[Rhodes22-list] FL Sailing Trip

Mon May 11 16:53:30 EDT 2009

Bob,

Thanks for sharing your sailing adventure with us.  Your boat looks great, and it must have been fun to enjoy such great weather.  Sailing in 10 to 15 mph wind must have been pure delight.

Sorry to hear about your Sea Eagle inflatable, others on this list have had good experiences with the Sea Eagle for years.  The newer ones are multi chambered which makes them safer, and adds years to their usefulness. 

Awesome pictures of the boat with the boom room in all her glory.  Looking good.

I have a trip coming up next month, that will help me to have a better understanding of  how best to use the boat, pack for a trip, and more importantly, what I can do without, and what I should have.

Thanks for sharing.

Caesar
Gentle Breeze  

--- On Mon, 5/11/09, Bob Keller <r22yankeeclipper at hotmail.com> wrote:

From: Bob Keller <r22yankeeclipper at hotmail.com>
Subject: [Rhodes22-list] FL Sailing Trip
To: rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org
Date: Monday, May 11, 2009, 10:55 AM

Hello All,

My wife and I just returned from a trailersailing trip to southwest Florida last week and I wanted to share some findings and pictures with the group.  We drove from Richmond Hill, GA (near Savannah) to Punta Gorda, FL (100 miles south of Tampa) on Saturday and it took us 7.5 hours (420 miles).  Art Czerwonky and Tom Simpson drove down to meet us at the municiple marina and boat ramp called Laishley Park.  It is a great facility and the day we got there they were having a redfish tournament with professionals and ESPN coverage.  Other than tight parking, it did not impact us at all.  This was our 6th trip there in the last 7 years, but the first time we went as late as May and we were rewarded with perfect weather - highs in the mid 80's and winds were 10-15 knots, mostly out of the south (compared with the typical 15-25 knots we usually get in April).  We spent 5 nights on the boat, which we both agree is our limit.  Went to Tween Waters on
 Captiva, Cabbage Key and Boca Grande which has an outstanding new (since the hurricane of '04) marina that is first rate.  All the facilities we visited were rebuilt in the past 5 years and were all in great condition.  The sailing was really great on this trip because we were able to sail with the poptop up and the sails all unfurled which is the first time we have ever been able to do that in FL.  That said, let's get to our findings:

This was the first trip we made with the Boom Room and it was the biggest upgrade we have made to the trip.   It makes overnighting on the boat much nicer for a number of reasons.  First is that it is modular in that you can put up as much as you need and a little at a time.  This makes assembly easier because you can do it gradually.  Very easy to take down and put up - after my second time I was putting it up in 10-15 minutes - the top first which is a great sunshade for the cockpit.  Then I would put up the bow screens and add the other panels as the sun moved to keep the cockpit comfortable.  The side panels are lightweight materials and are very easy to work with, ie: you do not break a sweat putting this up.  The other nice aspect is that when you wake up in the morning, the cockpit is not covered with dew as it used to be.  Doesn't sound like a big deal, but a dry cockpit also stays cleaner - after a week the boat was just as clean as
 when we started.  Last but not least, the Boom Room is very easy to stow and store and does not take up a lot of space.  The BR is a very nice addition and I recommend it if anyone is going to be sleeping aboard for any amount of time.  
Due to the above, I will be selling my Pop-Top enclosure if anyone is interested.  Very good condition - all snaps & screens intact.
I think I got the idea on this list to actually fill up the icebox (ice-holder) for the fridge with water and freeze it before going on such a trip.  I tried this and actually froze it for a week before the trip and it works amazingly well.  The ice lasted for four days compared with 1 day for ice cubes!  Amazing in that this would last almost the whole trip.  The only problem was that my box cracked on the bottom, maybe due to it being frozen or being old, so as the ice melted it got the carpet in the boat wet and kept it that way.  Anyone else ever have that happen?  I am going to try and fix it with silicone or maybe get a new one from Stan.  I just hope the new one won't crack from freezing also...
This was the first time I tried out my new 150 genoa (vs. the old 175) and it was a huge improvement.  The boat pointed a lot better into the wind, even when furled.  The new sail does not slip over the furling tube like the old ones did and I think the new design is much better.  Just having a new sail probably accounted for most of the improvement.  Time will tell but I expect this new sail will be much better on the coast where I sail since I almost always had to furl the 175.
I have given up on a dinghy for the R22.  I had a Sea Eagle (6H) inflatable and it was a PITA to carry (bulky) and then inflate once the anchor is down.  So I tried to tie it off to the stern rail and drag it behind me but it really was a lot of drag and it slowed us down quite a lot (I would say by 1 knot).  Then I had patched a leak (on the seam of course) several years ago and tested it out before we left and it was fine.  Naturally when I inflated it on day 1 the patch was leaking.  Because of that I could not row it very well against the wind at the anchorage.  Finally when we got to the marina I gave it away to some unlucky person.  Glad to get that POS off the boat.  Not sure if anyone has the perfect inflatable for the R-22, but maybe a two-person inflatable kayak?  It would have to be light, compact, easy to inflate/deflate, durable and of course easy to row.

That is pretty much it for this trip and these findings except that my wife and I are realizing that one of the keys is to simplify and take less with us rather than more.  We've been taking too much of everything: clothes, food and other stuff that are not needed.  The simpler the better.  I now have her convinced to keep doing this twice a year, so October is the next one.  

If I come up with any more "findings" I will post them.

Bob K

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