[Rhodes22-list] FL Sailing Trip

Lowe, Rob rlowe at vt.edu
Mon May 11 14:14:51 EDT 2009


Bob,
Sounds like a great trip, thanks for sharing.  Great photos of Yankee
Clipper and the boom room. I expect your cooler did bust when you froze
the water in it.  I would think maybe freezing water in milk jugs first
might be a good idea. - rob


-----Original Message-----
From: rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org
[mailto:rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org] On Behalf Of Bob Keller
Sent: Monday, May 11, 2009 1:56 PM
To: rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org
Subject: [Rhodes22-list] FL Sailing Trip


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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