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Old 18-04-2021, 11:12   #1
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Compac 16, siren 17, American 14.6

My husband and I have been interested in Sailing for a while.

We live on a tidal creek. At high tide we basically live on a lake, low tide it's a more like a stream/river. Very little boat traffic so it's a good place to learn. We've gone out on a friends boat a couple times and did a course. My husband sailed as a teenager with his uncle who lived on a 45ft sailboat for most of his adult life. That being said, we are aware we are very inexperienced and just looking to push off from our backyard dock and enjoy the (albeit unenjoyable) "process" of learning!

We have found in our budget the following boats Compac 16, siren 17, American 14.6 . This would be a "learning to sail" afternoon adventure boat. Any thoughts on the pros and cons of those boats would be welcomed. I am currently leaning towards the American 14.6 for learning, but the siren 17 for learning and then some (I think after a year or two we'll be done with what the American can offer)!

My other concern is the tidal nature of our creek. I have seen some interesting ideas to store a (v small) sailboat on tidal waters for when the tide goes out. We already have a dock built with a kayak and paddleboat launch. Anyone have any pictures of their own DIY solution to living on a tidal creek/waterway? What do you do at low-tide?

I imagine I sound like an idiot so thanks in advance! but that's all part of the fun, right?
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Old 18-04-2021, 13:51   #2
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Re: Compac 16, siren 17, American 14.6

We owned and sailed a Siren 17 for about 15 years. I highly recommend one. Big comfortable cockpit with a simple rig and roller furling to boot! They sail well and are excellent boats to learn on. The cabin is big enough to sleep in for two people if your pretty friendly, but not real comfortable to be honest. We used ours as a platform for camping in the 1000 islands. Plenty of room for enough food and equipment for a long weekend for the 5 of us in the islands.

Sounds like the swing keel would be a good idea in your area as well.

2 issues to look for in a Siren- the hull to deck joint is riveted and will sometimes pop near the bow. This can be fixed but you loose a lot if stiffness if it isn’t.

Also the main sheet is on the floor of the cockpit which is fine for one or two people but with more feet get tangled up in it. We a had a few incidents where a puff tipped us up and the cockpit cushion slid off the bench onto the main sheet with three people on top of it. Got pretty exciting trying to untangle everyone while heeled up. Anyway, some owners have moved the main sheet onto a traveler on the transom. A better arrangement in my opinion.
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