Microcruising!!

[CaptainK]

Anybody in here familiar with "microcruising"?

Check out this person working on one!!

http://www.microcruising.com/new1a.htm

[halsail]

i have just purchased a 1995 west weight potter 19, looking foward to micro cruising chesapeake bay and florida. anyone have any imput

[Benjamaphone]

Wow, that Enigma weighs less than 200 lbs.!

Hal, welcome to Cruisers Forum! The Potter 19 looks like a nice boat to trailer around to different areas. I plan on getting the same type of thing, maybe a Shark or an Alberg 22. I think it would be great to be able to drive to different areas and explore for a couple of weeks. Plus, because its small you can just keep the boat in the yard for free.

[sneuman]

whatever happened to Kevin anyway? he hasn't posted anything in nearly a year! used to be such a fixture here.

I did an interesting interview with Herb and Nancy Payson on "With Wind and Seas" (see my profile for link). They did a trailer sailor tour of the north east, and Canada. Contrasted to cruising the Pacific, they found it a very positive experience.
As for the Potters, I like them. Allot of money for what they are in my opinion, but a nice design. I have sailed on a 19, and liked it. It was allot more comfortable than the Santana 22, but the Santana, is a racing boat. Just impressive how much stablility and comfort can be built into a boat that small.

[Robertcateran]

There is Doug out of Western OZ who has been microcruising on a small 7m/5m Harryproa up and down the coast, though he about to start building a bigger one. He was going to go round the top but the Croc stories may have got to him. I also know some people who travelled from Victoria,Oz to the Louisiades, PNG in sea kayaks. One of the blokes also tried a trip round Greenland.

[sailorozz]

With a trailerble Mc Greager 25ft.I modified the mast support at the stearn(used to support the mast when trailering)by hindging a exstention on it.ThenI steped the mast from the cabin top.40 min.rigging time ,no help need to step a 30ft. mast,I was free to boat when ever!!I sailed the San Juan Islands 2 wk.the islands off The Everglades 2 wks. Green Bay the mouth of Lk. Michigan 3wks with some ruff water training and many other lakes,,,out of town on the boat!

[Delezynski]

Speaking about Microcruising, how about these!

Around in ten. Ten foot boats in a race around the world! The race starts in 197 days and there are now 5 signed up to go! <Details>

And, how about this guy, in a Montgomery 17 “Strawanza” that has sailed from Cal. to Vanuatu (so far).

mfgrpage

Now THAT is Microcruising! And people say WE have a small boat?????

Greg

[dcstrng]

Originally Posted by Delezynski

Speaking about Microcruising, how about these...

I’ve been tracking the Around-in-Ten site(s), some interesting things there… I expect some would be inclined to write `em off as excessively adventurous kooks, but from what I see going into the boats – technology and engineering wise – there is a lot here that may be eventually transferable to those of us “normal” sailors on much larger (twice the length-plus…) craft…

Will be interesting to watch this…

(P.S. just got one of your DVD's -- good stuff...)

[Delezynski]

Originally Posted by dcstrng

(P.S. just got one of your DVD's -- good stuff...)

THANKS for the kind words about our DVD.
Which one did you get? We are missing being in the Sea of Cortez this year, it's simply a GREAT cruising area.


Greg

[dcstrng]

Originally Posted by Delezynski

Which one did you get...

Guenevere's First Summer in the Sea of Cortez…

Our little ol’ hunk is a tad smaller than yours and decidedly further down the food-chain, but I thought we’d learning something… which I did… among other things, don’t watch cruising videos; because they give you a compelling and irresistible urge to dash out and buy all sorts of boaty things…

I enjoyed the commentary and especially the locality sailing tips – is much more than a travelogue… doubted we’d ever see that area since it’s a long paddle from here, but since my Bride has a sudden hankering to go, who knows…

[Delezynski]

Larry,


A Bristol 24 would be a great boat for cruising the Sea! You could trailer it to some place like San Carlos and drop in for a vacation. Then head out exploring.


Year before last we met up with a family cruising the Sea in/on a pontoon boat! It had nothing but a flat deck and they had a tent on it for sleeping and 2, 25HP outboards on it. They had a ball! They would fuel up in Puerto Escondido and Zooooooommmm to a close anchorage like Aqua Verde, where we met up with them.


Last year we say a family of 4 doing it with a 17 foot boat. It was tight, but they also were having a good time. The anchorage we met them in was Alacron near BLA. On the way into the area we all saw a batch of fin back whales feeding. In the anchorage we found a fill set of whale bones, from a whale that had passed away the year before.



What an experience we were all having!


Plan it out and have a great time!


By the way, we STILL have the urge to run out and get a batch more toys! Just no more room if we still want to live “in” the boat in not in the cockpit.


Greg

[nautical62]

I've done many trips from the U.S. to the Bahamas in trailerable pocket cruiser sailboats: first a Westerly Centaur (recommended) and then a Telstar Trimaran (not recommended). While I'm happy I own a boat that is a bigger now, I certainly have learned that it's not the size that matters, but the experience. What ever boat gets you out there safely living your dream is a good boat. For most people, I'd recommend going in a boat you can afford now instead of waiting for ever for your dream boat.

[s/v 'Faith']

Originally Posted by nautical62

I've done many trips from the U.S. to the Bahamas in trailerable pocket cruiser sailboats: first a Westerly Centaur (recommended) and then a Telstar Trimaran (not recommended).......

I know these foldable Telstar tri's have a devoted following, and a price tag to match.... what about them makes you not recommend them?

Thanks, great post by the way...

I'd recommend going in a boat you can afford now instead of waiting for ever for your dream boat

Absolutely agree.

[nautical62]

S/V Faith: I had the original Telstar, not the new model. There were many things I enjoyed about that boat, but I felt it sailed very poor to windward in seas much over three feet or so. The main problem was very strong under deck slamming caused by the very low solid decks as well as the odd shapes and ama supports, making any forward progress all but impossible even when power sailing. It also took quite a bit of water under these conditions much of it through the centerboard bolt as seas were compressed into the centerboard housing.

In protected waters, it was a joy, easily keeping up with boats twice its length. I'd recommend it for anyone looking for pocket cruiser for inland sailing or casual coastal cruising, but I didn't think it was up to the conditions one often gets crossing to or between Bahama Islands. My previous boat, a Westerly Centaur could handle twice the seas more comfortably. For me the expense and time of trailering and tedious process of launching were also not worth the savings of just purchasing a more solid ocean cruiser and accepting the storage fees.