My new boat:)

[Garffin]

Hello and thanks for a wonderful website! Ok here goes. I just bought my first sailboat. It is a 1967 24 Bristol. The boat is currently on mooring in Huntington, NY in long island. I was really hoping that someone could tell me what it would take for me to get this boat down to NC. I will not put the boat on a trailer. Travel lift is one thing but an over the road trailer is another. I have worked on everything for a 38' gill netter in Bristol Bay AK, 58' purse seiners in SE AK to 142 foot pot boats in, yes AK. I know everyone has seen the TV shows working on the edge. Well I have been there and done that so I have a bit of knowledge about water, weather and how good it really can be also how bad you wish that you were back at the dock. I have been on boats where the people couldn't take it but the boat could. Anyway my question is this if I were to just go jump on my boat with charts, tide table, a bit of fuel and some food would it be at all unreasonable for me to get this little boat down to NC in 3 weeks taken easy only sailing during the day, and only in favorable conditions. Here take a look at her and tell me what you think. Brutal honesty would go along way with me. Oh it would be just me. I am single have no kids. So I can go days without a shower. I do have some brains but I also know what a boat can be put through and still work. I have been on one purse seine boat that was very rough but somehow she made it through 15 weeks of fishing in SE Alaska and that was with a 3.5 day trip up from Seattle Wa through the inside passage and back down again without any major problems unless you count the gen set going down every other day. Oh and you couldn’t go up on top to steer the boat in the topside wheel house because of the rotten top deck skipper didn’t want us to fall through into his buck so all the watches where from inside the boat. It was rough. Anyway if there are any rough-in-it types out there who could just give me thumbs up/down I would really appreciate it. Here are some pics of the new boat and thanks again. Dan

Seems that I can't show off my boat being new I guess I will try and get them pics up very soon. The boat comes with 9hp outboard with battery and full gas tank.It has a full keel.The boat is in really good shape, it just has some problems with a few stantions. They were fixed a few years ago, but new need to be fixed again, Picture below. VHF radio, mail sail working jib, storm jib, and genoa.Interior electrical was recently redone. Compass, running lights, cabin lights, and a new battery3.5' Draft Here are some pics of the Bristol. Thanks Dan

[JohnRPollard]

Dan,

Welcome to Sailnet and Congrats on your new boat.

Assuming the boat is in a safe operating condition (those stanchions worry me, however) there is no reason it would not be capable of getting to NC in 3 weeks.

However, your favorable weather windows will be getting rare pretty soon, particularly for a boat of this size. You would need to make sure all issues are addressed very quickly and get going.

You mention your boating experience on some fairly large vessels, and certainly that will be helpful, but a small cruising sailboat is a very different animal.

How much sailing experience do you have?

[kwaltersmi]

The Bristol 24 is a seaworthy boat if she's in good condition and is skippered by a knowledgable sailor. However, being that it is a 1967 model and shows some issues with a few stanchions, I'd very carefully inspect all stanchions, chainplates and deck hardware. Check for solid backing plates and deck rot. The last thing you want is to be dismasted in the Atlantic in November with only a small outboard auxillary.

Regardless of experience, I think I would take some time to get to know the boat and make sure I was comfortable with her sailing abilities and deficiancies before voyaging to NC.

[Garffin]

Thanks for the post! I have had some sailing experience but nothing over 10 feet. I bought a 9' plywood sailboat with a retracting daggerboard when I lived in Tx. It was very heavy. I use to take it to the lake and try and see how far I could get it over. My girlfriend use to hold on to the transom while I would pull her around. We took it down to the gulf and we and would beach launch it. The first time we took it out into the gulf I sailed it to the first big oil rig I could see. After about 25 min. my girlfriend turned around and couldn’t see the shore which was quickly followed her getting sick. She got nervous while I was having the time of my life. So I turned it around headed toward the beach. I get us right to the car but on coming into the beach with the tide coming in and crossing the breakers things went sort of screwy. Well I was coming in with the car/trailer in mind. I cranked up the center board, dropped the sail and hit the beach with one last surf coming over the side to fill the boat up. I got my gf out she ran to the car to back the trailer up while I somehow managed to rock the now sunken boat to the surface. Well we ended the day with the car getting stuck in the sand with the now loaded boat and incoming tide. Just in time, some passing guys in a very large truck jerked us out of the sand. So with a loud yell we were homeward bound. One of the coolest days I had in that little boat. I loved that little boat.

[peptobysmol]

I'm sure you'd be in for an adventure

[GeorgeB]

Help me understand your question. Are you saying you’ll be leaving in three weeks? Or are you saying your trip will be three weeks long? When you say you will sail only during the day, will you be anchoring overnight? Or will you be motoring over night?

I can’t seem to be able to view your photos in any thing larger than postage stamp so I cannot offer an opinion as to your boat’s condition. However, It has been my experience that if something obvious suffers from deferred maintenance, there are other issues lurking hidden, as well. What is the draft of your boat? I’m thinking that you could easily do the intercoastal, alternating between motoring and sailing. I would not recommend going down on the outside. I’m not questioning your courage or anything, its just that a broken gooseneck or dismasting is a lot different than genset problems.

