Salty Podcast Part 2 of 3 Part-Series | Island Packet Factory Tour⛵IP349 Sailboat Up Close🔥

Step aboard hull #22 of the Island Packet 349 as we explore its design, smart upgrades, and why it might just be my dream boat! This is Part 2 of a special 3-part of my Island Packet Factory Tour. Let’s dive in!  @IslandPacketYachts  

This is Part 2 of a 3-part series inside the Island Packet Factory on YouTube:
⚓ Part 1: First look at the IP 44 Motor Sailer:  https://tinyurl.com/IPFactoryPart1
⚓ Part 2: A full tour of the Island Packet 349 (this episode):  https://tinyurl.com/IPFactoryPart2
⚓ Part 3: A behind-the-scenes factory tour to see how these legendary boats are built (Coming soon)

Stepping aboard hull number 22 of the Island Packet 349 reveals why this vessel represents the pinnacle of modern cruising sailboat design. From the moment you enter the cockpit—purposefully designed by Bob Johnson with safety as the primary concern—you'll appreciate how thoughtful engineering enhances the sailing experience without compromising comfort.

What truly sets this boat apart are the electric sailing systems that make single-handed cruising accessible to sailors of all abilities. With the push of a button, the reacher unfurls itself while electric primary winches handle the sheet lines, creating what our guide calls "push-button sailing" for those who want to enjoy the journey without unnecessary physical strain.

Below deck, the transformation from traditional sailboat to comfortable living space becomes immediately apparent. The captain's chairs—fully adjustable, reclining, and paired with a storage footstool—address the number one comfort request from sailors tired of rigid built-in seating. The galley features twice-the-BTU Dickinson stoves, dual refrigeration drawers that can function as either freezers or refrigerators, and intelligent LED lighting systems that dim according to preference.

Perhaps the most impressive innovation lies in the engine access—a hinged companionway staircase that swings up to provide complete access to maintenance points without the typical sailboat gymnastics of removing and storing stairs. Combined with the spacious forward cabin, practical head with sliding shower door, and extensive customization options (from fiberglass wainscoting colors to fan placement), the 349 offers near-custom building with production boat efficiency.

Whether you're planning coastal cruises or contemplating longer journeys (like the Chicago to Annapolis trip planned for this particular vessel), the Island Packet 349 demonstrates how thoughtful design can transform the sailing experience. Ready to discover if this might be your dream boat? Visit an Island Packet dealer to explore the extensive customization options and perhaps even discuss trade-in possibilities for your current vessel.

#SaltyAbandon #SaltyPodcast #Sailing #IslandPacket #BoatLife #IP349

Chapters

• 0:00 Touring Hull #22 of the 349
• 1:44 Cockpit Features and Navigation
• 2:54 Below Deck and Captain's Chairs
• 5:04 Galley and Lighting Systems
• 7:13 Innovative Engine Access
• 8:41 Forward Cabin and Head Tour
• 12:42 Aft Berth and Final Features

Transcript

Leslie Allen: 0:12

Hi, we're going to check out hull number 22 of the 349.

Capn Tinsley: 0:17

Alright, this is my dream boat. Yeah, tinsley needs one of these. Yes, I do Alright, so we're going to go up and then we'll turn the camera back on. Okay, so this boat is still under construction, right? So yeah, I don't know if we want to show much on the deck because it's so filthy. It's okay.

Darrell Allen: 0:35

So we're on board 349 here with Tinsley and this is one that we've actually had here for quite a few months and that's why it's dirty. It needs a good bath, very clean inside. We're gonna be shipping it to Chicago in April and then he's gonna take it from Chicago to Annapolis on its own bottom. Yeah, so he did. Obviously the Cato Davitt, the folding leather wheel.

Capn Tinsley: 1:00

We haven't installed electronics yet. Oh yeah, ed, about this. I've never seen this, oh yeah, Edson makes this.

Darrell Allen: 1:06

Bob Johnson purposely built a tight cockpit so that you don't get thrown around. For safety. That was always Bob's number one thing, safety. But this is an answer to making it a little bit easier to get around the cockpit.

Capn Tinsley: 1:19

Okay, and I have Kato also, but I don't have that bar in the middle and it is a concern.

