Almost

T_Cat

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Aug 8, 2014
333
Catalina 22 1987 New Design. 14133 "LadyHawke" Modesto CA
I almost put Ladyhawke up for sale this spring. The kids like our motorboat better (Tubing and fast = fun) . The Admiral likes the sailboat but its to slow.
I got tired of sailing alone.....

I realized it's my dream. My idea of fun.
Hopefully they will feel my excitement. Until then I sail alone....
 

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Mar 20, 2015
3,094
C&C 30 Mk1 Winnipeg
Seriously though... a second sailboat boat may help.
I've sailed since I was a kid and was hooked from day one.
One day at the cottage, a friend offered to let me sail his Hobie Monocat. (POSIMO)
So I take my wife out on it..... not much wind...boring sail.
The boat handled like a slug with 2 people on it.
I eventually realized it was getting worse.... surprise.... hull deck joint was leaking. Barely got it back to the ramp.
She decided the sailing was clearly boring, and had no interest in buying a boat with our young couple limited funds.

Flash forward a few years later, and she goes on a business trip.
While there, she meets up with friends on the Ottawa river who own a Hobie 16.... they take her out.... then put her on the trapeze.. fly a hull.
She comes home and one of the first things she says is... I now understand... you can go find us a boat.
Never looked back.

So....
Maybe getting 2nd boat... a cheap fast daysailer is an idea ?
More fun than a keelboat, and maybe the kids can learn to take it out on their own.
Nothing like sailing a fast day cat or dinghy by yourself or in pairs, to get you interested in the sailing in general.
And it's fun to have both options.
 
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Likes: rgranger
Oct 19, 2017
7,733
O'Day 19 Littleton, NH
Tell your wife you met a nice 25yr old red head who wants to learn to sail, and you wonder if you should help her. :D
My wife says that idea might end very badly with you getting a phone call from some guy named Rusty who says he's interested in the boat you have posted on Craigslist.

-Will (Dragonfly)
 
Oct 2, 2008
3,807
Pearson/ 530 Strafford, NH
I almost put Ladyhawke up for sale this spring. The kids like our motorboat better (Tubing and fast = fun) . The Admiral likes the sailboat but its to slow.
I got tired of sailing alone.....

I realized it's my dream. My idea of fun.
Hopefully they will feel my excitement. Until then I sail alone....
Sounds like you got the go-ahead to get a faster/bigger boat. Maybe try a catamaran by renting for a weekend. Get some dive gear too, seems like the kids need adventure.
 
May 19, 2014
170
Catalina 22 #13555 Lake Winnebago, Oshkosh, WI
Huh, your kids must know my kids. I let mine hang their feet overboard while having a stanchion inbetween their legs, trying to keep them onboard the whole sailing trip. With a good 10 knots and </= 1' chop they enjoy the foot dunk on the low side. I lovingly call them my little railmeat.

Grandpa's pontoon has a 90hp tornado on it and tows the kid-loaded tube like a banshee. I can't compete so I don't try. Wife loves our New Design and the Hobie 16 for different reasons. Take your wife out in 15+kn, get on a 30 degree heel and tell her sit on ths high rail. May not be as fast as a Hobie, but I've never been able to sit back with a beer on the Hobie after a joyride.

Or, you could always bring your Cat22 up to Lake Winnebago and we could start a fleet. ☺
 
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T_Cat

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Aug 8, 2014
333
Catalina 22 1987 New Design. 14133 "LadyHawke" Modesto CA
IMG_4722.JPG
Of course it doesn't help when my friends show up with the jet skis....
 
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Likes: jon hansen
Apr 11, 2017
571
Catalina C22 Solomon's Island, MD
I'm basically in the same boat as you. You might be surprised - many years later the kids will probably look back on the C22 as good times. A little slower in the water sometimes, but they still make a ton of memories.

When the time is right, maybe try to let them take the tiller and the sails, and you just sit back, completely hands off, and let them captain sometimes. Let them navigate to a certain landmark. It's always more interesting when you're the one in control.
 

T_Cat

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Aug 8, 2014
333
Catalina 22 1987 New Design. 14133 "LadyHawke" Modesto CA
Crisis averted! I haven't sold LadyHawke.... and I got the itch back to do some work on her and take her out.
Fishing/Golf trip next week then she comes home from storage for some project work...
 
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w4swk

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Mar 23, 2015
185
1991 Catalina 22 Wing Keel 15202 Nocona
As mentioned earlier, maybe look into a smaller boat...my (grown up) son keeps a Sunfish around for when he goes to the lake. Younger kids like it because at that size sailing becomes a "water sport"!
 
