[Rhodes22-list] Trip Report: Coca FL - Wrightsville Beach NC

[Wally Buck]

How it all started ……November 04 I attended a family reunion. My Uncle Brian 
owns a 1974 Pearson 35 and wanted help moving “Hornblower” from Cocoa FL up 
the East Coast. My wife and I said we would love to help him out so the plan 
was hatched. His final destination is Long Island but we were hoping to make 
at least Wilmington NC or more optimistically Norfolk VA. We wanted to sail 
as much as possible but of course we were at the mercy of the weather.

The Captain would be my Uncle Brian. Brian is 68, a retired Air Line Pilot 
and has messed around in boats his whole life. He has built and restored a 
couple of sailboats and he is he is a master craftsman with wood and 
fiberglass. He has extensive cruising experience sailing out of Long Island. 
This would be his second trip on the ICW.

Crew –Jenny my better half for the past 22 years and me. I have sailed on 
and off since the age of 10. I currently own a Rhodes 22 and a Rhodes 
Bantam. I have very little blue water experience but have made a few short 
cruises out of Newport RI and San Diego CA. I currently sail out of Blue 
Springs Marina on the TN River. Jenny has been my crew on a variety of boats 
but she did not want to have any solo shifts at the helm.  Brian and I would 
have 4-hour shift on, then 4-hour shift off. Jenny would provide breaks and 
help as needed. We thought we could keep this up for 2 or 3 days then come 
inside ICW for breaks.

The Boat – 1974 Pearson 35, Hornblower. Brian purchased the boat from a 
charity auction 2 years ago and has been hard at work restoring. Hornblower  
is 35’ 2” LOA, and 25; 2” LWL, displacing 15,000 #. It is a full keel CB 
with sloop rig. He has painted the entire outside of the boat top to bottom. 
He had built some nice custom teak hatches and added new dodger. The main 
sail is new and we had a 135 on a furler and a drifter (we never used). A 
Westerbeke 30 HP Diesel with an 18-gallon fuel tank powers Hornblower. The 
cockpit is 9.5 feet long with very comfortable seats, nice cushions with 
high combings. Even in steep 10-foot waves we stayed dry. There is plenty of 
storage in huge port and starboard cockpit lockers and giant lazerette. 
Jenny and I had the v-birth. Brian had the port single berth that pulls out 
into a double. There is a Marine head and I never was real sure of tank 
capacity but it was big enough. The cabin does not extend back under the 
cockpit and there are no coffin quarter births.  There is 6’ 3” of standing 
room up into the vbirth. We had no radar, no depth sounder, and the knot 
meter worked on and off. We did have rental EPIRB, rental Sat Phone, 3 GPS, 
3 Marine Radios, and all other basic safety gear.

http://www.pearson35.com/designfolder/index.htm

Pics of crew and Hornblower -

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