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Owning a Bayfield 29 has been a dream for about 15 years. When I first saw the size and layout of the 29 she looked almost perfect for 1 or 2 people to handle easily in almost any kind of weather. Of course the gentle weather is always more enjoyable and easier but the snarly weather is part of the life of sailing. A boat that handles the snarly weather easily is my idea of a good boat.
| When I first saw Bayfiels I was told they are great boats for almost any kind of sailing. In the water Bayfields look much like any other sailboat. But when they are lifted out you can see there is a lot more size or volume than the average racer/cruiser. The volume make her sit in the water in stead of on the water like a lot of racer/cruiser type boats do. This changes the way she sails and how she handles the bumpy water. Yeoman might be about .25 kn slower than the racer/cruiser type boat with the same water line length.
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Yeoman's first owners kept her to Port Albernie and sailed her mostly on the west coast of Vancouver Island in Barkley sound. Barkley Sound is open to the whole Pacific Ocean and all the stuff that roles in from Japan and Hawaii, so Yeoman has seen some pretty heavy days of sailing. | I was in the Bayfield factory several years ago (1980s) asking about their 29. Somewhere in the conversation our guide said "we haven't shipped a 29 out of here in years that is under 10,000 lbs." I thought that is a lot of boat for 29 feet. The specs say 7100 lbs. In this case the scales by the lift operators right shoulder said she puts ~5000lb on each sling. The guy in the white shirt is Willy the second owner of Yeoman. Willy told me she is easy to sail as he sailed her alone for about 50% of the time. His wife likes to sail but has other important things to do. Willy reluctantly gave her up because of coming shoulder surgury. He kept her in great shape.
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 The next story was that Yeoman has been to Hawaii and Mexico. I find that pretty impressive that the owner would take this little boat off shore twice. She must sail pretty nicely for the owners to want to venture out there again. | This time I get to be in the picture. 
This is Yeoman interior viewed from the cockpit. You can see there is lots of space for people in the cabin. The 10'2" beam gives enough for space and side decks to put storage shelves under. The storage shelves even have sliding doors to hide the stuff. 
The ice box hides under the navigation table. The storage shelf is open here because of the radios. The black strips on the table are velcro to attach a lap top computer. There is a cable to connect the GPS. The galley with a propane stove. The storage on this boat is really amazing for her size. There is a fold up extention for the galley and navigation station. 
 The instrument panel swings in to keep the sounder and GPS inside the cabin unless they are being used. This picture really show the space inside Yeoman. 
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