Jan 19, 2010
12,362
Hobie 16 & Rhodes 22 Skeeter Charleston
Cat 22 not fast enough? Understandable. Solution:

View attachment 151430
Get one of these ;)
I have a Hobie 16 (NO it is not for sale). Those old school Hobie's with the asymmetrical hulls are truly the Ferrari's of sailboats. Me and my daughter were on a small lake in NC last Tuesday with my Hobie 16. There was a kid (maybe 13) on an older jet ski doing about 10 mph. We got a perfect gust of wind on our port beam and we just slid on by him. The kid just stared at us in disbelief.... It was awesome. Your own kids might also get hooked on a Hobie .... or Prindle or a Stiletto.

upload_2018-7-10_21-8-32.jpeg
 
Mar 20, 2015
3,094
C&C 30 Mk1 Winnipeg
Hobie 16 ?
Yup. Fast. Cheap. Durable. and fun as heck. They also make good picnic and camping platforms.
A cat is what hooked both myself (as a teenager on a 18ft Sol Cat) and my wife (as an adult on a Hobie 16) on sailing.
When my sister's BF hooked me onto the trapeze and we flew a hull for my first time, power boats officially moved to the back of the bus.

For younger kids solo, an optimist, sunfish etc. would work. Nothing like actually doing something, to get you interested.
But if dad takes them out on a hobie,, he gets to be a cool dad very quickly.
 
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Oct 26, 2008
6,045
Catalina 320 Barnegat, NJ
Lots of folks have the right idea. If you want your kids to enjoy sailing, get them a sailboat that they can take out sailing on their own. Nothing is more of a buzz-kill to a kid than sitting in a slow boat with parents. Putting them at the helm while you are sitting there giving instructions doesn't cut it, either. If they are even close to teenagers, they are looking for the opposite sex and a sailboat isn't a bad vehicle of choice as long as the grown-ups aren't around. Capsizing the boat just to give a girl in a bikini a perfect excuse to wrap her arms around me was a perfectly legitimate maneuver. You think that's gonna happen sailing with mom and pop in a Catalina 22? A Sunfish does the trick and there are plenty of others that are similarly suitable.

A Hobie 16 is too much of a handful for teenagers looking for adventure on their own. There used to be a Hobie 14 that was simpler (single sail). They would certainly enjoy the speed and it will make sailing with an adult fun, while providing the opportunity for learning skills. I bought a Hobie 16 when in my 20's and it was fine then. Before I left for college, I'm not sure that a buddy and me could get one righted after a capsize. The boat that I had for sailing from the time I was 12 until college was the kind that I could capsize over and over (Ghost 13) and climb back aboard and continue sailing. Lots of girls that I knew in those days had a Sunfish kept on a Lake Michigan beach (of course that's what their parents bought for them).

I'm afraid that our society has turned into a sad-sack group of helicopter parents. I don't remember parents in our day being so watchful. It's a wonder how we survived.
 
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T_Cat

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Aug 8, 2014
333
Catalina 22 1987 New Design. 14133 "LadyHawke" Modesto CA
I'm grateful for all the suggestions. We have a 23' Cuddy Cabin, 22' Sailboat, a travel trailer and 2 kayaks. Another "Toy" will not be allowed, LOL The kids and wife like the sailboat but they LOVE the cuddy cabin
 

RussC

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Sep 11, 2015
1,578
Merit 22- Oregon lakes
I have a Hobie 16 (NO it is not for sale). Those old school Hobie's with the asymmetrical hulls are truly the Ferrari's of sailboats. Me and my daughter were on a small lake in NC last Tuesday with my Hobie 16. There was a kid (maybe 13) on an older jet ski doing about 10 mph. We got a perfect gust of wind on our port beam and we just slid on by him. The kid just stared at us in disbelief.... It was awesome. Your own kids might also get hooked on a Hobie .... or Prindle or a Stiletto.

View attachment 153521
Was that H16 at Gaston?? if so I think my daughter sent a photo of you from their house right across the lake cove!!!
 
Jan 19, 2010
12,362
Hobie 16 & Rhodes 22 Skeeter Charleston
I’ve had it at cape San blas and pensicola and destin
 
Mar 20, 2015
3,094
C&C 30 Mk1 Winnipeg
A Hobie 16 is too much of a handful for teenagers looking for adventure on their own
I learned on one at age 14 and was solo after one summer. Many of the hobie crews were under 18 around the area here.
All depends on their brains and strength. Then again that was the 70's and I had a 50cc motorcycle at age 5 hehe