Beneteau 235 big enough for Ocean travel???

[Jeff]

Anchors

That's what(3)anchors are for. Category: suppliesIf you need refuge, you should have stayed in your last port until the coast was clear. Category: weather

 

[Ross]

If you need three days to get from one good harbor

to another good harbor and adverse weather finds you in unprotected water you don't want to be in water shallow enough for an anchor.

 

[Jeff]

Sorry

Sorry, category wording correction: weather forecast

 

[tom]

Breaking Waves near Shore

So far the largest waves that I've seen were guarding inlets. The losest I've came to rolling was running an inlet in texas. That same weekend that same inlet rolled a Catalina 22 breaking off it's mast. Usually by the time it gets rough out in the ocean it is really rough near shore. I guess the envelope of safe conditions for a B235 is just too small for me. With blue water boats if they miss the mark on the forcast and 15 kts turnsinto a gale you add another reef and hunker down. What the heck do you do in a gale in a B235?? My only gale was in the Bahamas on a 45' boat. There was a lot of puking. We ran behind Grand Bahama island. But the trip there until we got in the lee of the island was rough. The crew didn't even try to sail strictly motoring. The gale lasted about 48 hours. As Ross mentioned there are some long stretches between runable inlets along the coast. Panama City to Pensalcola is roughly 80 miles. Pensacola to Mobile about 50. East of Panama city there is a long stretch of inlets that you don't want to run in rough weather. Cape San Blas is really treacherous with shoals stretching out a long way. You can run aground or get into breaking seas without even seeing land. BTW most books that I've read recomend staying outside if in doubt about getting inside because close to shore is the worst place to be in a gale.  Like aI said before flyingrv6 needs to do a reality check by going out in rough weather where help is possible. Flying RV6 is that a Van's RV6 ? That's quite a plane. I have about 400 hours of flying Cesnas. But the Van's RVs are in a nuter class. If I had a RV6 I'd have little time for sailing. Think of the B235 like using a 2 cycle ultralight for flying across the rockies. It can be done but your RV6 would make the flight much safer and more enjoyable. In your RV6 you can handle a 1500'/min downdraft. In the ultralight (or cessna 150) you very well could end up dead.

 

[Mike B]

A real Benny owner

Ok I'm a real Benny owner and am on my 3rd a 361. The first was a 235 which is a very nice little boat. Would I take it on an extended cruise? No but that doesn't mean someone else wouldn't. Is it capable? Like any other boat it depends on who's at the helm, what the conditions are and how good your luck is. I used to take mine out to the ocean for day sails along the New Jersey coast. Got caught out in some breaking seas and had a wild ride back in. The boat could take more than I could. She really is more at ease in smoother waters and in the right conditions was fast for her size. A nice boat with above average accomodations for her size. Still wouldn't take her to the islands though.As far as Cap'n Ron is concerned he's entitled to his opinions. Doubtful there's anything I could write that would change his mind about Benny's, so why bother?

 

[Jeff]

Don't go out in gales

Category: weather forecastDon't go out if a gale is forecast.Category: navigationTake charts for underwater obstructionsCategory: experienceKnow how to read chartsIf the farthest distance between ports is only 80 miles. Then you're really in reasonable distance. I can do 80 miles in 14 hours in a boat that size, keeping pace with motor if required(stay fueled, category: supplies). That's sunup to sundown.

 

[biorapper]

coastal cruising in a hunter 25 or mac 26, or ...

I have a mac 26s, and have gone off the coast from charleston, pensacola, destin, panama city to a great night behind crooked island, and off the Fla. keys; as well as trailered to MANY great lakes, burning relatively little fuel. Many people have told me that the mac is a great lake boat...and it is...but it is also a great coastal cruiser. Would I rather have a more durable boat? Of course! But my bank account does not allow that possibility. If I had followed the advice of many who say nay my brain would have far fewer great memories.I check and monitor the weather as best as possible. I make sure I have way more fuel than I think i need, and I have a backup vhf radio, and I try to be as close as possible to pre-navigated protected spots.In the 3 years I have been sailing my mac 26s I have constantly been told what the mac cannot do (many times while I AM DOING IT!!!) and, usually, by people that spend more time sitting around drinking beer by their boat on the DOCK!Heck, If you're scared to take a hunter 25 or mac 25 slightly off the shore on a nice day you should be freaking petrified to drive your car...especially on two lane roads with people texting on their phones, etc. Lifes short, the risk is small compared to the rewards! "20 years from now you will be more dissapointed by the things you didn't do then by the ones you did. So throw off the bow lines. Sail away from SAFE HARBOUR. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore...dream...discover." Mark Twain

 

[tom]

Jeff What world do you live in???

