I finally made the trek from Sarasota to Shell Pt. FL over the past few
days in my 28' S2. Took my 14 yr old son and another crew member.
Sat. morn. left Cortez, Fl and went across Tampa Bay and up the ICW cuz
it was sort of choppy outside. Anchored Sat. night near Clearwater
just N of the Welch Causeway. Sun. morn., went out Clearwater Channel
on a course of 320 for 31 hours for a distance of just over 145 miles.
Unfortunately, the wind was mostly so close to being on the nose
that we did little sailing although the main did provide about .5 kts
for the first 12 hours. Wind finally became NW so we just used the
main for stability. Wind was about 14 kts during day and about 18 at
night according to anemometer. Full moon and very clear sky made
everything fairly visible at night. It was fairly choppy at night but
when we entered wide Apalachee Bay, it smoothed out.
Just by chance, we seemed to have picked a temporary lull in the
normal pattern of thunderstorms and intense heat because a very weak
cold front had passed leaving day temps of low 90s. Any later in the
year and thunderstorms would have made me crazy.
After dark, saw no signs of humanity except high flying aircraft and
a satellite. Saw no other boats until 10:00 am Monday as the NE Gulf
of Mexico has few ports.
One sad note: In the ICW, near Johns Pass, two Coast Guard boats
raced past and we heard on the VHF about people being given CPR.
Later, when the Coast Guard stopped us to tell us that our solar panel
was obscuring our rear running light (the panel tilts), they told us
that a power boat had run down a jetski resulting in probable death.
All in all, a good trip. My son did some steering and "Ragtime"
seemed happy. Many, many dolphins, great weather and now I have her
back close by for hurricane season.

wrote in
oups.com:

Unfortunately, the wind was mostly so close to being on the nose
that we did little sailing

Oh, the SHAME of it all....(cringe)......running the engine!

With all the tacking, the son should have arrived completely
exhausted...(c;

Thanks for the great story....aboard the new trawler...hee hee.

I have no objection to you calling my boat a trawler. In fact, if you
really question cruising sailors, you will probably find they run their
engines 75% of the time.

Here is the reality of sailboat cruising.

Assume you can sail into 270 degrees of the 360. Assume (based on my
experience) you only have useful amounts of wind 50% of the time. This
means that 75% of the time, you cannot sail directly where you want to
go. Hence engines. Ergo, the best cruising boat is a motorsailor.

wrote in message
oups.com...
I finally made the trek from Sarasota to Shell Pt. FL over the past few
days in my 28' S2. Took my 14 yr old son and another crew member.
Sat. morn. left Cortez, Fl and went across Tampa Bay and up the ICW cuz
it was sort of choppy outside. Anchored Sat. night near Clearwater
just N of the Welch Causeway. Sun. morn., went out Clearwater Channel
on a course of 320 for 31 hours for a distance of just over 145 miles.
Unfortunately, the wind was mostly so close to being on the nose
that we did little sailing although the main did provide about .5 kts
for the first 12 hours. Wind finally became NW so we just used the
main for stability. Wind was about 14 kts during day and about 18 at
night according to anemometer. Full moon and very clear sky made
everything fairly visible at night. It was fairly choppy at night but
when we entered wide Apalachee Bay, it smoothed out.
Just by chance, we seemed to have picked a temporary lull in the
normal pattern of thunderstorms and intense heat because a very weak
cold front had passed leaving day temps of low 90s. Any later in the
year and thunderstorms would have made me crazy.
After dark, saw no signs of humanity except high flying aircraft and
a satellite. Saw no other boats until 10:00 am Monday as the NE Gulf
of Mexico has few ports.
One sad note: In the ICW, near Johns Pass, two Coast Guard boats
raced past and we heard on the VHF about people being given CPR.
Later, when the Coast Guard stopped us to tell us that our solar panel
was obscuring our rear running light (the panel tilts), they told us
that a power boat had run down a jetski resulting in probable death.
All in all, a good trip. My son did some steering and "Ragtime"
seemed happy. Many, many dolphins, great weather and now I have her
back close by for hurricane season.

Good story, too bad about the wind.

John Cairns

wrote in
oups.com:

Assume you can sail into 270 degrees of the 360. Assume (based on my
experience) you only have useful amounts of wind 50% of the time. This
means that 75% of the time, you cannot sail directly where you want to
go. Hence engines.

No, "Hence tacking!". Sail a day close hauled, tack, then half a day
hauling ass into where you want to go, the handrail dragging in the water
if you can get it with the wind on the beam. You're supposed to arrive
looking like you've been in a battle with the sea and wind, sore and
sunburned....not smelling like a train mechanic...(c;

Ergo, the best cruising boat is a motorsailor.


It depends on your definition of "cruising", I suppose.....

What never ceases to amaze me is the number of people-in-too-much-of-a-
hurry buy SAILboats....or boats at all! We just HAVE to "get there" in 4
days. "Why?", I usually ask. Some of the finest time I've ever spent at
sea was when there wasn't enough wind to even make the genoa wiggle, the
sea flat as a tabletop. How utterly RESTFUL! The whole damned world
revolves around the center of the keel on THAT boat, at THAT moment,
the world eating away at itself, killing itself.

We were becalmed about 50 miles out coming in from I forget where. Two
fishermen in a center console with two huge outboards stopped by to ask if
we were in trouble. That was really nice of them. We offered a bit of
lunch and a little libation, everything hanging limp from the masts. What
a great afternoon we had! They brought a nice catch of Red Snapper. We
had a fine wine that complimented it, perfectly, along with the most
wonderful side dishes from our larder. I washed the dishes and put it all
away, including a little more fish delicacies for later into the fridge,
while the rest were laying around up on deck wondering aloud who it was
that brought this wonderful mixture of power and sail crews to this
particular point on the Atlantic at this perfect time.

Ah, to nap in the offshore sun, you belly full of Atlantis' most wonderful
offerings with the vintner's best.....

Why the hell would we want to go ASHORE!

What a silly idea.....Even the powerboaters agreed!

The wind freshened about 7 hours later and we got home around 2AM, wishing
we'd never pulled that main back out of the mast.

Noone should ever set foot on a sailboat that has to "be somewhere". It
sure ruins it for the rest of us aboard...

In article .com,
wrote:

I have no objection to you calling my boat a trawler. In fact, if you
really question cruising sailors, you will probably find they run their
engines 75% of the time.

Here is the reality of sailboat cruising.

Assume you can sail into 270 degrees of the 360. Assume (based on my
experience) you only have useful amounts of wind 50% of the time. This
means that 75% of the time, you cannot sail directly where you want to
go. Hence engines. Ergo, the best cruising boat is a motorsailor.


I'm of the "tack" crowd and have sails that keep us going when others
motor, except in times like this. You had to be somewhere quickly, you
got there. That's what the engine's for.

--
Jere Lull
Xan-a-Deux ('73 Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD)
Xan's Pages: http://members.dca.net/jerelull/X-Main.html
Our BVI FAQs (290+ pics) http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/

You cruise your way and I'll cruise mine.

wrote in
ups.com:

You cruise your way and I'll cruise mine.



Always....(c;

"Larry W4CSC" wrote in message ...
The wind freshened about 7 hours later and we got home around 2AM, wishing
we'd never pulled that main back out of the mast.

Noone should ever set foot on a sailboat that has to "be somewhere". It
sure ruins it for the rest of us aboard...


One should never use a wind-up mainsail. It's an inferior system.

CN