Yes, we did it! Catalina

[newsailor72]

We made the crossing! saw lots of dolphins.

Here's a short recount of the trip and some questions.

We(wife and I) were underway around 8:45 Sat morning. I must had some really good beginner's luck, the whole way over was like in a lake, practically waveless(see first 2 pics). No wind either, so motored all the way, took us about 5 hours(man, I hated the motor noise, need earmuff next time). But I was a little taken back by the water in Avalon, it was like dark, dark green, not the turquoise blue I've seen many times before. Is it because of the season? the heavy wind the past couple weeks? plankton? On the way home, condition was pretty much the same, except the last 3, 4 miles, the wind and wave picked up quite a bit which made a very exciting broad reach (well, at least for me), the wife didn’t think so.

The mooring pick-up was not scary as I thought. Luckily, wind was from stern so no crosswind. I overshot the wand a little and had to use a little reverse. Wife had no trouble picking up the wand, then I secured the tiller at center and rushed up there to help. Pulled the line up and tied up the stern hawser. Both hawsers were kind of big for my cleats so I tied a small rope round them afterwards. Maybe the mooring was meant for bigger boats (I had #9 in the first row from the shore), my boat was swaying back and forth a lot during the night and the thrashing of the water against the hull didn’t make a good night sleep. Anything I can do about the swaying? Also, the receipt for the mooring says I need to get out by 9:00 AM, so if I wanted to spend a few hours the next day in town and leave around noon, does it mean I need to pay for 2 days ?

Other question, if I upgrade the motor from a 6 hp to a say 10 hp, would it get up to 8 knots? Right now it only gets up to 6.2 when near full throttle. Oh, yeah, the round trip used less than 6 gal of gas, what a pleasant surprise!

thanks for all the good info previously.

 

[windward54]

If you were able to pull up to the howsers, then the mooring must have been close to the right size. If the mooring was for a bigger boat, you wouldn't be able to pull up the stern howser, and would have had to tie up on the sand line. There is aways some play in the lines as you have to be able to move with the tide and the surge. Otherwise, you would move the mooring out of position, or worse, damage the cleat on your boat.

 

[anchorclanker]

Looks like the hull speed for a Mac 22 is just under 6 knots? You wont be able to exceed it without a dramatic increase in power, likely over 30 hp. However. A 10 hp could deliver the same speed your 6 can do wide open, but at a much reduced power setting. You just need to have the right prop for it.

 

[tkanzler]

Other question, if I upgrade the motor from a 6 hp to a say 10 hp, would it get up to 8 knots? Right now it only gets up to 6.2 when near full throttle.

Hull speed is a shade under 6 kts, so no, you won't go any faster. A larger engine may be useful in a big blow, and/or when getting knocked about by waves, but hull speed is what it is.

Edit: Too slow.

 

[JohnShannon]

Bigger motor likely won't help you get to higher speed.

concept is called "hull speed" 1.34*sqrt LWL in your case probably around 6knots so 6.2 is already top speed.

try to go faster and you burn a lot more gas but don't go faster you will just create bigger waves.

Planing hull shapes (MAC25X?) with 80 hp motors do go faster, but burn lots of gas as well.

A bigger motor will allow you to get to hull speed against adverse wind so it isn't a terrible idea.

 

[Skipper]

If the boat is thrashing, the mooring lines are too tight. The bow and stern lines fight each other, back and forth.

When the tide changes, in or out, you have to adjust the mooring lines. You can anticipate with tide tables. A little loose is better than too tight. Keep your fenders down for neighboring boats just in case.

6hp is more than enough for a small boat like that.

 

[Richard19068]

We made the crossing! saw lots of dolphins.

I was a little taken back by the water in Avalon, it was like dark, dark green, not the turquoise blue I've seen many times before. Is it because of the season? the heavy wind the past couple weeks? plankton?

I was in the Two Harbors area over the weekend and the water around there was about a yucky as I've seen it. Don't know why in particular. Next time you go it will likely be a lot better. Winter is usually the best time for water clarity.

Did you see any whales on the crossings? We saw a lot both ways between the island and Redondo.

 

[justsomeguy]

Avalon Beach on Catalina Island, is considered the state's most polluted largely due to outdated and leaking sewers...

So it could be algae.

http://worldoceanobservatory.org/events/humanhealth/observer3.htm

 

[Brian D]

Concur on the hull speed. However, a MAC25 or MAC26 were designed to do what you want, which is put a bigger motor on and increase hull speed by planing.

My boat, the Lancer 27PS, was also designed to do just that. With a 70hp on the Lancer 27 Power Sailor, once can realize 13 knots of boat speed. According to the testing data in '85, the Lancer 27 took 2 hours to make the crossing to Catalina from the Newport Sea Bouy with a 115hp Johnson. Not saying you need to do this, but this does answer the question.

Congrats on the crossing. I think from Oceanside it is like a 14 hour trek under motor for my boat. I only have a 9.9 on my stern.

 

[anchorclanker]

A 115 Yonson would use just a wee bit more than 6 gallons though.

 

[alexco38]

Mac25 and Mac26 were not designed as planning hull. They were true sailboats.

Only the Mac26x and the later Mac26m does has planning hull thus you can put big motor on. But IMHO, they don't sail or motor well.

That was the reason when I upgrade from Mac26s to a larger boat I went to a sail only boat.

