Bucket List

[Will Gilmore]

Dave, I know of a free 1971 C&C mark 1 30 footer. She is in Virginia at Smith Mountain Lake. I can't vouch for her condition, but the owner assures me she has been quite well cared for and her biggest issue is being land locked.
If you are interested, you know what to do.

OTH, renting for an event like the regatta in the San Juans is many times cheaper than ownership.

-Will (Dragonfly)

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Mountains of Virginia

 

[jssailem]

We of the PacificNW welcome you pocket yachters to great sailing waters of the Salish Sea. Yes the panoramic views are to die for. The San Juan’s have many experiences to share. May you enjoy favorable winds and pleasant seas on your visit.

From a former Montgomery 15 owner.

 

[Michael Davis]

The San Juan Islands should be on your list. We’re headed up there again this summer to sail with a dozen or more other trailer sailors.

My son and I did the Gulf Islands when he was younger. Pup-tent, sleeping bags and a Colman stove in an International 14. That was 40 years ago and he still talks about it.

 

[Jackdaw]

Yes. I may not be the best sailor, but I am a confident sailor.
Of course, I would need to do a little customization for extended travel and livability. The Mariner is MORC certified. I just have to be careful not to defeat her self-righting rating.

-Will (Dragonfly)

I think the Mariner is a fine little boat, but don't put too much credence in the MORC certification. It hard to image an under-30 footer with a reasonable interior and normal safety gear that would not qualify. In sub-20 footers, the trick is getting the full (galley head sleeping) kit-out to pass.

Safety-wise, a boat that length will be limited by its low freeboard, its short LOA which limits max speed and makes it more susceptible to capsize, and its transom mounted outboard being able to save it in a nasty confused seaway.

Personally I'd think that any trip that was going to rely on a lot of engine work would be nasty. So low-wind lake, canals, and rivers I'd pass on. Choose trips with lots of opportunities to gunk-hole, with just enough excitement to make it worthwhile, while still providing a bail-out.

Me, I think lapping the Apostle Islands would be a good one, if also a common choice. More off the beaten path, go around the Keweenaw Peninsula, just 100 miles east. A great combo of open water, great things to see, and some great places to spend the night. And Houghton is a great town.

 

[Will Gilmore]

I think I remember you, Jackdaw, talking about them, on a thread a while back, as a beautiful destination for their remoteness. I showed them to my wife as a possible sailing destination and we were both very interested. Something about being a national park only accessible by boat, or am I just remembering them from the thread about the tragic kayak drowning of a young family a couple of years ago?

Your point about boat size is worth making, but the intent of the MORC cert was to qualify the boat for ocean racing. I'm not saying I would take Dragonfly across an ocean, but smaller boats than she is, have done it.

-Will (Dragonfly)

 

[Jackdaw]

I think I remember you, Jackdaw, talking about them, on a thread a while back, as a beautiful destination for their remoteness. I showed them to my wife as a possible sailing destination and we were both very interested. Something about being a national park only accessible by boat, or am I just remembering them from the thread about the tragic kayak drowning of a young family a couple of years ago?

Your point about boat size is worth making, but the intent of the MORC cert was to qualify the boat for ocean racing. I'm not saying I would take Dragonfly across an ocean, but smaller boats than she is, have done it.

-Will (Dragonfly)

Both are rather remote. The Islands are a NP and only one can be reached by car (ferry). The other are wild and uninhabited, save for the half dozen lighthouses that dot them, one of the biggest concentrations in the country. Superior can show her nasty side very quickly. The group that drown ended up in the water. Not being able to get out will kill you. The Keweenaw trip would be a total blast, only issue might be the long stretch of leeshore on NW side.

As for MORC, it was designed to rate smaller boats (<30 footers too small for CCA or IOR) that the bigger two rating systems could not. So they simply changed some CCA coefficients and limited it to 30 feet LOA. Pretty much ANY boat under 30 feet can get measured for it. 'Fast' ones will have been designed for it. It for sure does not mean that any boat that gets a certification is 'ocean rated'. Thats a silly and dangerous line of thought.

 

[dehler25]

An excellent adventure so to speak that is very easy is the Sea of Cortez. Drop down from Tucson, quick import permit and down to San Carlos. Sail the west mainland and cross over to the Baja side. As others state the San Juan's are another sweet trip worth making. Travelling 70 MPH to windward opens many grounds.

 

[john6206]

These all sound like amazing trips. I think I am less intrepid both in the water and on the trailer than some of you. I plan on trailering 10 hours from my home in Ann Arbor, this summer to sail at two different destinations in Michigan's upper peninsula: The Bays de Noc on Lake Michigan and a hunk of the Keweenaw Water Trail.

As Will Gilmore said, I've got about 15 places that I'd like to go, at this point I'm sorting them in terms of increasing challenge.

I think "ultimate bucket list" includes Lake Huron's North Channel, and yes, I would love to sail the San Juan Islands. I've done the trip a couple times on the big ferry's that leave out of Anacortes.