Catalina 310 to the Bahamas
At the end of 2012, I embarked on my dream - to sail Still Crazy, my 2005 310 down the intracostal from New Jersey to the Bahamas. I was uncertain if the relatively small 310 was up to the task. Bottom line, no problem. I thought I would let you know about a few of the additions that I felt made for a successful trip.
I purchased two Solarland 85W solar panels from eMarine Systems, complete with controller, wiring, fuses, and a very useful remote display. The total cost was $890.85. I mounted them over the bimini, making sure they did not hit the boom; they fit perfectly. I purchased mounting hardware from Marine Depot, Sailrite, etc., and I used Sea Dog Oval Plate Bracket Kits (327101-1) to attach the panels to the 1” stainless tubing. Unless there was more than two days without sun, I was completely energy independent.
I replaced the original Maxwell VC 500 windlass with the VW 500 that includes a chain gypsy, and purchased 125 foot of ¼" chain from Defender. Unfortunately, this gypsy will not accommodate 3/8” chain. I also added 100’ of rope rode; way overkill. I bought a 15 kg Rocna for my primary anchor and never dragged once even in a 37 kts squall.
Instead of davits, I chose to install a Dinghy Tow. This device secures the transom of the dinghy to the transom of the boat. The dinghy is then towed backwards with just a bit of its bow in the water. The advantage is very little weigh aft and very little drag through the water. Also, the engine can permanently and securely reside on the dinghy’s transom. I actually crossed the Gulf Stream towing the dinghy this way but I did temporarily remove the engine. Installing and deploying the Dinghy Tow was initially very daunting and there were several times that I was tempted to chuck it. But once I got the hang of it, I was very pleased with its performance.
In the interest of weight, I purchased a combo package of a Zodiac Zoom 260 Aero dinghy (80 lb.) with a Honda 2 hp 4-Stroke air cooled engine (28 lb.) for a total of $1664.50 from Defender. The air cooled engine is a little loud but it gets me where I need to go.
Except for the lights in the head, I replaced all bulbs with LED’s including the anchor light. For the anchor light I used Dr. LED GE 90 STAR (H2492 Star) in the original Hella fixture. Although Hella vigorously recommends against this replacement, I have had no problems and it was one on the brightest lights in the anchorages.
I installed a Hella Marine Turbo 2-Speed Fan in the V-birth about midway between the two lights. I found it very important on those windless days in the Bahamas.
One cheap, low tech, but very valuable addition was a “screen” for the companionway. I purchased a net used for baby carriages, stretched it over the winches and held it down by folding it under the lower washboard. Perfect!
At the Admiral’s insistence, I purchased a Delorme InReach satellite communication device. It can send and receive text and email messages, send canned messages, send a cookie trail of your boat’s coordinates plotted on map, and has SOS capabilities that will alert search and rescue authorities. While it is by no means a proper EPIRB, it worked well for our purposes.
My Raymarine SL70RC PLUS chart plotter uses the C-Map NT+ chart chips and I purchased M-NA-C303, M-NA-C304, M-NA-C309, and M-NA-C306 for the intracostal and the Bahamas. I used the Maptech charts for the intracostal; the Explorer charts are a must for the Bahamas. In addition, I found Active Captain very useful throughout. Active Captain uses the Navimatics App for the US and the Garmin BlueChart Mobile App in the Bahamas.
Happy Sailing
Jeff
At the end of 2012, I embarked on my dream - to sail Still Crazy, my 2005 310 down the intracostal from New Jersey to the Bahamas. I was uncertain if the relatively small 310 was up to the task. Bottom line, no problem. I thought I would let you know about a few of the additions that I felt made for a successful trip.
I purchased two Solarland 85W solar panels from eMarine Systems, complete with controller, wiring, fuses, and a very useful remote display. The total cost was $890.85. I mounted them over the bimini, making sure they did not hit the boom; they fit perfectly. I purchased mounting hardware from Marine Depot, Sailrite, etc., and I used Sea Dog Oval Plate Bracket Kits (327101-1) to attach the panels to the 1” stainless tubing. Unless there was more than two days without sun, I was completely energy independent.
I replaced the original Maxwell VC 500 windlass with the VW 500 that includes a chain gypsy, and purchased 125 foot of ¼" chain from Defender. Unfortunately, this gypsy will not accommodate 3/8” chain. I also added 100’ of rope rode; way overkill. I bought a 15 kg Rocna for my primary anchor and never dragged once even in a 37 kts squall.
Instead of davits, I chose to install a Dinghy Tow. This device secures the transom of the dinghy to the transom of the boat. The dinghy is then towed backwards with just a bit of its bow in the water. The advantage is very little weigh aft and very little drag through the water. Also, the engine can permanently and securely reside on the dinghy’s transom. I actually crossed the Gulf Stream towing the dinghy this way but I did temporarily remove the engine. Installing and deploying the Dinghy Tow was initially very daunting and there were several times that I was tempted to chuck it. But once I got the hang of it, I was very pleased with its performance.
In the interest of weight, I purchased a combo package of a Zodiac Zoom 260 Aero dinghy (80 lb.) with a Honda 2 hp 4-Stroke air cooled engine (28 lb.) for a total of $1664.50 from Defender. The air cooled engine is a little loud but it gets me where I need to go.
Except for the lights in the head, I replaced all bulbs with LED’s including the anchor light. For the anchor light I used Dr. LED GE 90 STAR (H2492 Star) in the original Hella fixture. Although Hella vigorously recommends against this replacement, I have had no problems and it was one on the brightest lights in the anchorages.
I installed a Hella Marine Turbo 2-Speed Fan in the V-birth about midway between the two lights. I found it very important on those windless days in the Bahamas.
One cheap, low tech, but very valuable addition was a “screen” for the companionway. I purchased a net used for baby carriages, stretched it over the winches and held it down by folding it under the lower washboard. Perfect!
At the Admiral’s insistence, I purchased a Delorme InReach satellite communication device. It can send and receive text and email messages, send canned messages, send a cookie trail of your boat’s coordinates plotted on map, and has SOS capabilities that will alert search and rescue authorities. While it is by no means a proper EPIRB, it worked well for our purposes.
My Raymarine SL70RC PLUS chart plotter uses the C-Map NT+ chart chips and I purchased M-NA-C303, M-NA-C304, M-NA-C309, and M-NA-C306 for the intracostal and the Bahamas. I used the Maptech charts for the intracostal; the Explorer charts are a must for the Bahamas. In addition, I found Active Captain very useful throughout. Active Captain uses the Navimatics App for the US and the Garmin BlueChart Mobile App in the Bahamas.
Happy Sailing
Jeff
