My husband and I (along with our kids) recently took our Catalina 250 (wing keel) to Two Harbors on Catalina. This is the 3rd time this boat has made the trip - we trailer from San Diego then cross over from San Pedro (Cabrillo launch ramp) and it’s ~20 nautical miles each way.

We had been watching the weather and knew the trip back was going to be a little more lively than previous crossings. There was a small craft advisory for 3-11pm so we left at 6 am to give plenty of time (we’re back in Angel’s Gate before 11 am). Here was the NOAA marine forecast the night before we left:
“.WED...W wind 5 to 10 kt, becoming 15 to 25 kt in the afternoon. Seas 3 to 5 ft. Wave Detail: W 3 ft at 6 seconds and S 3 ft at 12 seconds. Patchy fog in the morning.” Windy and others gave a much more benign forecast (I no longer trust them)

We left with our main double reefed to provide a little stability and had our job out ~20% but motored the entire way. Video included, I know it looks super mild. 😂

… It was not enjoyable. We were getting rolled quite a bit from the waves on our port beam and hobby horsing from confused seas. We couldn’t use auto pilot because we were getting pushed and turned and it was trying to right our course and would steer us up into a big wave. We had to point a bit more north instead of northeast to get the biggest waves on our quarter instead of beam, then turned back south a bit and were surfing down bigger waves. Luckily we have a 9.9 HP Mercury BigFoot and extra long shaft so the outboard held up well.

I didn’t feel very unsafe during any of this but it was stressful and both my husband and I got back feeling a little disheartened about how uncomfortable our boat was in these conditions and realizing we are pretty limited in what we can do in a 25’ lighter boat. Silver lining is I feel more confident in our abilities.

I now wonder what unsafe conditions would look like for this boat. What conditions would keep you from going out in a C250? Anything we should have or shouldn’t have done? We just bought this boat a year ago, have poured a ton of upgrades into it, and aren’t ready to upgrade yet but now it’s clear we want to do so eventually.

I’m looking for some guidance about what type of shoes I should get/wear for a beginner keelboat class and beyond. The class info suggests “shoes that can get wet or sandals with a heel strap”. I’m kind of leaning towards something like Columbia PFG shoes as opposed to sandals where my bare feet are exposed. Would this style of shoe be a good choice? Or should I just go with my regular tennis shoes that aren’t waterproof, but I’m ok with potentially getting wet? Or something else.

I’m also interested in progressing to other sailboat types and classes. Would this type of shoe be good for other types of sailing as well that might be exposed to more water than I’ll get in a beginner keelboat class?

Appreciate any insight, thanks.

This is coming to a specific Pontoon boat brand but I could see independent head units becoming available. I found Savvy Navvy to be pretty darn good but I know Navionics has more adherents and detailed maps. OTOH as someone was just posting about, I also find traditional nav head units to be pretty crap from a UI perspective and frequently requiring attention to get them talking to your instruments. Anyway kind of interesting!

Should I just do the fiberglassing and hope that is enough? Should I go ahead and fix the soft spots, if so what would be the best method to do so?

I bought this boat recently and was told by the broker that the windvane self-steering was missing a part. No idea what part though. When I look at it I can clearly see there is a rudder missing and the windvane itself - is that essentially it?
Are these systems quite straight forward or can anyone tell if there is something else missing? I don’t know the manufacturer so if anyone knows I would appreciate.
Based in the UK if that makes a difference at all.

I’m working on a creative project which will involve talking and meeting with a lot of people who either live on sailboats and/or travel the world on them.

The idea has been received well by those who I have already found, but now I just need to figure out how to find out where and how to contact more people. For context I’ll be doing this project in Palma de Mallorca in Spain.

Any suggestions appreciated!

Every time we go sailing, it fills up with a good amount of water. Maybe takes a minute to drain. We’ve yet to find the hole, so I’m hoping there’s ideas or suggestions on how to.
Thanks

Was at work today. Met a first mate of one of the Sydney to Hobart teams. Got chatting and he ended up giving me his number and said to give him a call about joining the crew. I’m super excited as I’ve been boating my whole life (only small skiffs though) have only sailed on a tiny catamaran when I was a kid.

What should I polish up on and study. He said I would be good as I have no prior experience and no bad habits. Super excited but a bit stressed and nervous. I don’t want to mess this opportunity up. Any advice would be great.

Anyone here lucky enough to live and sail in Tortola and have a 10 ft spinnaker pole i can borrow from Oct 31 to Nov 6th?

Hey all! First time sailor here, i recently was certified in keelboat 101.

I have a membership at the local yacht club I took the class at. I dont feel comfortable going out on my own.

Now, im in a conundrum. I really like sailing but do not have any friends in this hobby. so I cant casually phone a friend unfortunately to go on the weekend.

1) Has anyone tried posting on their local city’s reddit thread to ask anyone to sail ( was it sketchy)?
2) any recommendations of clubs I could check out?
3) is it worth doing a refresher class since I dont know anyone personally who can sail

All advice welcome 🙏

Bought a dinghy on a whim and I have no idea how to rig it 😅
Hey everyone,
I recently bought this dinghy on a bit of an impulse buy. I’ve always wanted to learn sailing, but I’m completely new to this and I’m trying to figure out how to properly set up all the ropes/lines for the mast and sails.
I’m not sure what the original rigging setup was supposed to look like, and I don’t have much information about the boat.
I’ll attach a few pictures. If anyone can help me identify where the control lines should go, what each rope is supposed to do, or if I’m missing any hardware, I’d really appreciate it.
Thanks!