Darrell Allen: 1:24

Well, that's a stabilizing bar. I'm surprised you don't have that.

Capn Tinsley: 1:26

Yeah, I need to get it.

Darrell Allen: 1:27

Yeah, we can also put solar panels on there. Now we also, of course, do an arch. We've got an arch down there, a couple arches there. That's probably one for 439, but looking at the size of it. But we also built a 349 arch and you can see the mold for the arch. Yeah, that's the one. There's actually six different molds to make that arch, uh, and that's why we charge what we do for it, because it's extremely labor intensive. But nobody else builds a fiberglass arch like we do and it looks just like it's just one piece of the boat so this guy chose electric uh falling for the reacher.

Darrell Allen: 1:59

That's what these buttons here for. So the green is always out and the red is always put it back away. And then he has electric primary winches as well. So he pushes a button, the reach yourself unfurls itself with electric furlough on the bow, just like the mega ships do. And then, of course, he keeps up with the sheet line with this winch here, either in a speed one or speed two, so it makes it sailing very easy. So you know the person who's buying this boat is, you know, semi-retired and he doesn't want to. You know, work hard at sailing. He wants to build a push button, or she or she, obviously. So we've got you know. Go ahead and go on down below. I think you know. You know the boat as well as anybody, yep.

Capn Tinsley: 2:45

Whoa, look at this. You know the boat as well as anybody.

Darrell Allen: 2:54

Yeah, whoa, look at this. So this boat's kind of in storage somewhat because you know we finished it about five, six months ago and it's just been basically sitting. We'll do a good detailing and do another systems check before we ship the boat to Chicago, but this is honestly the standard layout that most people would do. The standard layout actually is a settee, but when I say standard is because most everybody chooses the between captain's chairs as the configuration that they want to do and of course, the table you know pops up and pops down so you can sit here. To me this is just as good as a built-in NAS station, but better because I can put my laptop up here. If I don't want a table there, I can get rid of the table.

Capn Tinsley: 3:30

That looks so much more comfortable.

Darrell Allen: 3:32

Oh yeah, it really is, Honestly, as a dealer. I would sit at boat shows and I would have guys come on board and they would go. You know what? I would buy the boat if somebody would just put a comfortable seat that I can sit in. And these seats here, obviously they turn, they go up and down, they recline. I mean we've got a six-way adjustable base on this. They could go fore and aft.

Capn Tinsley: 3:52

Can you do a recliner like this? Oh yeah.

Darrell Allen: 3:54

Well, this is our footstool here, that you have, that you can put your feet on and obviously has storage inside, and we have it in that locked position. But, honestly, we would bring that over here here, put my foot up on it and recline, you know, and then put the TV up over there and you still have the traditional traditional.

Darrell Allen: 4:11

I unpack a table. Now this is a single leaf, yours is a double leaf, but we can do it as a double or single. Most people that do the captain's chairs layout do the single because if you fold it out over here it's really not going to do a lot and they use the smaller table in between. But this works really well and, of course, we do the adjustable bottle storage behind it versus the fixed bottle storage, because what we learned is some people use rum bottles, some people use wine bottles, some people will use olive oil bottles, and they're all different sizes, so you can pretty much put whatever you want in there. And we're really proud of the galley too. I think it's just really smart and accessible and it's not closed off.

Capn Tinsley: 4:56

You're right.

Darrell Allen: 4:58

So obviously any color Corian. He wanted the older style, as I call it stainless steel double sink instead of a single sink. We can do either. We can do stainless, we can do Corian single bigger, smaller, smaller drawers. We can also do this as wine storage if you want. And then obviously all of our lights are on. But the neat thing about these switches is when you turn the light off, you can see that it's illuminated, so you know that that's what you need to touch. And then they do dim up and down. So this is controlling the hull side lighting. And at night what I found is the hull side lighting really works nice, so you can dim it down. And of course, all these turn off and dim up and down.

Darrell Allen: 5:35

LED, of course Of course, everything on the boat now is LED, and this is kind of customizable as well, this configuration.

Capn Tinsley: 5:41

Somewhat.

Darrell Allen: 5:42

Most people like what we do here.

