Small boat, blue water cruising

[James P]

I have done about 20 000 miles cruising on 42' and 47' yachts about the Pacific and Indian Oceans, Red Sea and the Med. Now, due to those strange twists of fate that life constantly throws in our faces, I find myself with a Hunter 25 and the necessity of bringing it from the East Coast down thru the Caribbean to the West Coast of South America.Has anyone done similar cruising on a Hunter of this size?What was the experience like?Pros and cons of the rig, hull design?What recommendations would you make (besides the obvious one to stay at home or to ship it!)?How does it handle in heavy weather?Realistically can 2 people sail off with provisions for a 2 week sail? A month?BTW, my sailing experience has also included sailing a Hobie 16 from the East coast of Australia 80 miles out to the Great barrier Reef for a couple of weeks of bumming around in Tropical Paradise. What I want to say is that I don´t have a problem with a lack of comfort, but what does concern me are the safety and performance issues.Thanks very much for your feedback!!

 

[Torrence Jenkins]

26.5

I have a 26.5 and can only tell you the characteristics, of my boat. I have a wing keel, and have been in 30+ knots with 1 reef, and 100% jib. The angle of heel was around 35-40º with waves coming over the lee rail. If the seas were 5-6 feet, a knockdown may have been possible. I would suggest you have a main with 2 reef points, and a small storm jib. Hankerchief size. You should also have a spinnaker for downwind, preferable with a sock if your shorthanded. For accomedations, I would go out for a week, and see what works or doesn't. You should be able to provision for 2 weeks without much of a problem. Cooking will be an issue, in a seaway, because of the lightness of the boat. Good LuckTJ

 

[Marcie Robson]

h25

Although its a great boat and can take alot more than you can there are some things I have noticed about my h25 just sailing it on lake erie. I have a fixed lead shoal keel that weighs 1000+lbs alone which really helps it in rough sailing but it still cant compensate for the size and the fact it wasnt made for the type of sailing you intend. Some things ive noticed when lake erie gets rough, which is usually 4 ft waves sometimes 6 and heavy winds this time of year. Two of us sail I rig the sails my husband takes the helm. First its hard to move from aft forward quickly on deck, not enough room or nothing to hold on to. The standard rigging that comes on the boat and sails though adequate makes it difficult to get sails up or down when the waters rough things arent efficient the boat throws you around alot when you come into the wind to raise the sails not to mention how difficult it is to stay on deck when changing to a storm jib( theyre migty slippery) and one of these days Im going to step on the forward hatch and go through it (i havent done it yet so I dont know if itll take it) oh and theres the side ports that stick out ive stepped in them a few times or scraped myself. After the workout raising the sails then it becomes enjoyable and handles pretty good. So then say you have to go aft in the cabin ... theres nothing to hold on to down there anywhere and when its rough is when you find yourself tossed about the cabin, dont leave the table up or it wont be in tact after you fall against it . If your taller than 5'8 then you hit your head or you get seasick from being bent over. dont even think about cooking . Then you come back up and the 6 ft swells are cresting and you find theyre coming in the boat granted heading into them isnt bad the design is pretty good if it comes over the bow but the cockpit turns into a bathtub because the drain isnt large enough for high volumes of water . speaking of which theres no accomodations for anything but a hand bilge pump from the factory and the bilge is pretty shallow in the first place and if you investigate not all of the spaces are connected (dont know what theyre called) mine has been drilled through so it flows from the ends to the center, ive heard some arent. Then you decide you want to motor you lower the sails which means going forward again lower the sails and start the motor which will start for sure I hope mainly because theres nothing to drain the batt. no refrigeration and the ice box has no insulation and the head is manual (portapotty) dont fill that up think about dumping it overboard as the boats throwing you about. anyway the motors going and you get nowhere fast because (its a 9.8hp) and every wave takes the propeller out of the water its not good for it either. So now you know about our usual daysailing on lake erie (cause you know if its smooth the winds not blowing). Whoever you sail with hope your relationship survives the close quarters the fact you never get a break from the boat throwing you about, and thats physically demanding. Oh I forgot get a bigger anchor maybe two, we threw out the anchor because we had stalled and the wind was blowing so hard we drug anchor, and someone should probably be on night watch. Im sure ive missed somthing .. Please dont get me wrong we love sailing and we love our boat and theres a thrill to having overcome such impressive waters but Im sure unless your really into that torture and frustration thing and the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat which your thread dosnt indicate it Id avoid making this sail. But if you decide to let me know and ill watch for it in the papers especially this late in the year....know what I mean.