Orion is no longer the same as a production Irwin 10/4. We now know that her second owner made modifications after consulting with *Walter Scott, one of her designers. We do have some drawings for the changes along with manuals and papers. She would probably now be classified as a heavy cruiser. Her modifications include the following:
Keel, skeg, rudder and hull
The keel was lengthened, creating a cut away full keel with 3.8 ft draft
Increased keel weight 1,000 lbs+/- (Approximately 300 lbs in lead ingots and some cement)
A large, thick, metallic wing was added to the keel's base
Skeg lengthened
Rudder lengthened
Wheel and steering machinery replaced by tiller
The hull reinforced in places
Cockpit
Widened seating area is 360 degrees of the reduced cockpit well
The only thing passing through the cockpit well are the engine controls and drains
Weather boards are now solid (not vented)
Cockpit well drains have been enlarged
Lazarettes are all gone except at the stern
Coaming has been raised along with winches by glassing and large marine lumber
Stainless steel stern railing has been installed
Interior
Original galley replaced with a stainless sink with electric and manual pumps
Galley equipped with a sea stove that can be used in the cockpit or in the cabin
Interior access to space formerly occupied by the lazarettes
Diesel fuel tank added under the cockpit well behind the engine
Rigging
Two additional winches were added
Mast and boom replaced with heavier version
An inner fore stay was removed at some point
Fore stay to end of bowsprit is doubled
Mast support reinforced
Miscellaneous
Upgraded head to the Air Head composting toilet
Opening port-lights added
Layout when purchased
Current Layout
Orion has had three owners before
us. The first couple, apparently knew little about sailing and
decided to sell her almost immediately.
The
second owner lived on board off and on for some years. During that
period, he consulted with *Walter Scott on the design modifications,
and met his wife to be. They then lived aboard together, and took off
cruising for 3 years. They went to the Keys, took the boat up the
Intercoastal Waterway
to Washington, DC and back, and spent 6 months in the Exumas. She is
the one that contacted us via this website. Another interesting
detail that she related was that Orion had been struck by lightning
twice, once in the Keys at anchor and once at a dock in Gulfport,
Florida. The first instance was quite scary, but with no damage. The
second took out the depth finder and VHF.
The
owner previous to us has stayed in touch, and has shared with us some
of his cruising experiences. One of these was a storm experience in
the Gulf Stream. Through him we learned that Orion has sailed
extensively in the Florida Keys, both sides of the Florida peninsula,
to the Bahamas and the Dry Tortugas, and made one solo voyage to
Bermuda and back. He also installed Orion's current running lights,
having salvaged them from a much larger South African boat named
Tina. This was accomplished on the very day Tina was to be towed out
and sunk off the coast of Cape Canaveral to help form an artificial
reef. Tina was sailed from South Africa to Florida, and the owner
wrote a book about it, Tina, by Bruce Whiteley, Copyright ©
1973.
We have made some
short trips with Orion around the Caloosahatchee River, San Carlos
Bay, and Sanibel Island to Cayo Costa. It takes time to get to know
your boat when you sail several hundred miles from where you live and
work.
*Walter Scott worked with Ted Irwin during
Orion's major modifications. He is probably responsible for the 10/4
being based on a catboat design. He and Ted Irwin produced the
production model together.