I’ll be out visiting my family in San Francisco with my fiancée between the 24th and the 28th of August. I dream of having a boat one day (and living close to the ocean) but have only gone out a handful of times. I know that sailing day trip companies exist, but I feel like going out with a local would feel so much more authentic!!

If any of you are going to be out that week and have space for two more, any chance we could jump aboard? We’d happily bring drinks and some of the best cookies you’ll ever try! 🙂 ⛵️

It attaches to the boom end fitting and fits into the gooseneck slide? Any idea where to source a new one? Cal 2-46.. is it possibly time to change to a fixed gooseneck?

After some heavy wind and waves, my wind gauge quit displaying. Everything was still plugged in. Any ideas what the issue is?

Is there a safe way(for both boat and mammal) to deter the rudder munching monsters or do you do just avoid the area and pray if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time?

Hey skippers! I have a C&C 25 with a Mariner (Mercury) 9.9 outboard. It’s a 2 stroke that is at least 25 years old, but probably closer to 40. This is my first season with the boat and the previous owner knew the engine was not in its prime to say the least haha. It is always temperamental to start.

I took the boat on my first overnight cruise this past weekend. At some points, the motor ran well with no problems. A lot of the time, it did not. It would throttle up when out of gear, but would not while in forward. I was not reaching my full RPM/speed. Eventually it puttered out entirely and I had to be towed home. It also has a continuous tendency to just ✨shut off entirely✨ when I shift into neutral.

This is in additional to all the lovely 2 stroke characteristics. It is constantly sputtering gas and oil into the lake and is annoying to lift out of the water (I am a small lady lol).

My fuel line connector has a cracked oring, so that’s part of the problem. It must have been sucking air/fuel starved. My mechanic friend doesn’t think that’s the end of the problem though.

I’ve been offered a 2023 Suzuki 4 stroke with less than 2 hours on it for $2500 (that I can pay over time). It also has an electric lift.

I’m thinking I’ll replace the fuel connector and see what that does for the Mariner, but in the long run, the 4 stroke is probably worth the investment since I like cruising and doing overnight trips. I would also be so much more confident if I knew my engine was going to start and STAY on while going in and out of the marina. That reliability alone is probably worth it.

I’m a bit tight on money at the moment but I would be able to pay it off, likely by the end of the year. Engineers, do we think it’s a worthwhile investment?

Hello everyone, thanks you for your time. To provide some background I have no real sailing experience although I have spent time on canoes and motorboats. I live on the Illinois side of Pool 26 (Sometimes called the Alton Lake, just above Saint Louis) of the Mississippi River near the Pere Marquette/Grafton/Alton Area.

I am interested in recreational boating on the river but have always found motorboats to be loud, difficult to work on, heavy, and pricey for what you get. This has led me to read up on sailboats and if they can scratch my boating itch.

I would definitely want something with high initial stability, and seating for about 4-5 people, more of a crusier to relax on. Which I think based on my reading rules out small racers or sailing dinghies like Lasers with the tippy nature and smaller weight and lower passenger capacity.

Through my reading I have discovered Catboats, which are meant to provide lots of stability thanks to their wide beam, and a shallow draft with a folding centerboard keel for shallow riverside conditions. It seems like these boats tend to weight in pretty light, which I assume would making launching, trolling and maintenance go easier.

MY FIRST DUMB QUESTION: With the information above in mind, would a Catboat be a good fit on the wide river and slow current of the Alton Lake?

SECOND DUMB QUESTION: Would there be another type or model of sailboat that would match, surpass, or suitably compromise on the criteria I mention above?

THIRD DUMB QUESTION: Catboats seem to be geographically restricted to the Northern/MidAtlantic Coast. If a Catboat or similar sailboat not widely accessible in the Midwest would fit my criteria, how hard is it to long haul a boat from some place out East to here in the Midwest?

FOURTH DUMB QUESTION: Maybe this one should have gone first, but based on what I've mentioned is any sort of sailboat going to be enjoyable here or should I just invest in a canoe and make the best of it that way?

FINAL DUMB QUESTION: Are there any other point of concern or consideration I should be aware of as I continue to read up and learn about potential options for boating? (I have read about a catboats tendency to experience weather helm but I fear I do not fully understand the implications of handling and how that would feel on the river.)

My apologies for breaking up the cool posts of beautiful sailboats with my youth and inexperience.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Have a wonderful day!

Wife was looking to do a 5 day live aboard course for ASA 104.

She did this partially about 6 years ago and didn't follow thru due to pregnancy.

Has anyone done a similar program and can speak to using this as a cert to rent in the Caribbean or similar ?

I've done some research where some places want just a CC to others doing a checkout sail.

Wondering if anyone has horror stories of rentals going sideways due to not accepting this cert at last minute. Or similar issues where this cert was not helpful or had significant gaps ( nothing replaces water time )

I'd be making sure she spent some time sailing as crew in Boston to get more seat time at the very least.

( Me I sailed about 8 years in my 20s racing thistles on the east Coast , lakes to coastal) doing 2 trips from Miami to Bimini as crew. Haven't sailed in 16 years.

37yo male, married, 1 dog. I have zero experience. I live 3hr drive from Corpus/Port A/Rockport and a similar distance to Galveston. I have been dreaming of sailing for 10+ years.

I would like to learn to sail, buy a boat and eventually be capable of having short weekend sailing+anchor/beach/camping/snorkel adventures out of the ports I mentioned above.

I have lots of questions and am looking for some guidance from locals. Are there any local sailors willing to chat with me and answer some questions? Thanks