Manta 42 cruise

[JerryF]

My wife an I just returned from a 14 day cruise aboard a Manta 42 SailCat and I want to share the experience with you folks. We were in the Northwest US (Bellingham, Washington), the San Juan islands and the Desolation Bay area. It was wonderful and here are some details.

To start with: the following web site shows the general track we followed but we did modify it some because the two of us were the only folks on the boat except for the Charter Captain and his wife so it was really a private cruise. BTW, Ron Johanson, the Captain and owner, only charters his Manta 42 (the Ninja) with himself aboard, no bare boat charters.

The following web site shows the general track of the cruise but remember we modified it:

http://www.sanjuansailing.com/charte...th%20pages.pdf

Half the time we anchored in some very beautiful coves and half the time we stayed at a wharf/dock in a small town therefore visiting the town. Some of the places we visited were.

We started at Bellingham, WA and cleared customs into Canada at South Pender Island (Bedwell Harbor) and went on to anchor at Cold Spring Island.

Left early the next day (8am) to get through Dodds Narrows at slack tide because it's narrow and you can get there and find a 6-8 nautical mile tidal current against you if you time it wrong. We docked at the Nanaimo docks and explored the city.

Next was Pender Harbor and the Garden Bay Marina.

The next few days were the Malaspina Strait, Jarvis Inlet, and Princess Louisa Chatterbox Falls.

Next was a super heavy weather sail is 15+ knot winds and choppy water. The Manta 42 took both the sea and the wind VERY well. Here we stopped at Westview, did laundry and went to Safeway for more supplies. Actually we stayed here for two days.

Next on to Squirrel Cove and a really private and beautiful small cove anchorage.

Our next stop was Refuge Cove which was so remote, although there are a few houses there, that there is a trash/garbage barge were you can dump off sacks of your trash for $5.00 per bag because they then have to barge it to the mainland. That night we moved on to Melanie Cove to anchor out. It rained all night (the only bad weather we had) so the next day we took a long ride under power to start back and returned to Westview and stayed at the wharf/docks. There were rough whitecaps and heavy wind directly on our nose. The Manta took it VERY well. The Manta 42 Ninja with it's factory hardtop Bimini and Captain Ron's custom side curtains that totally enclose the entire cockpit were really great in the somewhat cool and wet trip because we were both dry and warm. Yes the clear side curtains roll up and secure so they were totally open for all the other days. Being able to close the cockpit is GREAT.

Next was Ganges for a night and the Salt Spring Restaurant. It was great.

Next day we cleared Customs back into the US at Roche Harbor. We stayed there several hours to visit the town's waterfront area and then on to Friday Harbor were we docked at the public docks. Here we wandered around town and even saw a movie in town later that evenig.

Next we went from Friday Harbor to Cypress Island were we connected to a mooring buoy provided by the state. There were about 15 moorings in this cove.

The next morning we left the Cypress Island mooring to return to Bellinghan, WA.

The Manta 42 is a great Catamaran. Anyone even thinking of buying ANY catamaran should charter one to see if you like it as much as we did. The Ninja is really a well cared for boat and it looks like it is new. It is equipped very well. It has marine A/C and heat plus a diesel burner heater, a 5.5 kw generator, a Splende washer dryer, radar, depth/speed, a GPS dome (Ron uses two notebook computers and Nobeltech for charting), a propane stove/oven, TV, power anchor winch, mailsail and a self tending jib, and it can be single handed because all the lines come to the electric winch in the cockpit. It has a dingy, outboard and davits so we had transportation when we anchored.

The following web site shows the Manta 42 Ninja itself. Click on the button "360 Degree Tour" to see the inside of this Manta 42:

Charters template - sail

The cruise was great and we both enjoyed it.

JerryF

[Therapy]

My dream boat.