What ever you do, planning ahead is the key. What size (in amps) are your batteries and can the outboard recharge them? Short days in November mean you will be using nav lights at least part of the time (@ 2 amps) as well as GPS/VHF (@1 amp). You need to work out an energy budget. What is fuel consumption (in hours) of your outboard? Can you motor for 24 hours? 48 hours? You may want to bring along some extra jerry jugs.

Here on the West Coast, fall is the time that a lot of people move their boats up and down the coast. Already there have been a couple of USCG searches for boats (and skippers) that match your profile. Fortunately, they have all ended happily, but they showed that a combination of lack of experience and lack of preparation will lead to problems at sea. Even a short cruise of 500 miles down the coast is a lot different than sailing out to the nearest oil derrick.

[CalebD]

Dan,
As others have stated: it is do-able. The time window for doing it this year is getting narrower though, unless you like boating in a snowstorm which you have probably already experienced in AK.
My Tartan 27' is from the same year and one of the issues that can come up with boats of this era is that wooden cores (plywood, Balsa etc.) can have become rotted creating soft or spongy decks. Chain plates can also be mounted to a cored knee wall. How are your fiber glassing skills?
Earlier this spring I helped a fellow I met through sailnet get his 32' ketch from Huntington to NYC via the East River. He went on to largely solo sail that boat to the FL Keys. You may very well be able to get some folks from here to come along for a leg or two of your trip.

[JohnRPollard]

Originally Posted by Garffin

Thanks for the post! I have had some sailing experience but nothing over 10 feet. I bought a 9' plywood sailboat with a retracting daggerboard when I lived in Tx. It was very heavy. I use to take it to the lake and try and see how far I could get it over. My girlfriend use to hold on to the transom while I would pull her around. We took it down to the gulf and we and would beach launch it. The first time we took it out into the gulf I sailed it to the first big oil rig I could see. After about 25 min. my girlfriend turned around and couldn’t see the shore which was quickly followed her getting sick. She got nervous while I was having the time of my life. So I turned it around headed toward the beach. I get us right to the car but on coming into the beach with the tide coming in and crossing the breakers things went sort of screwy. Well I was coming in with the car/trailer in mind. I cranked up the center board, dropped the sail and hit the beach with one last surf coming over the side to fill the boat up. I got my gf out she ran to the car to back the trailer up while I somehow managed to rock the now sunken boat to the surface. Well we ended the day with the car getting stuck in the sand with the now loaded boat and incoming tide. Just in time, some passing guys in a very large truck jerked us out of the sand. So with a loud yell we were homeward bound. One of the coolest days I had in that little boat. I loved that little boat.

Dan,

If this is the full extent of your sailing experience, or even half of it, you would be well advised to re-acquaint yourself with sailing and practice in your new boat a fair bit before taking her south. Unfortunately, you don't have much time left for practicing before the weather is very unfavorable. Would you consider holding off on the trip until late spring?

Another option would be to find an experienced sailor to accompany you (see Caleb's comments above). Just realize that most experienced sailors will have reservations if they inspect the boat and find too much deferred maintenance. As GeorgeB says, the photos are pretty small for us to comment too much about the condition of the boat -- you're the best judge of that at this point.

I just want to emphasize again that a small sailboat voyage is very different and requires other skill sets from the good experience you've gained aboard fishing trawlers. Those trawlers may not have been in the greatest condition, but they were hundreds of times larger than your sailboat, and were probably shoved along by many hundreds of horsepower. You will be pushing along with only a 9.9 hp outboard and sails.

If you decide to go this fall regardless, be careful and watch the weather windows closely. Duck into the intracoastal waterway (ICW) as soon as possible and take advantage of those protected waters. Good luck to you!

[lapworth]

Good luck Garffin ! I would love to offer helping you sail down from New York but it sounds like it's a little too hard for me. I have been sailing solo on the Chesapeake bay for 2 years now on 24' sloop and I know here like the back of my hand and still wouldn't take on your adventure. If you do decide to go stop by in the bay I could offfer food and maybe help you sail to Virgina.

[Faster]

As a small illustration of the point:

Years ago I was invited to accompany a vessel on a delivery from BC to San Francisco - I was a new sailor then and the owner/skipper/builder was a 15 year veteran of deep sea freighters as a marine engineer. Prior to leaving, he told me that in all that time he'd rarely seen any weather that might cause us concern.

True, his boat was a rugged, steel Colvin designed schooner and at no time did I ever question the strength and durability of that boat. However it was obvious that when viewed from a deck 3 feet off the water things look quite different than they do from the bridge of a 600 foot freighter.

We ran into some weather off the Calif/Oregon border, in which we ultimately lay ahull overnight. Long before this his (inexperienced) wife was fully incapacitated and we had been down to two people for a while.

Long story short, he had his eyes opened and certainly had a different perspective. Unfortunately, though they ultimately did reach SF, their plans changed abruptly and the boat was sold there, after 3 years building and 10 years living aboard and planning...

JRP is giving good advice by suggesting a cautious approach and tackling a major delivery in the spring, or, hiring an experienced skipper.