Our Boat

Varuna is a 1968 Allied Luders 33

The Luders 33 was designed by Bill Luders and made by the Allied Boat Company. Varuna is hull #38 out of the 107 made from 1966-1974. She is the sister ship to "Return of Dove", the Luders 33 that Robin Lee Graham used on the last part of his solo circumnavigation. At the time, he became the youngest person to ever do so single handed.




July 5, 2013. The day we bought sad little Mialee. We started the project of transforming the derelict Mialee into our vision of a happy, loved boat called Varuna.


February 2014. Meet Varuna! She is just about ready to splash. She was sitting on the hard for 3 1/2 years before we bought her...


July 2015: Outside of Guadeloupe. She sails beautifully! Easily cruises along at 6+ knots!












To see some pretty awesome before & after photos click here!

22 comments:

  1. Just stumbled upon your blog via Pinterest (you repinned my post about shatterproof wine glasses for our sailboat). You guys are too cute and your boat is even cuter! LOVE how you've redone it. Will you guys be cruising once you finish the projects? My bf, dog, and I are leaving Florida in the next week to start cruising full time -- Keys, then Bahamas, and through the Caribbean. Maybe we'll catch ya along the way. :) -Kim, s/v LAHO

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    1. Hi! Thank you so much! We have actually been following your blog and were excited to find it and see others our age, doing the same thing! Looks like you guys have got a great boat as well and I love your photography! And how exciting to be leaving in the next week! We are currently in St. Maarten and plan to leave here to start cruising in late May. We plan to head south through the islands to Grenada for hurricane season. It would be great to meet up along the way! How far south are you heading?

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  2. Great photos, good job on your interior remodel and repaint. I saw Varuna (Mialee) when she was for sale in Ft. Lauderdale. What a difference! I have hull #32 also a Allied Luders 33. I am currently doing lots of work to mine. So i realize the time it takes. Keep up the good work. Have fun! Enjoy!
    TropicstarSV

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  3. Thank you! That's awesome that you saw Mialee when she was in Ft. Lauderdale. I'm sure she was in a lot better condition than we we bought her here in St. Maarten! Good luck on your remodel - it is a lot of work, but we are lucky b/c our boats have great bones! The craftsmanship of the Allied Luders is amazing and we still can't get over how thick and strong the hull is! Great to hear from you, take lots of pictures along the way!

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  4. What you've done with your boat is amazing - it looks so cute! Definite inspiration for when we buy our next boat. Have added you to our sailing blog page - keen to follow along with your adventures. Cheers - Ellen | thecynicalsailor.blogspot.com

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    1. Thank you! I was reading your blog and it sounds like you guys have had many adventures as well! We've been to New Zealand a few times and absolutely love it as well. I look forward to reading more!

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  5. Inspiring blog. You figured out quite a few cost effective and cool solutions I plan on using soon. I am about to refit a 38' Hughes.

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  6. Thank you, that's great to hear! We spent tons of time Googling sailboat ideas and finding photos for inspiration, that's why we wanted to be sure to include ours for others. Good luck on your refit - it's worth it!

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  7. Impressed indeed. It's true, we're starting to paint the entire interior of out boat and there is very little about it online. Your blog was really the best we could find. It has inspired us to continue down the path less traveled. I never liked all the wood in boats anyway, it's a maintenance headache and usually makes the boat feel smaller and darker. I love all the bright colors you used. Thanks again for sharing your experiences.

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    1. Thanks so much Daniel! I hope your project is coming along nicely! The painted wood really makes the space feel so much bigger and brighter, you'll love it. What kind of paint did you decide to use? My latex is still holding up, but I wonder if oil-based would last longer. We'll see!

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  8. Hello! I came upon your blog via pinterest. I am in awe of both of your abilities and the breathtaking work you have done on your boat. My husband and I just completed a year long cruise aboard our Beneteau First 405 and are heading back to Michigan after going as far as Dominica and turning around. We love to see other young cruisers! We are going back to earn more money to go again, and probably with a different boat. I do have a question regarding your headliners. Ours need to be replaced in the cabins and we would like to use latex or epoxy or gelcoat instead of putting up vinyl or fabric. Did you paint any fiberglass and what did you end up doing to make it look cleaner without bumps? Thank you so much for posting this amazing blog, I absolutely love it! Best Wishes! -Felicia, s/v Kasablanca

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    1. Thanks again! Sounds like you guys had a great trip! We do the same thing, go work and make some money, come back and spend it on the boat/cruising :) We didn't actually do much to our headliner. We debated painting it and decided against it. I just tried to clean it up as much as possible with a magic eraser which worked pretty well. There were some stains that wouldn't come out though. Then I used 3M Restorer Wax and a high speed buffer to clean/shine it all. That really made it look a lot better! Keep in touch and let us know what boat you end up with and where you are!

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  9. Hey there,
    A friend just sent me a link to your blog, you've done some great work here! We have a 26ft Jeaneau Sangria, that we have recently lifted for the hurricane season. I bought her in St Martin around the same time you got yours!! We have a few repairs to do whilst she's on dry land, but you guys have now got me thinking about what else I could get up to with a little creativity! Thanks for the inspiration! Next trip down to the Caribbean look us up. We're on Montserrat, there's currently only 2 resident sailboats here, we're pretty easy to find...

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  10. Hi Matt and Hillary, is your boat still for sale?

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  11. Hi guys. You have really done a GREAT job. Definitely thought outside the box by painting the inside as you did. My favorite color is turquoise so when I stumbled onto your blog on Pinterest I couldn't believe it! My house is coastal and each room has something turquoise in it. I do decorating and design and I bet no one else has done this. I never understood all the dark wood in such a small area. I have a few questions for you with the assumption Veruna is still for sale. Any idea how much it would cost approximately to change the rudder to a wheel and would there be room for air? We also need to get her to Isla Mujeres, MX and Roatan. Any idea how we can do that?

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    1. Hi Brenda, thank you! So good to hear from people that really appreciate the work we did and "get it". Your house sounds beautiful! Varuna has actually just been sold, sorry! Maybe you could get a cheap boat in MX and do something similar inside?? Good luck!

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