A blue water C22?

[LakeShark]

Not sure how many have seen this video but this boat is the most customised and outfitted C22 I have ever seen. Some great improvements for cruising and some ideas for other types of adventures. I know the question often comes up about how seaworthy a C22 is and while this one took a ton of modification over the years I think they have a tank of a boat. I have seen articles for the support arch in the tech manual but the table setup is truly impressive as is the self steering. It's a long video but incredibly detailed and well worth your time. Thanks to the C22 association for sharing!

Preparing a Catalina 22 for Bahamas Cruise

By John Beasley.

www.catalina22.org

 

[Justin_NSA]

Nice, well thought out mods but no replacement for LWL. It will be slow going for extended cruises

 

[LakeShark]

Nice, well thought out mods but no replacement for LWL. It will be slow going for extended cruises

True but there is something fun about tucking deep into a cove or bay for the evening and looking out at the larger boats anchored further offshore.

 

[Gene Neill]

I feel like a total ass for saying this, because James Baldwin has small-boat bona fides few men in this world can match. But there is a long list of stuff here I would not dream of doing, and only a couple things I think are beneficial. I can only assume most of the mods were the owner's ideas, not Baldwin's.

 

[Leeward Rail]

I assume this is the same video ?

I let my C22NSA membership expire.

 

[Leeward Rail]

there is a long list of stuff here I would not dream of doing, and only a couple things I think are beneficial

Do tell !

I am in the middle of watching it.
At the current point during playback... I can't see the leecloths/cargo nets with the metal backing will help much with radar reflectiviity

Be interesting to see him make another video with a critique of the mods.

I am liking that table.

 

[LakeShark]

I let my C22NSA membership expire.

It's never too late to join back up . I do believe though the video should be free to access on the link even without logging on. So @Leeward Rail did you ever do the LOWISA race? I am thinking pretty heavily about towing mine the 1500 mi to florida for nationals this year but I do think the LOWISA would be fun as well.

I too would be interested in what works / does not work. It is certainly set up for a solo single sailor and not a couple or family. Also with the water tank weight in the rear along with the batteries, motor, etc I wonder how she will tack as the cockpit will ride low and drag quite a bit.

 

[Leeward Rail]

It's never too late to join back up

Not sure if I will.
At least until I have time to start a Canadian fleet here.
I have seen a few other C22s around but not sure how many.
In the mean time I may join every few years.

did you ever do the LOWISA race? I am thinking pretty heavily about towing mine the 1500 mi to florida for nationals this year but I do think the LOWISA would be fun as well.

Unfortunately no.

2019 was a crap year.
The boat sat at the dock all season.
We slept at the dock a couple times while doing work, but that was it. I figured we would do the LOWISA at least.

This year it never got into the water, even through I quit managing the automotive shop, so I could get a backlog of personal projects completed.
I went from 57 hr work weeks, to dealing with both parents dying and long days dealing with their "stuff"

The LOWISA would make a VERY good C22NSA cruising trip.

 

[Leeward Rail]

We think alike.

The extra weight and it's placement was what I kept focusing on the first time i watched it.

Those arches are horrible at the best of times on a decent sized boat, nevermind a tail heavy 22 footer

I do like that table with it's placement adjustment.

 

[Jacomo Sailor]

I agree, the work is beautiful but I just don't know why some people insist on trying to make a C22 into a blue water boat. On the opposite end of the craftsmanship spectrum, there is this guy from Chile who attempted a blue water conversion a few years back. He started with a 1974 swing keel that he paid $9000 USD for and then put another $11000 into it. In the end, he admitted that it wasn't worth it and he should have just bought a bigger boat to begin with. The boat is a complete abortion IMO and one that Boat Angle would be lucky to get $300 for on ebay, but ironically, some of the things he did were probably more blue water practical than the one in the video. Some of his mods included adding a cast lead bulb to the keel, fiber-glassing the pop top shut, fiber-glassing in the companionway to make it about 50% smaller, permanantly sealing the starboard laz closed and eliminating the port fuel locker vents, a central life line system and some internal bracing.

