Newbie from Southern Chesapeake Bay

jasenj1 · #1 02-06-2013

Hello all. I got into sailing a few years ago by attending a crew party for a local racing group. From there, I went down to the dock one race evening and found a boat that was short handed. I bounced around between a few boats before settling in with a group on a J/30. I've been crewing with them for about three years. Spring, Summer, and Fall series races with a few special regattas. I usually work the pit and mid-ship, as the owner drives and another guy works the bow.

Now I'm getting the itch to own my own boat. But I want to start with something simpler (and cheaper) than a fixed keel boat. I'm eyeing the trailer-sailers very closely.

If anyone on here is near the Hampton area and are looking for crew for some local sailing, drop me note.

- Jasen.

Capt. Gary Randall · #2 02-06-2013

welcome Jasenj1 to SailNet.

mgmhead · #3 02-06-2013

Welcome jasenj1, plenty to learn here and I hope you'll have some experiences to share. Racing a J30 should provide some tales.

jasenj1 · #4 02-07-2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by mgmhead

Racing a J30 should provide some tales.

Not too many so far.
We've had one or two unintentional jibes - ouch!
And we got hit by another boat - while we were the committee boat! The other boat crossed the finish line, stalled, and drifted back into us. New bow pulpit for us was the damage.

The only scar I have is from helping out on a different boat one day. Our boat had too many people (a rarity!) and another boat with only two on board came by and asked if we could spare some crew. The very good sailor in our group and myself jumped aboard. We got a little cocky and tried to put up the asymmetrical spinnaker. With only four onboard, we were still short-handed, and with only one sailor really knowing the boat, and the wind being a little stronger than we thought, things quickly got out of hand. I ended up on the bow trying to blow the spinnaker. The shackle blew open just before I got there and I got nasty rope burn on the side of my knee as the spinnaker sheet went flying. We spent a few minutes with the spinnaker flying like a giant flag. Not good! Things could have gotten ugly, but we recovered with no damage.
Lesson learned: On an unfamiliar boat, be conservative!

Racing is certainly an intense learning environment. But it lacks the ability to mess around and experiment with sail shape, etc. You're always trying to do things RIGHT, Right Now!

- Jasen.

P.S. Yes, I'm trying to get my post count up so I can take advantage of all the features here.

jimgo · #5 02-08-2013

Welcome! Depending on where you are (southern Chesapeake Bay could encompass a big area), I've seen a few boats that are within a day's sail (max) of you. They're all fixed keel, but shallow draft. They aren't really trailer sailers either, but they would be great "first" boats, especially in your area. Check out this thread:

"Value-priced" boats in the mid-Atlantic

jasenj1 · #6 02-08-2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimgo

Welcome! Depending on where you are (southern Chesapeake Bay could encompass a big area), I've seen a few boats that are within a day's sail (max) of you. They're all fixed keel, but shallow draft. They aren't really trailer sailers either, but they would be great "first" boats, especially in your area. Check out this thread:

Thanks. I saw that thread. I'd really prefer not to jump into a monthly slip fee. A few thousand dollars for a boat, plus a few hundred (thousand?) for repairs, upgrades, and other personalization. Starts to turn into real money for me.

I owned a power boat before, and there's ALWAYS something you can drop another $100 on to make it better. I'd rather pour that money into the boat itself rather than into storing the boat.

- Jasen.

P.S. Sheesh. Can't even post links in quotes yet.

mikecoder3 · #7 02-11-2013

Welcome. Once you have your boat share some pics....Good Luck !

bljones · #8 02-11-2013

Welcome aboard.

The upside to wet-storage in a slip is that you will sail more often. When you've got to allow for rig set-up time, take down time, ramp launching, trailer parking, etc., the idea of catching a quick sail after work often just doesn't work.

jimgo · #9 02-11-2013

I agree with BLJones. When we first got our C25, we were planning to be trailer sailors of sorts. But, from what I had read online at the Catalina owners site (Catalina - Capri - 25s International Association), the "pros" could rig their boats in about 45 minutes, and taking everything down took about as long. I have two kids; for me, it was a question of how we would keep our kids occupied during that time. Even if we were able to find a marina that let us keep her fully rigged on the trailer, it still would have been tough. It's much nicer to just be able to hop aboard and go (or as close as you get to that on a sailboat). Do you REALLY want to be hauling your boat out while the nasty surprise thunderstorm is closing in on you (or already there)? Those were the kinds of considerations that went through my mind. The cost difference between a wet slip and a "dry slip" (i.e., rigged on a trailer) wasn't that great when I factored all of those things in, and it's not like I was planning to travel a lot with the boat in tow. As they say, YMMV, just providing feedback from someone who has been there (at least somewhat).

There are a boatload (pun intended) of marinas near Deltaville, and the rates seem very reasonable at some of the nice marinas I visited (at least compared to the Northern Chesapeake and Barnegat Bay). I bet you could find a "budget" marina down that way and pay some very good rates. I'm not sure where you're located, but if I lived closer (like back when I lived near DC), I'd consider keeping my boat in that area, or near Solomons.

Most of the boats in my thread really don't need a whole lot of work up front; that's what I had been looking for. I wanted something that might need TLC, but given the impending season, I wanted something that I could drop in the water and get sailing, not something that needed thousands of dollars invested up front. Mind you, I'm not trying to talk you into THOSE specific boats, just letting you know that they are out there.

jasenj1 · #10 02-11-2013

Yep. Totally agree on the balancing act between convenience of having a boat in a slip vs the time to rig and de-rig a trailered boat. That's something I'll have to consider heavily.

I'm in the Newport News area - extreme southern Chesapeake. An appeal of a boat on a trailer would be launching on either side of the peninsula. When I had a power boat, it was very nice to be able to launch into the York River and cruise around that area, or launch into the James and cruise up toward the ghost fleet. There's lots of ramps around here. My current opinion is that a boat in a slip would limit our cruising area excessively.

But if rigging the boat takes an hour on each end and is enough of a pain to keep me from going out, it doesn't matter how many places I "could" launch. That's why ease of rigging is high on my list of features. Com-Pac seems to have a nice system; I haven't seen anyone else market their rigging system like they do.

- Jasen.