[Rhodes22-list] Camping/Sailing Trip With My Boy Scout Troop

Tue Sep 21 08:32:31 EDT 2021

Larry,

We try to go out at least once per season, either a weekend camping/sailing trip like this or an evening day sail.  I think it’s the best Scouting event of the year; but, of course I’m somewhat biased!  This time, we had two new Scouting families whose youth were a little hesitant until their parents took them aside and told them, “Are you nuts?  Do you know what an opportunity this is?  We’re all going!”  They all had a great time.  One youth got a little sea sick; but, didn’t throw up.  As soon as we got him back on dry land, he perked right up.  He ate two bowls of turkey chili at dinner, so I assumed he was OK.

Dan & I have double handed the S/V Now What for hundreds of Great Lakes miles in all kinds of weather.  It was originally custom built in Florida and served for ~10 years in charter service in the Caribbean.  LOA: 42 ft, Beam: 23 ft, Draft CB’s Up/Down: 30 inches/6.5 ft, Two 25 bhp Outboard Engines, Vertical Clearance: 53 ft.  For a catamaran, I think it’s a pretty boat, much better looking than the floating condos the cat makers are building these days.

Roger Pihlaja
S/V Dynamic Equilibrium

[cid:image003.png at 01D7AEC3.360F0A10]
                              S/V Now What Lying At Anchor
Sent from Mail<https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986> for Windows

From: Larry Gioia via Rhodes22-list<mailto:rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
Sent: Tuesday, September 21, 2021 8:15 AM
To: The Rhodes 22 Email List<mailto:rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Camping/Sailing Trip With My Boy Scout Troop

Looks like a lot of fun, and what a nice experience for the scouts!  They’ll remember it forever. And thanks for the great description & pics - I feel like I was there!  That’s a big catamaran, I assume you need 2 people minimum to sail it?

Larry

> On Sep 21, 2021, at 7:56 AM, ROGER PIHLAJA <roger_pihlaja at msn.com> wrote:
>
> Hi All,
>
> This past weekend, I took my Boy Scout Troop on a camping/sailing trip.  I have a friend, Dan Schweitzer, that has a 42 ft LOA sailing catamaran (S/V Now What).  He keeps it at Linwood Beach Marina & Campground on Saginaw Bay in Linwood, MI.  Linwood is about halfway between Bay City, MI and Pinconning, MI on the W side of Saginaw Bay.  The campground is mostly for RV’s.  But, they have 6 primitive sites for tent campers.  We’ve stayed here in previous years and they always donate the use of the primitive campsites because we’re a Boy Scout Troop and they know me.  It’s good to have friends in low places!
>
> We arrived Friday night and set up camp.  We sailed on Saturday afternoon, camped Saturday night, and most of the troop left Sunday morning.  Two of the Scouts and myself stayed behind to help Dan unrig and fold the sails, pump out the holding tank, winterize the boat’s water system, retrieve the boat onto it’s custom made trailer, and then park the boat & trailer in it’s winter storage spot in the Marina’s storage yard.
>
> The sailing conditions were great: sunny, temp 75 deg F, wind N @ 10-15 knots, waves 2-3 ft!  S/V Now What was sailing a beam reach flying her full mainsail and 130% genoa with neither centerboard lowered.  We averaged  ~7 knots, hitting 9-10 knots in the gusts if the helmsman responded properly.  Some of the youth were better at steering than others.  A boat this fast also slows down quickly if the helmsman screws up.
>
> All the Scouts got to hoist and trim sails, handle the dock lines, set and retrieve the anchor.  Everyone that wanted to steer got a chance to be helmsman.  After motoring out of the marina and down the dredged channel until the water got deep enough, we hoisted sail and sailed ~ 9 nm to the so-called “Spoils Island” at the mouth of the Saginaw River.  Spoils Island is so named because it’s an artificial island created by decades of dredging in the Saginaw River by the US Army Corps of Engineers in order to maintain a commercial ship channel.  We went around the S side of the island to get out of the wind and waves and anchored.  We had multiple members of the troop having birthdays, including myself (I’m 68 years old).  We had a birthday party at anchor.  I brought my kerosene fired anchor light, so it became the ceremonial “birthday anchor light”.  I took the Fresnel lens assembly off so it was just the oil lamp & wick.  All the birthday boys stood around the lit lantern while the rest of the troop sang Happy Birthday and then we all blew out the wick together.  Then, we had cupcakes and lemonade.  After the party, when everything was properly stowed away, we hoisted anchor, stowed the flags, raised sails, and sailed back to Linwood.  All told, we were on the water about 3-1/2 hours, motored about 4 nm and sailed about 18 nm.  Dan joined us for dinner that night in our campsite, turkey chili – YUM!
>
> Roger Pihlaja
> S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
>
> Here are some photos from the trip:
>
> [cid:image002.jpg at 01D7AEBE.25885570]
>                                                       Adam & Tyler Ready To Hoist The Mainsail @ The Marina (Note The Lazy Jacks On The Mainsail)
>
> [cid:image005.jpg at 01D7AEBE.25885570]
>                                                                      Adam Hoisting The Mainsail
>
> [cid:image008.jpg at 01D7AEBE.25885570]
>                                             Unfurling The 130% Roller Furling Genoa
>
> [cid:image011.jpg at 01D7AEBE.25885570]
>                       Not All Helmsmen Were As Happy As Sam!  He Was Grinning Like This All Afternoon
>
> [cid:image014.jpg at 01D7AEBE.25885570]
>                          Roger Giving Henry His 1st Driving Lesson.  I’m Not Scared Of His Driving, It’s just That Rough, So I Have To Hang On!
>
> [cid:image018.jpg at 01D7AEBE.25885570]
>                                               The Troop Hanging Out On The Foredeck Just Before We Ducked Behind Spoils Island
>
> [cid:image020.jpg at 01D7AEBE.25885570]
>                                                        Flying The Flag Set @ Anchor
>
> [cid:image023.jpg at 01D7AEBE.25885570]
>                                  It’s The Most Fun You Can Have @ < 10 MPH!
>
> [cid:image026.jpg at 01D7AEBE.25885570]
>                                                                       Tyler & Adrian Aboard A Really Big “Trailerable Boat”
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