[Rhodes22-list] Soliciting Practical Advice

[Mark Kaynor]

Sam,

My wife and I moved up to a Rhodes from a Potter 19. We, too primarily sail
on a small inland lake and travel to the coast (Maine, Chesapeake Bay) a few
times each summer. You seem to have a pretty good handle on the advantages a
Rhodes offers, but I thought I'd offer my two cents as a previous Potter
owner.

Trailering - hands down, the Potter was easier to trailer - way lighter, no
trailer brakes required, etc. We towed it from our home in Southwest
Virginia to Maine and back with a 1990 Dodge Caravan. Hardly noticed it.
This is not to say the Rhodes is difficult to trailer, by any means. It just
means we had to get a larger tow vehicle when we bought the Rhodes.

Rigging - it took us about 30 minutes to rig and launch thePotter, and we're
getting the Rhodes down to just over an hour. The Potter had 3 stays, the
Rhodes has 9.

Quality - hands-down, the Rhodes is twice the boat the Potter was. Quality
of construction, hardware, rigging - everything about the boats speaks of
the time, effort, and care that Stan & Co. put into building her.

Pop-top - We never liked being below in the Potter. Too cramped. The pop-top
on the Rhodes allows me to stand upand makes all the difference on an
overnight, especially with the pop-top enclosure.

Sailing - hands-down, the Rhodes is faster and more fun for us to sail. With
the furling headsail and IMF, it's also easier to sail - it seems like we
get to spend more time sailing than anyone else at our marina. We have a
sailing association at our local lake who host a regatta 6-8 times a summer.
Two years ago with the Potter, we were happy to finish "not last". Last year
with the Rhodes we ended up 2nd in our class. We also like the keel weight
in the Rhodes. We never got all that comfortable with the way the Potter
felt when it heeled - OTOH, we've never (really - never) felt uncomfortable
with the way the Rhodes feels when it heels.

We trailered the Potter up to Maine and learned that, unless there was a lot
of wind, we couldn't buck the tide w/o using the motor. Last year we took
Raven and found that we were able to sail where we wanted regardless of the
direction of the tide (going with it was obviously faster, though <g>). Once
after a three day cruise on our way home, we beat along one side of the
Harpswell peninsula against wind and tide, then as we rounded the point, the
tide turned and the wind shifted and we again had beat against wind and tide
again to get back to the family's cottage. It was a blast! Six hours of
really fun sailing. We never could have done that with the Potter.

We bought the Potter for several reasons, the three primary ones being the
enthusiasm shown for the boat by the other owners on Trailer Sailer, the
price, and the ability to overnight. We owned the boat for just over a year.
We found that we were just too physically big to be comfortable in the
Potter. We only overnighted in her a few times and really disliked the
daggerboard arrangement. The cockpit was too small to bring more than a
couple of  friends with us. We didn't enjoy being down below. We decided to
go shopping.

After a few months of searching, visiting other boats, etc., we finally
decided to visit General Boats and take a Rhodes out over night to make sure
we were comfortable sleeping in it. We took it out overnight (in terrible
weather - but that's another story), loved it, and decided we wanted one.
The following week Gary and Jennifer Sanders put Raven on the market. We
drove up to Syracuse, negotiated a price, and purchased her. We haven't once
regretted it.

Mark Kaynor

----- Original Message -----
From: "Sam Hunter" <samhunter3@mindspring.com>
To: <rhodes22-list@rhodes22.org>
Sent: Sunday, December 22, 2002 9:23 PM
Subject: [Rhodes22-list] Soliciting Practical Advice


This message was previously posted on the Trailer Sailor website, where
several Rhodes owners were kind enough to offer meaningful replies.  I would
appreciate recommendations/suggestions from current Rhodes owners.
(Positive and negative both help.)  I have tried to extensively research the
Rhodes 22, but only recently discovered and signed up for this mail list.

Also, I have sent email to Stan from the Rhodes website, but have gotten no
response.  What it the best way for a potential customer to get his
attention?

BTW: I have to admit that I opened my email to Stan with the note that, "I
admit it, he was right!".  He and I had corresponded extensively 4-5 years
ago, before I ended up buying the Seaward 25 we currently own.  He did
quickly refund my deposits and (politely) noted that he would "see me again
on the way back down" (in boat size).  Looks like he was right.

Anyway, to get to the point...

We are seriously considering "simplifying" our lives, including sailing.
(Note that "simpler" does mean MORE sailing, not less.)

This would mean a smaller boat and tow vehicle (note that our starting point
is pretty large). More importantly, it would mean making things easier,
quicker, etc.

We currently have a Seaward 25, diesel, wheel, etc, etc.  I tow it (when I
do so) with a GMC 2500HD.

We live near a small inland lake, but love to sail the coastal areas. We
also love charters and exotic locations and all that, but do NOT think we
need a "blue water" boat of our own at this time. We plan, in a few years,
to build a house on and move to a small farm we have in south Georgia, about
an hour from the Florida coast.

Don't get me wrong...

We LOVE "Dream Catcher", our Seaward 25. She is a wonderful boat that has
given us many happy days (and nights) of sailing, racing, gunkholing,
overnighting/weekending, etc. It is not so much that there is a "problem"
with this boat as that we have reached a point in our lives where we want
(and are able) to simplify things.

We have taken a hard look at the West Wight Potter 19 (Yes, we are SERIOUS
about simple!) It remains a possibility, but I suspect we like certain
comforts and the ability to entertain friends in the cockpit beyond what the
Potter provides.

Probably the best way to illustrate is with an example.

We visit Pensacola at least 4-5 times per year. We have NEVER taken the
Seaward. (We have taken the boat to Mobile for the Dauphin Island Race, and
made a 6-day trip of it, which was a wonderful experience!)

However, our trips to Pensacola are almost always for 2-4 days, and that is
just too short (for us - I know others do this) too short a time to consider
trailering the Seaward. Most of my vacations are short, or are longer and
more exotic (we do like bareboat charters). I just can't picture trailering
the Seaward for a trip of less than 6-8 days. I want to have a boat that is
easy and simple and fast to set up / operate.  For example, I LIKE the idea
of the IMF for simplicity.  We wouldn't even need a sail cover!

Our favorite boating use is gunkholing, especially travelling with a couple
other friendly boats, exploring, rafting, and generally enjoying the
sailing, the exploring, and just "being there". We also do a LOT of
daysailing. We spend a lot of nights and weekends on the water. We
participate frequently in club racing and enjoy that immensely. However, we
are NOT serious about it. We race for fun and to learn more about boat
handling. More speed would be preferable, but we are cruisers and we are NOT
willing to make the compromises that would give truly good racing
performance. Of course, we want it to be "simpler" to trail our boat to
other locations on a whim, or at least with only short notice.

We have friends who went up to a 27 footer for a while, then went back
"down" to a Potter 19. They love it! They recently finished their yard work
early one Saturday morning and decided it was a good day to go sailing on
the coast, 80 miles away. They packed up the boat and took off. Launched,
sailed, spent the night (with two kids) anchored off a barrier island, then
sailed back the next day and were home and settled in by 5:30 that
afternoon.

I envy that.

I don't think Freida and I need to go quite that far in terms of simple and
easy, but we would like to take a BIG step in that direction.

Comments or advice from those that have been there?

(Considered Opinions also welcome even if you have not actually been there.)

Thanks, -Sam

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