Hi Mark
The Alajuela 38 is a fine sea-going hull but some of the detail of their fit out is not to my taste. I've been slowly upgrading Iron Bark III (hull 63) over the past 7 years. It's been a drawn out process because I have continued to sail her, fitting the work on her between voyages.
We are currently between New Zealand and Vanuatu and having a bouncy time of it. It's blowing 30kts it's and has been thus for the last 4 days with a 3-4metre breaking cross swell. An Alajuela is more comfortable than most boats in these conditions, but it's still hard, wet work at times.
Last year took IBIII from New Zealand to Alaska and back to NZ. I'll get around to writing that voyage up, together with the passage from Panama to NZ in 2023, sometime in next few months.
Trevor Robertson
Yacht Iron Bark