coastal Cruising
Grand Alaskan spared no expense hiring the best engineers and designers like Chaucer Chen and Art DeFever to dream up a timeless, comfortable and capable coastal yacht.
Hull Construction
From the water line to the keel, her hull is solid 3/4" hand laid fiberglass. Above the waterline, the hull section is foam cored for thermal insulating and sound deadening properties.
None of Calusa's framework is cold-molded, making her essentially rot resistant
Safety in Sections
Calusa's bow features an impact bulkhead directly behind the stem at the waterline consisting of one ton of solid iron-infused resin.
Her length is broken in to four water tight sections. The Foc'sle (1), staterooms/living quarters (2), engine room (3), and lazarette (4). Each zone is individually monitored, pumped and watertight to deck level.
Keels aren't just for Sailboats
The lowest point on Calusa's hull is her her keel which stretches from her stem to the start of the running gear. Not only does the keel prevent here from "sailing" on anchor in a stiff breeze, it also keeps her hull and running gear safe.
In shallow water cruising places like the Caribbean, touching sand is not uncommon and having heavy backbone to set on ensures the vessel will survive the impact. This theory was proven aboard Calusa and can be read about on the "History" page.