Lots of great advice here that is much appreciated. Like I said, the trailer part would be temporary if I go that route just to try out a few places at which point I would likely put it in a slip only to be removed during the winter.
Another which boat thread.... I know... sorry!
- Thread starter Grum.man
- Start date
Thanks Chief. That's appreciated. The little Cat is going in on Thursday. We have this rule, you know, that roughly states that unless you can read the date code off a SMT processor in the shine, the boat will not be leaving the warehouse. It's almost at that point. Almost.
I heartily disagree about water ballast. It improves towing and I suspect those who say they don't sail well haven't the experience to make that judgment. If you try to sail one without full ballast, it's a big problem. With full ballast they are a bit tender in light winds, but once you get 10 or so degrees of heel, they stiffen up well. I've had no problem with growth in the tank (remember it's dark in there). There is no perfect boat. All are a design compromise. Water ballast is a great option if you plan to trailer it.
Ken
It doesn't happen in our waters (Puget Sound, which has lots of bottom growing critters)
Ken
Jackdaw
The Catalina 250 water ballast did not have a tall mast version.
As for barnacles in water ballast tanks I will never forget the time I purchased a MacGregor 26 water ballast in 1991 for Hunter to see inside the tank since it had been in salt water. Some employees were trying to figure out how to get into the tank. I asked if they had a good fiberglass man and the answer was yes. Took out the chainsaw for a chainsaw massacre to the boat hull while everyone ran away. Did not take long but no barnacle but sure stunk. The old man warren Luhrs was laughing at me
The Catalina 250 water ballast did not have a tall mast version.
As for barnacles in water ballast tanks I will never forget the time I purchased a MacGregor 26 water ballast in 1991 for Hunter to see inside the tank since it had been in salt water. Some employees were trying to figure out how to get into the tank. I asked if they had a good fiberglass man and the answer was yes. Took out the chainsaw for a chainsaw massacre to the boat hull while everyone ran away. Did not take long but no barnacle but sure stunk. The old man warren Luhrs was laughing at me
Dave: Mine is a wing keel, tall mast. You are right, Catalina didn't make a tall mast water ballast. The tall mast, wing keel scared the .... out of most buyers so Catalina quit making it. A tall mast with water ballast would have caused a lot of heart attacks! ha I love my tall mast but am aware that it is best to be a true sailor to own one. I say again: many people buy sailboats but only 10% are actually sailors! You should really know this Mr. Dealer. My best, Chief
I'm going to suggest that your No. 2 criteria is probably what you don't really need or want. You say that you live in central N.C. but want to sail the boat on the coast and you are going to fly to the coast to get to the boat on a routine basis. If you are going to fly to the boat, why in the world would you want to make trailerability an important attribute? If you want a weekend home on the boat, 25' probably won't cut it for you, based on your own criteria, such as cockpit room AND interior space. In that size you have to compromise on at least one end of that deal. You're NOT going to get both, especially when you throw in sailing performance. Three of your 4 criteria are completely at odds with "ease of trailering". We have a 27' boat and it is a challenge for a couple to be comfortable for any longer than an overnight. Ours is pretty good performance-wise, has a very compact cockpit, and marginal interior space (without enough headroom for me). You are not going to get what you say that you want with a trailerable boat.
If you are going to be flying to your boat, I don't understand why you want "ease of trailering". It doesn't make any sense. Keep a larger boat at a slip (probably year-round on a normal basis) and have it hauled for service. If you need to be hands on, you will probably find it much more satisfying to fly to your boat, rather than making an arduous round-trip on land to trailer it home (and for what?) just so you can look at it in your yard.
If you want to try various locations to keep your boat, get a larger boat and sail it to your new destinations. I thought you were going to be flying to your boat anyway, so why the need to trailer it to new places? From Beaufort, there must be many places to get to with a little planning and short hops on weekends.
If you are going to be flying to your boat, I don't understand why you want "ease of trailering". It doesn't make any sense. Keep a larger boat at a slip (probably year-round on a normal basis) and have it hauled for service. If you need to be hands on, you will probably find it much more satisfying to fly to your boat, rather than making an arduous round-trip on land to trailer it home (and for what?) just so you can look at it in your yard.
If you want to try various locations to keep your boat, get a larger boat and sail it to your new destinations. I thought you were going to be flying to your boat anyway, so why the need to trailer it to new places? From Beaufort, there must be many places to get to with a little planning and short hops on weekends.
Well since you asked the same question like 5 times I will answer that first which will be a repeat of some of my previous comments that you must have missed. I don't plan to trailer it every time I use it. I want the ability to, not the convenience. I was thinking of moving it once maybe twice a year. Bring it home in the winter and maybe a new destination the following season. Yes I realize it could be sailed to a new location but it is much faster by land then I don't have to worry about getting back to where I started to get home.
I realize 25' is tight for accommodations but it was a relative question not absolute as in of the the ones mentioned not of all the sailboats in the world. I also know I can't have it all, that is why I ranked my preferences and again, it's a relative ranking to similar boats. For the Beaufort area a boat that drafts under 4 feet would be a huge plus, no sail boat with that shallow of a draft will be a rocket on rails... they will all be compromised in the sailing department. There is no use having a 30 foot boat that drafts 5 feet if I can't take it places I would want to go.
I might have asked the same question twice, but I would still ask it again. I'd bet, from the information that you provide, that a trailer sailer would be your first mistake. But if you are so sure that it is for you, there is no need to ask for opinions. BTW, there may be no venue in the country that is more draft constrained than where I am at on Barnegat Bay, yet there are a great number of sailboats that are longer than 30'.
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Whoa cowboy! This one is a rocket in 3 feet of water. This one too! Hey, there is a rocket in your backyard!
Have you heard of the Searunner tri? Jim Brown designed this boat for the Carolina sounds. Here's a trailerable 25
floats in just over 1' of water.
Flyboys love these light, powerful craft. I guess the speed weight ratio speaks to them, but the nimble sailing is captivating. Somewhere there is a vid of a guy watersking behind a Corsair.
I guess I should have been more specific haha. For my budget and cabin space desires there aren't going to be any rocket ship fantastic sailing boats for the type of people who love racing and long deep water passages.
Well in my defense, I didn't really ask for opinions on if people think I should get a trailer able sailboat. I asked for the opinions on trailer able sailboats that would be decent for overnight on in the shallow waters of the Beaufort area. But thank you for your feedback and I will certainly do some soul searching to see if I will honestly ever trailer it.
Good point ... I saw one of those leaving my marina on Saturday. Unfortunately, I didn't get to watch them sail, but with better than 15 knots of wind from the west, they could disappear from sight in a hurry! I stand corrected, that would be a great option. I was looking on with a lot of interest as I was following them out of the fairway.
I often go against the grain on a lot of discussions. Having a trailerable boat has many advantages and those that advocate for them all make good points. I realize that you may want convenience for working on your boat, and/or moving it to new locations. I find that working on a small boat not only is very difficult (far more time consuming than I ever dreamed and near impossible to contort my body into shapes that were never intended), it is also very expensive to make improvements. I am now often wondering why I ever got started trying to make my 27' boat into something that I should have merely purchased at much less expense, when I can't turn my 27' boat into a comfortable size no matter what I do. Go into any new venture with eyes wide open!