Catalina 22 Modifications

 

[Gene Neill]

Yeah, C22's clearly can never be what we call blue water capable. It's debatable if any Catalina can be. Cruising the Bahamas is certainly doable though; any careful sailor in a well-maintained C22 could do that.

I posted these links a few years ago about a guy circumnavigated the gulf of Mexico in 2012, in a bone-stock old C22. Even took a side trip to Belize. 4,000 miles in all. He lived on peanut butter and tortillas, and finished the trip with only one spreader.

Catch 22 back from belize

This video was uploaded from an Android phone.

youtu.be

 

[Gene Neill]

Can't get the fourth video to embed, but the link works.

 

[LakeShark]

I do like that table with it's placement adjustment.

The table is by far my favorite modification at least in the way I use my boat. While I would not make some the the changes that this owner did I will say that this whole process truly shows how customisable these little boats are. Its true that Frank Butler never intended this little boat to be a passage maker but as @Gene Neill demonstrated it can happen under the right circumstances. I hope the owner will write up his voyage as I would love to hear how everything goes. It's one thing to design your own modifications and another to put them all into use. I'm sure we all have modifications that we would do differently if we were starting over again.

Bummer about the LOWISA and your sailing in 2020 @Leeward Rail. It was truly a different type of year. Still the cancelation of a lot of racing and closure of many things did allow me more time for sailing which I appreciated.

@Gene Neill as far as a blue water Catalina I do believe the new 545 would work. It seems like quite a boat in the pictures.

Catalina 545 – Catalina Yachts

 

[Leeward Rail]

Fully agree with every post so far.

Extensively modify a C22 for too much money... or simply buy something like a Contessa 26 and be done with it.

That said, I have often wondered about getting a CL16 or wayfarer and doing a cariibbean trip or the great loop.

I am too old and married for that now i suspect, but definitely stupid enough to try if my wife decides to upgrade to a better husband.

 

[Leeward Rail]

@LakeShark When I do the LOWISA, I will defintely let you know. Would be awesome.


2021 should be interesting. We have a new clubhouse being built and I may have convinced my wife to buy a bigger, second boat.
The C22 would become the roadtrip boat as originally intended, and the bigger one for the marina.
There were a couple boats in the 25 to 30 ft range for sale, for good prices last year, here.

I am fed up with working too much. Time to spend summers having fun again.

 

[Joe]

Would you sail around the world in this 24ft boat? What a sailor.

 

[Gene Neill]

What a sailor indeed, but also much more.

It is profoundly humbling just to know men like him exist on the same Earth with us.

 

[Leeward Rail]

What a sailor indeed, but also much more.

It is profoundly humbling just to know men like him exist on the same Earth with us.

I dont recognize the boat ?

Size means little IMO ().

My wife was friends with a woman who married Serge Testa.
Check out his little boat that he went through 2 cyclones in:

Home

It is interesting when you compare the size of a typical boat today vs when I started sailing in the 70s.
People now seem to think that 2 people NEED a large cat or even just a monohull 10 feet longer than was common.

 

[LakeShark]

It is interesting when you compare the size of a typical boat today vs when I started sailing in the 70s.
People now seem to think that 2 people NEED a large cat or even just a monohull 10 feet longer than was common.

Very true and it applies not only to boats but homes, cars, etc. People have done some amazing adventures with less. I'll never forget reading a book many years ago called "Sailing on a Micro Budget" by Brown that challenges people to think small and be creative. I know plenty of people that almost laugh when I say we have 5 who overnight often on our little 22 with 2 of them being teens for a week at a time. It can be done but you have to have the right attitude for the adventure.

 

[Leeward Rail]

I know plenty of people that almost laugh when I say we have 5 who overnight often on our little 22 with 2 of them being teens for a week at a time.

The female co-owner of the boat 2 slips over, told us that the C22 was too small for anything but daysailing. (When we were spending a week on board) hehe