Our dear friends have come to the conclusion that it is time to sell the boat that they spent years pouring their love, sweat, & tears into. We were introduced to this marvelous boat as we motored into the V&A Marina in Cape Town. Everybody that I spoke to about it wanted to know more, and lucky for us, our kids made fast friends and we got a tour.

We have sailed beside Eva for roughly 10,000 nautical miles and everywhere we went, people referred to her as “their dream boat.” We had the pleasure of spending a year aboard her, cruising from Maine to Grenada and I can attest that Eva is a boat that I will indeed dream about long after she’s found her new owners.

Claude and Jules have spared no expense or attention to detail. Every aspect of Eva, from her joinery, to insulation, to electrical systems and on was crafted and maintained to exacting standards for safety, reliability and long use.

Lastly, before we move on to the dry details, I have been through squalls and nasty gulf stream swell and never got a single drop of salt water on me (in the cockpit or on deck) or any of our gear. Coming from Convivia (or nearly any other boat I have ever heard of) this is an amazing feature.

s/v Eva:

The Eva 56′ is designed by Ed Joy for both high latitude and tropical sailing. She features a lifting keel and is auxiliary powered by 130hp marinized John Deere diesel.

Featuring a svelte, low profile deck salon, Eva was intended for family and chartered adventure sailing. Her systems were designed with a focus on simplicity and ease of maintenance, and Swiss precision abounds. Her spacious aft cabin includes a workstation and ample storage.

All essential lines are led aft to the cockpit for single-handing.

Layout:

From the open transom you will pass by the dual helms and through a spacious cockpit with benches on either side and teak folding table amidships. To the left, in the pilot house is a dining table for 5 (comfortably, or 8 with a squeeze). To the right is the electrical room/panel, and raised nav station with excellent visibility. Aft (and down stairs) is a cozy master stateroom with workstation and ample storage.

Continuing from the pilot house forward; down the stairs and to the right you will find the head. To the left you will see the Refleks heater, the door to the engine room and the breakfast nook. Following the left path will lead you through the galley of your dreams. A Dickinson 3 burner (Mediterranean) stove/oven, large capacity icebox and refrigerator, dual sinks, … get this, a washing machine.

Following the right path from the head, you will find a spacious study/chartroom, with more storage. Forward of either the study or galley is a 4 bunk stateroom and access to the mast, keel winch, and bilges. Forward of that (at the prow) is a shower and workshop replete with vice, gobs of storage and line stowage.

Construction

Builder: Jacobs Brothers

Designer: Ed Joy

LOD: 56’2”

LWL: 47’4”

Draft: 3’2” (1 meter) keel up

8’9” (2.6 meter) keel down

Displacement: 55,000 lb

Ballast: 21,460 lb

Key Specifications

360º visibility deck salon with nav station
Swing keel with simple industrial 24vt cable winch
Swing rudder with simple mechanical lift system
Robust aluminum hull construction
Simple, low maintenance systems

Engine

John Deere 4045TFM 135HP@2500RPM

Prop: Max-Prop Easy 26″ 3 blade

Drive Type: Shaft (45mm) fitted with a flexible shaft coupling Centa CF-AM-140

Shaft seal: Duramax Dripless

Genset: Yanmar 2GM20 18hp 140amp 24/v Balmar

Fuel: Diesel

Separate Racor filters for engine and generator as well as a bypass filter which allows engine to continue running while a filter is being changed

Racor filter fuel polishing system

Rigging and Sails

Southern Spars Cape Town Mast
- Mast height 24 m (78 ft)
- Antal halyard system
Southern Spars Boom 7.2 m (23 ft)
- With internal batten storage
Crows nest
Profurl C480 headsail furler
Sta-Loc swage-less fittings
Dyform rigging
- Shrouds V1 16mm, V2 14mm
- Inner shrouds D1 16mm, D2 10mm
- Forestay 14mm
- Removable inner forestay 10mm, Wichard tensioner
- Backstay 12mm
Spreaders, two sets, 22 degree sweep
SSB isolator
Ulman 110 % headsail, 71 sq m (765 sq ft)
Ulman staysail, hank-on, 31 sq m (333 sq ft)
Ulman high roach mainsail, three reef points, 88 sq m (947 sq ft)
Ulman trysail, separate track on the mast, 26 sq m (279 sq ft)
Ulman spinnaker, 188 sq m (2023 sq ft)
Sail reefing, slab reefing from the cockpit
All lines Spectra except sheets, many spares
- Spectra jib halyard with Antal halyard slider system
Antal Deck Gear
- Winches
  - 2 Primary W65ST/AL
  - 3 W48ST/AL
  - 2 W52/AL
- Traveler with line driver
Spinlock jammers and clutches
Aries windvane self steering

Tanks

Water: 264 gal, 1000/l

Fuel: 528 gal, 2000/l

Day tank: 35 gal, 135/l

Holding tank: 20 gal, 80/l (with expansion capacity)

