Bristol 45.5
Boat Background
Blue Moon is a 1979 Bristol 45.5 aft cockpit, designed by Ted (Frederick Emmart) Hood and Dieter Empacher who also architected several other Bristol models, Hinckleys & Little Harbors. The 45.5 is a second generation Bristol design which was built from 1979-1989 when it was replaced with the newer 47.7.
Renée & I purchased this boat in early 2021 down in Annapolis. Our first trip was bringing her from Annapolis, MD to Rockland, ME over 2 weeks (the most either of us could get off from work) with my parents as crew. Transport/shake down cruise went pretty well only really failing out the engine mounted generator.
We specifically sought after the more rare aft cockpit configuration which includes (2) quarter berths which fit our family much better than the traditional center cockpit layout with a single rear cabin & berth.
The Galley
We love the galley in Blue Moon. It is the traditional U-shaped layout with separate refrigerator & freezer boxes. The refrigerator box is fairly large with a single cold plate while the freezer is smaller with 2 cold plates. Both are driven by an engine driven SeaFrost refrigeration system I installed 2 years ago. Another last minute project for us was replacing the propane stove. You can read about that here (link to post). The new stove has been awesome and Renée & the girls have already made some amazing meals. $ well spent!
The Quarter Berths
Again, the layout supporting the 2 seperate quarter berths was one of the driving reasons we looked at this particular Bristol 45.5. Many boats these days are built with 2 cabins for cruising couples & charters with a v-berth forward and a single queen or king sized bed in the aft.
The Salon
This area is the equivalent to the traditional living room/dining room area. The settee (couch) on the port (left) side pulls out to sleep 2 where the starboard (right) side is fixed and sleeps 1 easily. I customized the table a bit this off season adding some length to the swinging leaf to make it closer to those seated on the starboard side and also cut some material away towards the galley to enable slipping by when the leaf is up.
The Kids Head
The kids have the rear head which includes a shower.
The V-Berth
Renée & I have the forward cabin which is a v-berth with surrounding storage. The v-berth has a triangular section of support and mattress which is removable to improve space when not sleeping. We made all new mattresses for all the beds using a 2 layer stack up of traditional foam with a layer of memory foam on top. They have been super comfortable.
Forward Head
One nice feature of Blue Moon is having a second head. This definitely helps when we are all getting ready to go ashore or get cleaned up and changed after swimming. The forward head is primarily for Renée and I. Fairly simple accommodations. I swapped out the electric heads (toilets) that came with the boat for manual versions as the originals drew significant power and were very noisy. For those interested, we have a holding tank (similar to an RV) under the v-berth which is typically pumped out when docked for filling up diesel & water.
Adventure | Blue Moon 