At The Risk of Starting WWlll

[four winds]

Originally Posted by Razoo

....maybe I should buy an RV....

No man, RVs don't sail very well at all. :-)

[JPA Cate]

Razoo,

Don't over-think this. If you want to go cruising, buy the boat that makes your heart go pitty-pat!

In our case, that has always been fin keelers with skeg rudder, monos. We've been out 29 yrs since we left the States the 2nd time. Most kinds of weather.

Ann

[jeepbluetj]

Originally Posted by four winds

No man, RVs don't sail very well at all. :-)

Ever driven one in any kind of wind? They sail all over the place. Just not the way you want to go...

Kinda like sailboats

[Razoo]

Originally Posted by alctel

You can 100% heave-to with a fin keel, you just have to play around a bit more to find out what works. Maybe use a drogue - the book 'storm tactics' goes into detail about this

I must have been on the wrong fin keeled s/v. It wouldn't heave to at all and rolled like crazy. I had to keep moving to settle it down. Of course, it could just be me. I've only been at this for a little less than 2 years. I definitely have plenty left to learn and maybe re-learn.

[Razoo]

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

Razoo,

Don't over-think this. If you want to go cruising, buy the boat that makes your heart go pitty-pat!

In our case, that has always been fin keelers with skeg rudder, monos. We've been out 29 yrs since we left the States the 2nd time. Most kinds of weather.

Ann

Thanks Ann, that's good to know about your success with the fin keel and I do want to go cruising, I just haven't found the right s/v yet to replace the one I have that I don't trust to do 3000-5000 km one way.

[JPA Cate]

Razoo,

This is only my opinion, but nice as they are, I really do not think Catalina 27's are ideal for circumnavigating. Imo, you want a more sturdily built boat.

I don't know if you have looked at the thread about building the Besteavear 49 started by noelex. But there's an expedition boat building, built, in aluminum. The thing is that we don't know what we don't know, and it can be really hard to figure out a paradigm for finding that out.

The knowledge is here on CF.. Listen to minaret, Pelagic, Terra Nova, and others, with many sea miles and experience of true ocean-going boats. Heck, we have a member here, El Pinguino, who restored a Westerly Sealord, called Westerly Serenade, rather than cope with a more modern boat with all their failure modes.

How it's looking to me, and I'm NOT a technical person, is that since it is so hard to get good data about the construction of new boats, and the liner boats--I wouldn't have one for a circumnavigation, although it might make it--I think refurbishing basically sound older boats makes a huge amount of sense. Maybe, too expensive. One must decide that for oneself. But, (sorry, cat guys, I know this is a prejudice) I would not consider circumnavigating in a cat. My reasons are mostly personal, I suffer from seasickness and that jerky motion is my nemesis, but they mostly are so lightly built. Not all, of course, and I have seen some fine cats, but ............not for me, most likely, in this life.

Ann

[Razoo]

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

Razoo,

This is only my opinion, but nice as they are, I really do not think Catalina 27's are ideal for circumnavigating. Imo, you want a more sturdily built boat.

I don't know if you have looked at the thread about building the Besteavear 49 started by noelex. But there's an expedition boat building, built, in aluminum. The thing is that we don't know what we don't know, and it can be really hard to figure out a paradigm for finding that out.

The knowledge is here on CF.. Listen to minaret, Pelagic, Terra Nova, and others, with many sea miles and experience of true ocean-going boats. Heck, we have a member here, El Pinguino, who restored a Westerly Sealord, called Westerly Serenade, rather than cope with a more modern boat with all their failure modes.

How it's looking to me, and I'm NOT a technical person, is that since it is so hard to get good data about the construction of new boats, and the liner boats--I wouldn't have one for a circumnavigation, although it might make it--I think refurbishing basically sound older boats makes a huge amount of sense. Maybe, too expensive. One must decide that for oneself. But, (sorry, cat guys, I know this is a prejudice) I would not consider circumnavigating in a cat. My reasons are mostly personal, I suffer from seasickness and that jerky motion is my nemesis, but they mostly are so lightly built. Not all, of course, and I have seen some fine cats, but ............not for me, most likely, in this life.