Wow Jeff it must be nice to have accurate weather forcasts kije you have in your world. I can't get that accurate of a forcast in my world. They might get a gale right but in a B235 25kts instead of 15kts would make a lot of difference. Got the crap scared out of us one night at Port Saint Joe. The weather forcast was for 5-10 kts out of the southwest. SOOO anchoring on the eastern shore seemed like a good idea. NOT the wind came out of the northeast strong all night 4-5' waves 20-25 knots of wind. We debated trying to get off of the two anchors but decided that that was more risky than staying put. If either anchor had failed we'd been on the beach. 5.7 knots is also an excellent speed for a 23' boat 80 miles is roughly the distance from sea buoy to sea buoy so add another 15 for anchorage to anchorage.  Weather forcasts are excellent in Mexico??? Where do you get your weather?? I usually get mine from the National Weather service either online when the cell phone is working or from the VHF. To give the NWS their due they are forcasting for rather large areas. Local effects are often difficult to forcast. At Panama city the wather forcast were for Appalachiacola to Destin out 20 miles.  Local thunderstorms are impossible to predict a day in advance. So you are 40 miles from either sea buoy and a big thunderstorm pops up producing 50 knot winds. It only lasts an hour or so but...  I know big thunderstorm scare me in my Pearson 323. I think that I'd crap my pants and go fetal in a big thunderstorm offshore in a B235... I've been in big winds on lakes where the shelter of a cove was nearby it's kinda fun to push your limits. But there are no coves between Pensacola and Panama city and playing around in a lake for an hour or two can't be compared to being out in the open gulf all day. Personally I think that people that talk big about sailing the open sea in small lake boats probably have never been at sea when it is rough. Just like most of the "warriors" wanting to fight a war have never been in combat. If flyingrv6 is a pilot he's probably heard the expression that it's better to be on the ground wishing you were flying than up flying wishing you could get on the ground. I know that I've taken off with a good weather forcast and had to land unintentionally at an airport to wait out bad weather that wasn't in the forcast. AND in an airplane you have online weather at almost every airport with flight times usually of only an hour or two.

 

[tom]

richard you are talking day sailing

Crooked island is only a few miles from the pass at Panama city maybe 7-8 miles. Charleston Harbor is great I sailed my mac there too. But would you take out of Charleston and head for Morehead City ,NC ??? Would you leave Panama city and head for the Chandeleur Islands??  Anything is possible!!!! I only humbly suggest a reality check. Before setting off to South America go out the pass at Panama city when you have 25-30kts out of the south and 12' waves in the pass from a falling tide. If the B235 does great then go for it. But you don't want to have a nice weather window that allows you to get far from safety and then find out that your boat doesn't handle breaking 5-6' waves so well. A moderate thunderstorm can get 5-6' waves in short order. I know that I've went out the pass at Panama city and very quickly decided that life was better in Andrew's Bay than in the gulf. What scares me most is being on top of a big wave with everything being downhill 360 degrees. Looking up at the tops of waves while standing in the cockpit doesn't scare me as much. Maybe once I get pooped my attitude will change.

 

[biorapper]

No I wouldn't...my post was a reply to Cap'n Ron

post # 10 opinion #1.

 

[mortyd]

ocean going

i think this one falls in the catergory of silly posts we see and never hear about again. like; i saw a sabre 386 and a hunter 28 for the same price. which shall i buy? or is it a good idea to take my wife and kids on a sunfish through the bermuda triangle? this guy can't be real.

 

[Jeff]

Then don't go Richard

stay on your boat in your harbor, in the fetal position.We'll do the sailing.Weather is an easy prediction from numerous sources, especialy only 1 or 2 days forecast. Yes, they are not always right. This is where preparation comes in. Any boat will beach if not properly anchored. Many people do this trip on small boats. Numerous books have been written on trailer boat cruising. It's done, it's safe, it's fun, if you have: experience, motivation, navigation, supplies and weather.

