Hello from the Backwaters of Hampton Roads !

[zopi]

Hi all..retiring Navy Chief here...thought I had cured myself of the boat bug years back..guess not...faces with leaving the service, I guess it bit back..

Hopefully sometime in the next couple of year I will be able to pick up a little pocket cruiser...trailer sailer..whatever...I am into the Com-Pac 23 or 25..or a similar boat...as you might imagine, old chief is a little picky about what he floats on...

The big goal is to be able to teach my little girls to sail, as I found much satisfaction in it when I was younger...besides, if they are like mom and I, the sea is in their veins..We really don't plan to do any blue water cruising, I doubt we'll ever be able to afford it, and i'm not in the best shape..more likely we'll be gunkholing in the James river and Chesapeake bay..hence the trailer..

I have poked around here a bit before registering, and I really dig the cooking forum..I will probably open my yap over there alot..I LOVE to cook..

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha and welcome aboard from one old Chief to another,
Hope you enjoy the forum. Saw a pretty nice looking Catalina 25 with a diesel engine in it on craigslist in your area.
Good luck on finding the right boat for you and your family. You definitely are in a great place to sail.
kind regards,

[Southern Star]

Hi Zopi and welcome to the forum! The Compacs are solid, seaworthy little boats that should suit your intended use perfectly. For less money, of course, you could also look for a good used example of some older Carl Alberg designs that are also relatively shoal draft, well constructed and 'salty' in appearance: the Cape Dory 25, Alberg 22, and the Sea Sprite being three examples that come to mind.

Another boat that might suit your apparent tastes would be the Contessa 26 - small interior, but pretty, well built and incredibly well balanced (and apart from some of the earliest ones, equipped with a inboard diesel).

Keep us posted on your quest!

Brad

[SkiprJohn]

I second the Contessa 26 which is nearly the same as an International Folkboat.
Great boats. Very small interior for a 26 but wonderful sailers.

[Bash]

Originally Posted by zopi

The big goal is to be able to teach my little girls to sail, as I found much satisfaction in it when I was younger...besides, if they are like mom and I, the sea is in their veins..We really don't plan to do any blue water cruising, I doubt we'll ever be able to afford it, and i'm not in the best shape..more likely we'll be gunkholing in the James river and Chesapeake bay..hence the trailer..

Welcome to the forum, chief!

This is a great place even for those who don't engage in blue water cruising. If it helps, think of this as "Gunkholer's Forum."

Here's an idea: have those girls help you pick out the boat. Yeah. At that point, even if the sea wasn't already in their veins, it will be.

[zopi]

Thanks guys! I will investigate the boats recommended...I do prefer an outboard pusher on a small boat though, for a variety of reasons..inboards require hull penetrations which equal more maintenance, more chance of putting water in the people tank, right difficult to swap out, takes up cabin space (no biggie on a bigger boat) can use the OB on a dink, etc...plus when I want to take the thing to someone else to work on (I get sick of fixing stuff, I do it for a living..) all I have to do is pop it off the transom and drop it in the truck..and in one brilliant bit of seamanship I witnessed, lightening ship in order to float a beastie that was hard aground..the Kedge went out, and was rigged astern (she was aground by the head..) the heavy gear was stowed in the dink and moored off the bow, and the lightened boat floated a couple inches higher and kedged off easier...was one of the moments that got me interested in sailing..had no idea what a kedge was at that point...thought he was referring to the mess we were in. <GRIN>

What I'd really like is a Cape Cod catboat...beautiful boats...not likely to happen though.

[Bash]

Originally Posted by zopi

<GRIN>

What I'd really like is a Cape Cod catboat...beautiful boats...not likely to happen though.

The Catboat Association, Inc.

[zopi]

hmm...might have created a monster..took the Admiral to the marina at norfolk and arranged for her to go aboard a few boats....she's all about that Catalina 32...

oh, throw me in that briar patch...

[zopi]

hmm...might have created a monster..took the Admiral to the marina at norfolk and arranged for her to go aboard a few boats....she's all about that Catalina 32...

oh, throw me in that briar patch...She asked me how hard it was to get to Bermuda...she meant the Bahamas..but whatever...

[SkiprJohn]

I do like Catalinas. Good luck. I didn't know they made a 32 but the 30 is one of their best.

regards,

[zopi]

eh..maybe it was a 30..I honestly didn't pay alot of attention to it..except the galley...I LOVE that galley...I was more interested in wifey's reaction...and it was pretty positive..I'm kind of floored..I get to have the sailing features I want, but only if it is comfortable to my semi claustrophobic mate...

When the money is there, the right boat will magically appear..always seems to..I can do that with parking places and making fish bite too..never understood it, but i don't complain..