Tank Tender gauges for 2 diesel tanks and 2 water tanks

Sight glass for diesel day tank

Accommodations****and Layout

Sleeps 6 comfortably (study converts to add two people)
Aft cabin with large bed, storage, and workstation
Forward cabin with 4 bunks and ample storage
Head
- Manual Lavac toilet
- Vanity with Corian counter tops, stainless sink (with backup manual foot pump)
- Generous storage capacity
Pilot house
- Nav station
  - 360 degree visibility
  - Garmin 4010 chartplotter
  - VHF 200i
  - Garmin 600 AIS
  - Icom SSB
  - Iridium Go
  - Remote autopilot control
- Comfortable dining table with excellent visibility
  - Massive storage capacity under and behind seating
- Electrical panel, and access to electrical room
- Bookshelves
Study/chartroom
- Doubles as a guest room
- Doubles as a school room
- Doubles as a single person yoga studio (yes, it’s that big)
- Book shelf large enough for two encyclopedia sets
- Massive amounts of storage
- Cushions that convert from seating to a double bed
Workshop
- Solid oak counter top
  - Reinforced strong point for impact work
  - Removable fiddle for varied work requirements
  - Removable vice
- Ample tool storage
- Dock line and rope storage
Shower with small bathtub
- Comfortable to use underway
- Well sized sump tank with manual pump out for reliability and simplicity
Galley to die for
- Cosy seating for two or three, and shelves for cookbooks
- Dickinson Mediterranean 3 burner stove/oven with gas sniffer
  - Gimbaled stove with very robust handle to protect the chef
  - Trident solenoid control and gas sniffer
- 90 cubic liter icebox/refrigerator (removable)
- Deep stainless steel double sink
  - Fynspray traditional manual salt pump
  - Backup foot pump (fresh water)
  - Filtered water tap
- Three stage fresh water filtration
- LG 7kg Washing machine
- 2x Thermos holder station for stove-free tea on watch
- Large white Corian countertops with strong effective sapele fiddles
- Ergonomic flow and multiple handholds
- Gas tight propane locker in the deck with 2x Ragasco 18.2 liter tanks, overflow directly overboard

Cockpit

Dual Helm
Twin Richie helm compasses
Edson cable steering system
Remote multifunction head units at each of 2 helm stations
Major control lines led aft
Solid teak folding table with handholds
Canvas bimini with stout aluminum framing
Weather cloths, and privacy/shade curtains
Solar panel array (4)
Large storage areas below seats
Deep lazarette starboard side for toys and spare generator (Honda 2000e)
Strong attachment points and jacklines
Seats 8 comfortably (14+ in a pinch)
Easy access open transom
- Attachment points for Aires windvane (not currently installed)
- Shower with hot water
Radar Arch
- Dinghy hoist (quick retrieval using primary winches)
- Solar panels (4), in addition to those on the bimini
- Antennae array for GPS, AIS, Iridium, Garmin Radar
- Wind generator attachment points port and starboard with wiring in place

Ground Tackle

Rocna 55kg
½” chain
Fortress FX-55 secondary anchor
Maxwell 3500 Vertical windlass with capstan

Comfort

Hatches and Portlighs Goiot tradition (very strong, very reliable, very DRY)
- Hatches
  - 1 Large forward 62.62
  - 6 medium 50.50
- Portlights
  - 10 small 34.14
  - 2 medium 34.18
Refleks Diesel Heater
- With single stove top plate (perfect for heating water for tea)
- Tapped into the hot water system for constant hot water in cold climes
- Plumbing for radiators throughout boat; one installed in aft cabin
Insulation
- 64 mm closed cell expanded polyethylene (fire retardant and will not absorb water) has provided excellent insulation in both extreme heat and extreme cold (-23 celsius)
Fans throughout

Safety

All required equipment on board for SAMSA (South African Maritime Saftey Association) and USCG
Viking 8 man liferaft
EPIRB, McMurdo G5 Manual Smart Find Plus, WGPS
Engine room automatic fire extinguisher, extra port in door for inserting another extinguisher
Fire extinguishers in each room, smoke detectors, CO detector
6 Rule bilge pumps, 4 x 1500 gpm and 2 x 2700 gpm
Thru hulls are all on standpipes
Central jackline fittings, jacklines

Engine Room/ Salle des Machines

Highly insulated for sound and heat, with excellent access
- Door entry from galley
- Large access from pilot house
- Small access from aft cabin (with excellent access to shaft seal and transmission
- Two removable staircases for all around access
Main engine: John Deere 4045TFM 135HP@2500RPM
- Ample power allows for ease of maneuvering even without a bow thruster
Generator: Yanmar 2GM20 18hp 140amp 24/v Balmar alternator
- Easy troubleshooting, low cost maintenance
Fuel: extensive organization for fuel filtering, polishing, and isolating
Isotemp 40L dualcoil 220vt water heater (connected to generator and heater)
Spectra Cape Horn watermaker
Fresh water system manifold for individual sector shutdown
Three inch standpipe with multiple thru hulls for ease of access and centralization
Battery banks bolted into a huge stout battery box
Additional storage for inflatable SUPs, skateboards, toys etc.

Electrical

DC system 24vt and 12vt (run off of converters)
House Batteries (1000 ah @24vt bank) composed of 20 Sonnenshein 6vt 200ah sealed Gel batteries
24vt main engine start bank ( 2x Deltec 105ah 12vt batteries in series)
- Charged by the main engine alternator
12vt generator start battery
House charging via a 140amp 24vt Balmar alternator off of the generator
- Generator is a Yanmar 2gm20 with fitted alternator mount
- Honda 2000e generator as an emergency charge source
Battery switching for emergency starts for both main engine and generator
DC Panel is large and easily accessed, with boat line drawing and nav light indicators
Victron Phoenix Inverter C24/2000 240vac
Victron Centaur battery charger 24vt/60amp 90-265vac
400 watts of solar panels
Lighting
- Frensch LED (German quality) with optional red light throughout
AC and DC outlets throughout