Ann

Hi Ann;

I agree 100% with you that my Catalina 27 is not built for circumnavigating. It is awesome on a lake, but out there on the seas it is a frightening experience. It can handle upto 1.5m waves fairly well, but anything bigger than that and I'm basically on the edge of total disaster and that's not a good feeling.

I have been looking for almost a year now for an s/v over 40' and have sea trialed a 42' and a 51' on the west coast off Vancouver Island. Though they did handle the seas, I wasn't comfortable with either one of them for various reasons. I did like the center cockpit of the 51' and it's below deck space, but it needed some extensive refitting. I found a large soft spot from water damage in the cieling around the mast and a few soft spots in different areas on the floor. The water damage is the main reason I passed on it, but that center cockpit did sell me on what I look for now in my next s/v.

I will check out the thread about building the Besteavear 49 started by noelex. Thanks for that info and the heads up on those with many sea miles and experience of true ocean going boats. One never stops learning and I am grateful for everything I have learned since joining here 18 or so months ago.

[Razoo]

Originally Posted by jeepbluetj

Ever driven one in any kind of wind? They sail all over the place. Just not the way you want to go...

Kinda like sailboats

They don't float very well either.

[senormechanico]

Originally Posted by jeepbluetj

Ever driven one in any kind of wind? They sail all over the place. Just not the way you want to go...

Kinda like sailboats

Or trucks on Whidbey Island's Deception Pass Bridge during a big Westerly wind.

[sailjumanji]

Originally Posted by Razoo

....maybe I should buy an RV....

I heard RVers motor 100% of the time.

[GTom]

Originally Posted by senormechanico

Or trucks on Whidbey Island's Deception Pass Bridge during a big Westerly wind.

He's trying to lengthen the waterline

[danielamartindm]

Personally, I don't think there is a "safety" difference between multis and monos, and the "sink" vs "flip" argument only underscores that sailing is not a risk-free endeavor. Monohull mariners whose favorite point of sail is a beat will likely find a cat poor-pointing, imprecise, mushy, flat-sailing, and lacking in feedback. I suspect that most multihull sailors started with monos and didn't especially like the heeling, wet ride, and holding on for dear life that characterizes close hauls. That was my story, anyway.

[Razoo]

Originally Posted by danielamartindm

Personally, I don't think there is a "safety" difference between multis and monos, and the "sink" vs "flip" argument only underscores that sailing is not a risk-free endeavor. Monohull mariners whose favorite point of sail is a beat will likely find a cat poor-pointing, imprecise, mushy, flat-sailing, and lacking in feedback. I suspect that most multihull sailors started with monos and didn't especially like the heeling, wet ride, and holding on for dear life that characterizes close hauls. That was my story, anyway.

Yes, the heeling, wet ride and holding on for dear life gets harder to take as one gets up into their late 50's and early 60's. Not something I'm looking forward to.

[hafa]

Originally Posted by Razoo

Yes, the heeling, wet ride and holding on for dear life gets harder to take as one gets up into their late 50's and early 60's. Not something I'm looking forward to.

This mid-50 individual still enjoys flying the hull on the Hobie all day Saturday and then burying the rail all Sunday afternoon on the monohull. Granted, not the kind of behavior we exhibit on a long trip with the full crew, but racing, or just doing trials will always be in my blood. They'll get the trapping harness off me when they pry it off...

[Razoo]

Originally Posted by hafa

This mid-50 individual still enjoys flying the hull on the Hobie all day Saturday and then burying the rail all Sunday afternoon on the monohull. Granted, not the kind of behavior we exhibit on a long trip with the full crew, but racing, or just doing trials will always be in my blood. They'll get the trapping harness off me when they pry it off...

I guess I should wait until I'm in my mid 50's before deciding if that's what I want for the next 10 or so years. Right now it's not looking so good lol.