Capn Tinsley: 5:47

We can't really have doors here, and then we have.

Darrell Allen: 5:51

That's a Dickinson. Actually We've changed from the Force 10 to the Dickinson stoves because it's twice the BTU power of the Force 10. And, honestly, we weren't having the greatest luck with Force 10. But this is a really nice high quality stove More money than the Force 10, but very high quality and, like I said, twice the BTU. So your food cooks faster and you use less propane. Dry storage area there and then another cabinet and then dish storage up on top. Now that cabinet can be customizable because you've got a little more space right there. Now, if I built the boat, honestly, I'd build it with an induction stove top, like the like the Motor Sailor, the four-way smart oven under here, and then I'd get rid of the microwave and put another cabinet right in here.

Capn Tinsley: 6:35

Okay.

Darrell Allen: 6:36

Same refrigerator freezer that's on the Motor Sailor. This is three and a half cubic feet for each drawer.

Capn Tinsley: 6:42

Now, what kind of amps do these?

Darrell Allen: 6:44

Oh, they're so efficient. Every manufacturer is using these. These are vitro frigo, and literally I mean everybody's using them. They can both be freezers. These can both be refrigerators.

Capn Tinsley: 6:56

So okay.

Darrell Allen: 6:57

Yeah, and then this is one of the things that.

Capn Tinsley: 6:59

Access right there.

Darrell Allen: 7:00

Access on the both sides, just like your boat.

Capn Tinsley: 7:02

Oil stick is right there. It's my biggest Yep.

Darrell Allen: 7:10

Oil dipstick right here, uh, fuel filter right here, oil fill right here, and then check this out.

Capn Tinsley: 7:18

This is what's going to sell you the boat right here.

Darrell Allen: 7:20

You know, on your boat you've got to remove the stairs right, figure out a place to put them. You've got to remove this back piece make sure it's not damaging anything.

Capn Tinsley: 7:27

How about this? Oh my god, isn't that great.

Darrell Allen: 7:34

I have owners who who asked me not to ask me if I can retrofit their boat like this. Honestly, we would have to do it, but we would have to make a pattern for each boat. Or, like Tinsley says, just trade your island packet in for a 349.

Capn Tinsley: 7:48

And you can trade here?

Darrell Allen: 7:49

Okay, yes, we take island packets and trade almost monthly, if not almost weekly sometimes.

Capn Tinsley: 7:53

Now, a lot of people are talking about the beta engine. What's your opinion on that?

Darrell Allen: 7:57

Well, you know there's obviously been. Yanmar is the engine for sailboats. I mean there's been more Yanmars used than any other motor on sailboats and they have been the engine that Island Packet has always used. The beta engine doesn't have the smart controller, so it's not a smart engine. And, honestly, as a dealer, the Beta engine doesn't have the smart controller, so it's not a smart engine and, honestly, as a dealer, there's some EPA standards that you watch that you have to stand by. Beta has an EPA-compliant engine, but they just don't have the service network that you get with Yanmar.

Capn Tinsley: 8:32

They don't have the warranty that you get with Yanmar.

Darrell Allen: 8:41

Yanmar has the best warranty in the business. They're everywhere. Their service dealers are everywhere and honestly, I've seen Yanmars as a dealer for Island Packet and an owner. I've been selling Island Packets for 40 years and I've seen Yanmars with $10,000, $15,000 on them. I can't speak for Beta because I've never honestly sold a boat with a Beta engine. There must be so few of them out there because I've been selling boats for a long time. I've sold thousands and thousands of boats and I've never seen a Beta engine. So for somebody who can't put a Yanmar engine in it, that might be a viable alternative. But honestly, if you brought me your boat and it was a used island packet or pre-owned island packet, I'd give you less money for it with the Beta than I would a Yanmar, Even if the Beta was newer than the Yanmar, because I know Yanmars and the older legacy island packets are all the pre-smart engine anyway. I mean the EPA is what made Yanmar change the way their engines are manufactured.

Capn Tinsley: 9:35

Can it be added to an older engine? The smart stuff.

