Do you think like a sailer or a stinkpotter???

[p323ms]

After about 18 months sailing on the gulf coast I've noticed that lack of wind is often a big problem. A friend said that he had to motor completely across the Gulf of Mexico from Mobile to Isla Mujeres... that is not possible in our boat unless we cover the deck with fuel cans. Two boats from our marina had to motor from Panama city to Key West this last spring. A third sailed about two weeks later but were in between two storms for a couple of days and bounced around a lot. All had a great time!!!!A stinkpotter would probably like mild conditions of 5-10 knots of wind or less and less than 3' seas. As a sailer I like 10-15 knots of wnd and don't mind the 3-6' seas. My question is " When time allows do you prefer to make a passage(50-100miles) with Force 4-5 conditions or would you wait for force 2-3 conditions??? Would you rather take a chance on reefing down or starting the motor???Tom

 

[Rick Sylvester]

Force 4 or 5 any day

although you don't say what point of sail. Force 5 on the nose for more than a day can be a little rowdy if the chop gets steep. On the beam or aft, I say let 'er rip.Having said that, our 5 week meander last June through Key West, Tortugas and Fla west coast saw us motoring a lot. I'll try to sail in force 2 if the apparent is workable but even though we're a good light air boat we couldn't even do that much of the time. But hey, it could've been worse, I could've been at work...

 

[p323ms]

Is it safer to leave before or after a front???

So I am a sailer wanting to sail fast in force 3-5 conditions. A front is approaching the coast from the north. Should I head out a day or two before the front passes or wait until it has passed and ride the tail??? My thinking is that before the front the winds will be higher but the waves smaller after the front there will a lot of slop but a dying wind. Or is it more important to decide direction of travel?? It seems that he wind is usually out of the southwest at Panama city and as a front approaches it gradually goes around the clock from the west ,north ,east and south. Sooo before the front heading east would work well and with the wind out of the north close to shore the waves would be small and hopefully I'd be at anchor by the time it was coming out of the south. ??? Any experienced passage makers out there???