A friend of mine has a 30' sailboat and wants to circumnavigate the Delmarva Peninsula: Deltaville to Rock Hall to C&D Canal, then out in the Atlantic southward round Cape Charles, then up the Chesapeake Bay back home. Has anyone done this before? If so, what is the minimum Stability Index for boat...which production models of C&C, Hunter, Columbia, etc. would be seaworthy enough to make the trip? What advice could anybody who has done it give? Does anyone have the Stability Index handy for my Hunter 31? One more question: should he go clockwise or counter clockwise and why? Thanks, Joe
- Status
- Not open for further replies.
look under boat information.
Joe: If you look under the boat information you will find the index for the H'31 (just over 2.0). I do not know how much faith I would put in the stability index. There was a discussion about this in the last couple of months and it really appear to be ONLY a guidline. I do not know how far off shore you are going, but the H'31 is more than capable of this trip. Roger & Susie Mummah took their to the Exumas. Obviously you don't want to tackle a storm with any boat.
Joe: If you look under the boat information you will find the index for the H'31 (just over 2.0). I do not know how much faith I would put in the stability index. There was a discussion about this in the last couple of months and it really appear to be ONLY a guidline. I do not know how far off shore you are going, but the H'31 is more than capable of this trip. Roger & Susie Mummah took their to the Exumas. Obviously you don't want to tackle a storm with any boat.
B
Bill Ebling
Delmarva
Joe: I am planning to do this this summer with my 31 Hunter. We could perhaps form a flotilla. I was planning to do this clockwise. Check out the following site for a complete document on making this trip. It has been done with a hunter 29. http://home.earthlink.net/~cblights/DelmarvaCircumnavigation.pdf Bill Ebling Yesterday's Dream 1985 H31 Crab Alley Bay, Kent Island MD
Joe: I am planning to do this this summer with my 31 Hunter. We could perhaps form a flotilla. I was planning to do this clockwise. Check out the following site for a complete document on making this trip. It has been done with a hunter 29. http://home.earthlink.net/~cblights/DelmarvaCircumnavigation.pdf Bill Ebling Yesterday's Dream 1985 H31 Crab Alley Bay, Kent Island MD
B
Brian
no problem
A 30' boat in good order shouldn't have any trouble, assuming good decisions are made regarding weather and navigation. I would have done that trip in my 26' sailboat and not worried. My experience in the area is from crewing on a delivery that took 52 hrs running from Annapolis to Milfrod CT. We went up the chesapeake, through the C & D canal, down the delaware and out the cape may canal. We then went north into NY harbor, up the east river into long island sound and across to CT. By far, the worst part of the trip was the delaware. Steep, close together 4 -6 waves were a little rough. We had a 20 - 25 kt wind on our stern (it was fall, we had NW wind) so at least we were flying along. The conditions were caused by opposing wind & tide. We did have a Yachting magazine editor on board, which was nice. He is very familiar with the area and says the delaware is consistently one of his least favorite places to be on boat. Conditions are frequently less than ideal, and the scenery stinks! For this reason, if I were going to do this trip in the summer, I would go counter clockwise since the winds tend to be southerly in the summer. If you time the entrance to the delaware with an incoming tide, and have southerly winds, the water shouldn't be real rough and you can get through this section as fast as possible. If you go clockwise, and want to run with an outgoing tide, chances are the winds will oppose the tide and if the winds are strong you have uncomfortable, but definitely managable conditions. Also keep in mind there will be a considerable amount of shipping traffic on the delaware. To sum it up, chances are the worst you are looking at on a 30' boat is discomfort for some of the trip. This sounds like something I would like to try the next time I have the chance, and when I do, I am going to focus on making the delaware as easy going as possible and pay close attention to the weather when I run outside. Everywhere else is just a matter of dealing with navigating inshore waters and dealing with weather just the same as on any inland bay or waterway. Good luck and have fun!
A 30' boat in good order shouldn't have any trouble, assuming good decisions are made regarding weather and navigation. I would have done that trip in my 26' sailboat and not worried. My experience in the area is from crewing on a delivery that took 52 hrs running from Annapolis to Milfrod CT. We went up the chesapeake, through the C & D canal, down the delaware and out the cape may canal. We then went north into NY harbor, up the east river into long island sound and across to CT. By far, the worst part of the trip was the delaware. Steep, close together 4 -6 waves were a little rough. We had a 20 - 25 kt wind on our stern (it was fall, we had NW wind) so at least we were flying along. The conditions were caused by opposing wind & tide. We did have a Yachting magazine editor on board, which was nice. He is very familiar with the area and says the delaware is consistently one of his least favorite places to be on boat. Conditions are frequently less than ideal, and the scenery stinks! For this reason, if I were going to do this trip in the summer, I would go counter clockwise since the winds tend to be southerly in the summer. If you time the entrance to the delaware with an incoming tide, and have southerly winds, the water shouldn't be real rough and you can get through this section as fast as possible. If you go clockwise, and want to run with an outgoing tide, chances are the winds will oppose the tide and if the winds are strong you have uncomfortable, but definitely managable conditions. Also keep in mind there will be a considerable amount of shipping traffic on the delaware. To sum it up, chances are the worst you are looking at on a 30' boat is discomfort for some of the trip. This sounds like something I would like to try the next time I have the chance, and when I do, I am going to focus on making the delaware as easy going as possible and pay close attention to the weather when I run outside. Everywhere else is just a matter of dealing with navigating inshore waters and dealing with weather just the same as on any inland bay or waterway. Good luck and have fun!
C
Clyde
Which stability index?
There is the IMS stability index, the European STIX stability index and the rule of thumb stability index to judge a sailboat’s stiffness based on the roll period of the sailboat. The IMS stability index and the European STIX are used to certify that a sailboat is stable enough to sail in a racecourse’s existing sea and wind conditions. A proprietary software program based on a theoretical sailboat-modeling program and measurement taken on the actual sailboat does the IMS and STIX calculation; you have to pay to get the stability index. For offshore racing the minimum IMS stability index is usually 115. A new American handicapping system with it’s own stability index is the Americap stability index, but it’s usually the same as the IMS stability index. For the rule of thumb stability index, you can calculate a sailboat’s stiffness with a simple equation. A rule of thumb stability index of 1.1 is the theoretical median, a sailboat greater than that is considered tender and a sailboat less than that is considered stiff. Fair Winds. Clyde
There is the IMS stability index, the European STIX stability index and the rule of thumb stability index to judge a sailboat’s stiffness based on the roll period of the sailboat. The IMS stability index and the European STIX are used to certify that a sailboat is stable enough to sail in a racecourse’s existing sea and wind conditions. A proprietary software program based on a theoretical sailboat-modeling program and measurement taken on the actual sailboat does the IMS and STIX calculation; you have to pay to get the stability index. For offshore racing the minimum IMS stability index is usually 115. A new American handicapping system with it’s own stability index is the Americap stability index, but it’s usually the same as the IMS stability index. For the rule of thumb stability index, you can calculate a sailboat’s stiffness with a simple equation. A rule of thumb stability index of 1.1 is the theoretical median, a sailboat greater than that is considered tender and a sailboat less than that is considered stiff. Fair Winds. Clyde
- Status
- Not open for further replies.