 

[Jeff]

Oops, sorry Richard, meant Tom

oops, sorry, not Richard, meant Tom

 

[Ross]

I want to encourage yoy to go Jeff.

With all of your confidence you won't need an EPIRB or long range radio or telephone. Just a hand held VHF for harbor communisations will suffice.

 

[Doug13108]

Same reply I posted when

flyingrv6 posed this question last month: If your question was "can it be done?" Then - sure, people have cruised the islands and even circumnavigated in all manner of boats that wouldn't make anyones top ten or 100 list. However, the 235 is a daysailor. Pocket cruisers start at about 25'. They are characterized by fixed ballasted keels, sufficient below deck space so that normal sized people can stand up and move around without stooping or crawling, and an inboard diesel engine that can make hot water, charge house batteries, etc. Cruising for an extended time on a daysailor means you are essentially camping - maybe this is fine for you; or maybe you will compensate by marina hopping. However, most people would find the lack of an inboard (and the equipment it can support) unacceptable for extended live-aboard cruising. A bigger small boat is a better choice - For some of the best bahamas/caribbean logs ever written (two people and a dog on a CS 27) go here:http://www3.sympatico.ca/destinycalls/

 

[Jeff]

Huh?

How did we get to radios?Why would I use a handheld?Why would anyone use a handheld outside of a dinghy or as a backup?Are you encouraging me and others to be dangerous?Why is it that people on this board are so scared of everything?If you had a 45 foot Pacific Seacraft, you'd still be huddling at home behind your computer Ross. ("Hey Jeff, where are you right now"?).....DRAT!There is nothing any more dangerous about this type of trip than 300 consecutive day sails, especially on the route the poster has indicated. Prudent, yes. Respectful of environment and circumstances, yes. Scared, no, not if you follow the list:If your boat is sound, all you need is experience, motivation, navigation, supplies and weather for coastal cruising. Anything anyone can come up with in addition to this list falls into a category already on this list.Except one: South America. This is a debate outside of sailing but also including the sailing aspects of signage, laws, language, etc etc.....other topic.You name it, I've sailed it. Coastal cruising in a trailerboat is a cinch.(again, see list)

 

[Jeff]

Great link Doug

Thanks, good reading.And also very true, especially the how to untie the lines analysis.

 

[Ross]

Jeff your response was expected. I sail where I

will and when I will. A Pacific Seacraft is far too large for me so I built my own ocean capable 30 footer. I will resort to a John Wayne line from "Cowboys"You say that if I name it you have sailed it. I have a better idea "You Name It".

 

[r.w.landau]

Jeff, do us all a favor, Click on your avatar and

fill in some blanks.You have been shooting hard at people that I have been known here for a year or more and their posts have been solid. We know nothing about you other than you like to shoot down sound advice.Please let us know who you are.thanks in advance!r.w.landau

 

[Jeff]

I only shoot back

If you look at all of the posts, I am merely returning fire at posters who are firing upon myself or others.The advice may be sound in many ways, but it's not the ONLY sound advice, which many seem to be unable to consider.Regarding this specific topic, while a small, light daysailer may not be ideal and deserves some consideration in many areas, is still a reasonable vessel to use in the trip specified.The problem is that most don't actually read the message, hence my having to repeat everything and the annoyance. The intention is not to argue, but to be logical. However people seem to pick out bits of sentences to bicker over, instead of reading the idea and specific points to support the idea.In this topic, I'm not saying I WANT to cruise the East and Gulf Coasts for months on end in a 24 foot sailboat nor is it going to be amazingly comfortable for the original poster. Am just saying there's nothing significantly wrong with the idea if he knows and accepts the limitations and is properly prepared.Who am I? Maybe I should register? Do you want to see my logs? Resume? Boats? Trophys? Pictures? I can't be that interesting. If people will be more reasonable I'll be glad to register and show anything relevant.Am leaving Catalina Island in the am to sail back to Dana Point, then to Newport Beach on Thursday for the Friday start of the Newport to Ensenada race. Everyone can beat me up from now till Tuesday.....unless there's wifi in Ensenada.