Darrell Allen: 9:39

Oh god, yes, well, not added, but you'd have to change the engine, because everything's different about the engine for basically. But if I was to change my engine and I had the ability to get to choose either Yanmar or Beta, I would choose Yanmar every time, simply because of the service network that's out there.

Capn Tinsley: 9:56

All right, let's check this out. This is impressive.

Darrell Allen: 9:59

Yeah, so the forward cabin is built as either a Pullman berth, like the 320 and the 350. All those 320s and 350s are the same berth, yeah, but we can also offer a v-berth where you lose this hanging locker and of course they both go straight apart. With this arrangement, we are able to do the drawer under here and then we are able to do lift up storage right here, which is silly where they place this fan. This fan is going to have to be moved because that doesn't work.

Capn Tinsley: 10:25

Oh yeah.

Darrell Allen: 10:25

Yeah, yeah, that's what was hindering us from being lifted up Great light. Well, this is a. Our mattresses are all built by Handcraft Handcraft mattress.

Capn Tinsley: 10:35

Okay, so we got this door.

Darrell Allen: 10:36

Let me check out this door, yeah you should just lift it up and pull it out. So cedar line, Good place for shoes.

Capn Tinsley: 10:43

Yeah, and then what's behind this? A mirror.

Darrell Allen: 10:46

Yeah, so magnetic door locks, so you don't have to try to reach and try to unlock it Nice. And of course for ventilation. We got a nice hatch, and then we've got one port on the side there.

Capn Tinsley: 10:55

We've got that, we've got that.

Darrell Allen: 10:58

Yeah, for lighting. And then the wainscotting now is all fiberglass, okay, and we can build it in either a gray, an ivory, a camo tan, an off-white, so you pick what color wainscotting you want as well. And then we've, after building the motor sailor and doing the way we did the air conditioning system in the overhead, we're now gonna build a plenum that runs behind the wainscoting on both sides of the boat and literally we can go in and just drill a three and a half inch hole and put in an outlet right there and you can manage the air conditioning, versus having just like one outlet right there that all the air comes out of. You'll be able to control it nicer and it's going to be a much better unit. I don't know anybody that's doing what we're going to do.

Capn Tinsley: 11:38

This is beautiful, right here.

Darrell Allen: 11:44

So this boat, obviously this is a Peli. A lot of the 349s are built in the maple like the motor sailor.

Capn Tinsley: 11:49

There's the shower drain right there, so the shower drain.

Darrell Allen: 11:55

And then you know nice head, small shower. You know different type of sinks. This gentleman here chose the white sink, so this is actually different than what the Motor Sailor had. And then I want to point out the shower door. I think the shower doors are so great.

Capn Tinsley: 12:11

This is where the toilet paper roll goes. Okay, yeah, the shower door. Oh yeah, yeah, he was showing me how it could be custom.

Darrell Allen: 12:17

Yeah, yeah. So we just you unlock it here at the top and then this one opens up and actually it slides inside. You've got great coverage, but then you can lock it away. So we've got two ports for ventilation. We've got great lighting throughout the boat.

Capn Tinsley: 12:42

Got a fan there.

Darrell Allen: 12:43

Yeah, we'll mount the fans anywhere you want. You know that's your decision on whether you want fans, what type of fan.

Capn Tinsley: 12:48

We offer different color fans.

Darrell Allen: 12:49

We offer different type of fans. This is the ones without the cage around them. We also offer the ones with the cage, you know. So you know, it's like building a custom home.

Capn Tinsley: 12:57

Sure, there's so many options.

Darrell Allen: 13:00

We've got probably between 60 and 70 options depending on the model, and that's not color options. We've got probably 25 different color options that you choose from and then a nice aft berth this is actually the largest aft berth we build because it goes up underneath the cockpit, and the 439, the aft berth we build because it goes up underneath the cockpit, and the 439, the aft berth does not go underneath the cockpit because we use that for utility room. And, of course, what you're looking at down there is you've got the fuel filter system and then the Seagull water filter and then the water pump is in there as well, and we do make it where the mattress removes so you have easy access to that.

Capn Tinsley: 13:32

That part of the mattress is what we have sitting right up here. And the whole side porch makes it light. And look at that, the door, that just. And you got a mirror there too. Beautiful, thank you.