 

[caguy]

The Mac 25 is not designed to plane but I have gotten up to 7.2 just sailing. The hull speed is calculated to be 6.4. I had a 10hp 4 stoke Honda on mine and was glad especially when the wind hit your freeboard sideways. I usually did 5-6 knts with trottle half open. A 1/4 open with sails up and light breeze would get me 5.5 - 6 kts.
The water is poluted at Avalon but you can gernerally see the bottom very clearly.
That surge is what we were talking about in your earlier thread. I would ask for a spot a little further from the shore if available. You were also warned about the hawser being to fat and to either use the sandline eye or have a pigtail to loop through the hawser.
Glad you had a good time. We were out on the water Sunday and it was pretty glassy and little wind. One night is not enough time three nights for me is minimum.
Did you get ashore at all?

 

[newsailor72]

The water is poluted at Avalon but you can gernerally see the bottom very clearly.
That surge is what we were talking about in your earlier thread. I would ask for a spot a little further from the shore if available. You were also warned about the hawser being to fat and to either use the sandline eye or have a pigtail to loop through the hawser.
Glad you had a good time. We were out on the water Sunday and it was pretty glassy and little wind. One night is not enough time three nights for me is minimum.
Did you get ashore at all?

Actually, it wasn't just Avalon water was dark green. I'd say the whole trip was almost like that. I motored up to Hamilton cove and a little beyond, it was like that, too.

Thanks for the tip about the pigtail. I did just that and it made it quite easy for my wife to tie the bow hawser.

Right, one night is definitely too short. This was more like a scouting trip, next time when we have the kids (9 and 12 yr old) along, will stay longer. I debated about bring my kayak or not and opted for the water taxi this time. I think I'll probably get one of this (http://www.amazon.com/Intex-Seahawk...TF8&qid=1358968458&sr=8-3&keywords=intex+boat) and row ashore next time.

Besides the Mac26x, Mac26m and Lancer, what other power sailors options do I have?

 

[Brian D]

I stand (or sit) corrected on the MAC25/26 statement about them being planing boats.

 

[tkanzler]

Roger MacGregor's daughter is starting up what amounts to a replacement company in Stuart, Florida as MacGregor closes shop, and they're going to produce a 22 ft power sailer, and possibly a 26 footer also. This from Laura Sharp in a posting to macgregorsailors.com, and their new web site www.tattooyachts.com.

 

[Rick D]

Your Trip

Sounds like a great trip. Usually, there is an eddy that blows about 14-20 knots in the afternoon when you hit about 5-7 miles out of the island and diminishes after about a mile out. I say that since it sounds like you didn't encounter it and you don't want to be surprised. The water color varies a lot but it is often blue-green in the harbor and a deeper blue outside. A lot depends on the atmosphere and sun angle. Although the Avalon harbor can have some nasty stuff in winter and spring run-off conditions, most of it other times is invisible and results from the main city's old piping. In season, everyone swims in it anyway. The mooring you were on is a 30' mooring. It was probably too tight on your 22. Next time, attach the sand line to your aft cleat and leave the loop about 6' or so off it. You can always tighten it. The area you were in is subject to surges, so some is to be expected on the back rows. You won't go any faster with more HP. On a light 26' racer-cruiser I owned for 20 years, I had a 6 HP, then a 15 HP and then back to a six HP. The sixes took me over and back from Catalina and elsewhere just as fast as the six with less hassle and fuel. Glad your trip went well.

 

[StinkBug]

How much did they charge for the shore boat? Planning a trip with a few friends, and my dinghy is really only big enough for me and the dog.

 

[newsailor72]

How much did they charge for the shore boat? Planning a trip with a few friends, and my dinghy is really only big enough for me and the dog.

$5 each way. for me, it was like a 10 second ride. I could have practically swum to shore if it weren't for the cold water.

 

[centerline]

We made the crossing!



Other question, if I upgrade the motor from a 6 hp to a say 10 hp, would it get up to 8 knots? Right now it only gets up to 6.2 when near full throttle. Oh, yeah, the round trip used less than 6 gal of gas, what a pleasant surprise!

.

the 6hp is adequate for your boat, but like other have said, in a blow or relativly heavy seas, a bit more power may be nice....

but when living with the 6hp motor you currently have on there, you could probably travel at nearly the same speed as you did at about 2/3 throttle... or less, and save a large percentage of the fuel you burnt.... which would increase your range significantly with the amount of fuel you carry. a 4hp would have probably pushed you as fast at WOT, and on less fuel.

my point is, a nicely designed sailboat traveling below hull speed slips thru the water effortlessly.......
and even if you would of had a 25hp motor while making the crossing and had the throttle pegged wide open, you wouldnt have went any faster or saved any time, but you would have burnt a LOT more fuel.....

anything over 7.5 is overkill for your boat, but its all a personal thing on what you want, and what your budget says you want...

 

[rgranger]

Kudos to you. And thanks for the pics.

Did you find people assumed you were crazy. Seems like bigger boat people equate a person's sailing knowledge with the size of their boat. At least I've had that experience.

And I second (or is that third) the opinion that a 6 hp is big enough. I ran my mac 22 with a 5 hp. and could get to 6 kt at 3/4 throttle.

You might want to look at the prop. Do you have a high thrust prop or a speed prop on the motor. Most people have power boats instead of sailboats so most outboards have speed props instead of thrust props. you probably have the wrong prop.

Many advantages to a smaller motor. Easier to pull off the boat for maintenance, lighter on the transom (trim), burns less fuel etc. etc.