Can I sail a catamaran to Richmond, VA ?
 

The boat is about 21' wide with a bridge clearance of 56'6"
but I can remove the mast if I have to.

Looking at Google Earth I can see waterways between Norfolk
and Richmond but the water looks very muddy in some areas.

Is Richmond far enough inland to be safe from the hurricanes ?

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

Can I sail a catamaran to Richmond, VA ?
 

wrote:
The boat is about 21' wide with a bridge clearance of 56'6"
but I can remove the mast if I have to.

Looking at Google Earth I can see waterways between Norfolk
and Richmond but the water looks very muddy in some areas.

Is Richmond far enough inland to be safe from the hurricanes ?

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.


I suppose it depends on just where you want to go. Richmond has a
"deepwater terminal" that handles large ships.


Here's the downloadable NOAA chart of the last stretch:
http://www.nauticalcharts.gov/bookle...okletChart.pdf

As for hurricanes, how safe to you want to be?

Can I sail a catamaran to Richmond, VA ?
 

In article ,
Jeff wrote:
wrote:
The boat is about 21' wide with a bridge clearance of 56'6"
but I can remove the mast if I have to.

Looking at Google Earth I can see waterways between Norfolk
and Richmond but the water looks very muddy in some areas.

Is Richmond far enough inland to be safe from the hurricanes ?

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

I suppose it depends on just where you want to go. Richmond has a
"deepwater terminal" that handles large ships.

Here's the downloadable NOAA chart of the last stretch:
http://www.nauticalcharts.gov/bookle...okletChart.pdf

As for hurricanes, how safe to you want to be ?

Thanks Jeff.

I just looked at the map again and I guess Richmond is probably
quite safe from the hurricanes.

Would it be difficult to find a marina there that can take a 38'
catamaran ?

Still haven't found out if I'll have to remove the mast to get there.

Can I sail a catamaran to Richmond, VA ?
 

wrote:

In article ,
Jeff wrote:
wrote:
The boat is about 21' wide with a bridge clearance of 56'6"
but I can remove the mast if I have to.

Looking at Google Earth I can see waterways between Norfolk
and Richmond but the water looks very muddy in some areas.

Is Richmond far enough inland to be safe from the hurricanes ?

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

I suppose it depends on just where you want to go. Richmond has a
"deepwater terminal" that handles large ships.

Here's the downloadable NOAA chart of the last stretch:
http://www.nauticalcharts.gov/bookle...okletChart.pdf

As for hurricanes, how safe to you want to be ?

Thanks Jeff.

I just looked at the map again and I guess Richmond is probably
quite safe from the hurricanes.

Not necessarily. Storms that come in over the OBX come up the middle
of VA and aren't dissipated by the time they get to Richmond. It
isn't that far.

Would it be difficult to find a marina there that can take a 38'
catamaran ?

Still haven't found out if I'll have to remove the mast to get there.

Can I sail a catamaran to Richmond, VA ?
 

You could get to the I 95 bridge in downtown Richmond with a lot more mast
than you have.
Do you want to just leave your boat at a marina, or would you be interested
in anchoring in a hurricane hole ? There are marinas up that way, but IIRC,
they are not in the best of shape, and I don't think they would have
accomodations for a cat of that size. What, about 40 ft ?
My boat was anchored in a creek midway between Norfolk and Richmond and took
nearly a direct hit from Isabelle. No damage.
One of the more popular hurricane holes is the Chickahominy River, but there
are plans to replace the drawbridge at the mouth w/ a fixed 51' bridge.

wrote in message
ink.net...

The boat is about 21' wide with a bridge clearance of 56'6"
but I can remove the mast if I have to.

Looking at Google Earth I can see waterways between Norfolk
and Richmond but the water looks very muddy in some areas.

Is Richmond far enough inland to be safe from the hurricanes ?

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

Can I sail a catamaran to Richmond, VA ?
 

I suppose it depends on just where you want to go. Richmond has a
"deepwater terminal" that handles large ships.


That's somewhat downstream from Richmond. The James River
snakes around a good bit and runs northeast for the last bit
before turning and going up to Richmond.

The I-95 bridge (easy to find on most maps) is actually at
the downstream end of a set of fairly impressive rapids. You
couldn't get that far without entering white water and
likely hitting some big rocks. But you could get within a
1/2 mile of the bridge, downstream. In fact there is a tour
boat landing right about there... visible from the bridge.


Here's the downloadable NOAA chart of the last stretch:
http://www.nauticalcharts.gov/bookle...okletChart.pdf

As for hurricanes, how safe to you want to be ?


Idaho and eastern Oregon are safe from hurricanes.


wrote:
Thanks Jeff.

I just looked at the map again and I guess Richmond is probably
quite safe from the hurricanes.


Probably as safe a location as any accessible by navigable
water on the east coast.

Would it be difficult to find a marina there that can take a 38'
catamaran ?


Look around Petersburg, a bit south of Richmond. Several
marinas in that area (likely to be a bit expensive though).

Still haven't found out if I'll have to remove the mast to get there.

Don't think so.

The James River is a lovely cruising area too.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

Can I sail a catamaran to Richmond, VA ?
 

DSK wrote:
....

I just looked at the map again and I guess Richmond is probably
quite safe from the hurricanes.


Probably as safe a location as any accessible by navigable water on the
east coast.


IIRC, Richmond hasn't suffered that much wind damage, but it has been
flooded several times. The risk from this would depend a lot on the
exact location.

Can I sail a catamaran to Richmond, VA ?
 

I just looked at the map again and I guess Richmond is probably
quite safe from the hurricanes.


Probably as safe a location as any accessible by navigable water on
the east coast.


Jeff wrote:
IIRC, Richmond hasn't suffered that much wind damage, but it has been
flooded several times. The risk from this would depend a lot on the
exact location.

Sure, like *not* under a big tree with shallow roots ;)

"Wind damage" in my experience not as big a problem, less
difficult to prepare for. About the only damage the wind
causes is if the boat is pulled from it's mooring... and
chafe is the usual culprit. Rapid & extreme rises in water
level trap boats with poorly adjusted dock lines, severe &
prolonged rain can flood a boat, etc etc.

We rode out Isabel at the Norfolk end of the Dismal Swamp
Canal, above the locks. Perfect spot IMHO, the biggest
problem we had was that power was out for the whole area for
more than a week. But that's not a spot that would occur to
everybody- it didn't occur to me until we were already there
and plotting where else we could go in the time available.

DSK

Can I sail a catamaran to Richmond, VA ?
 

On Wed, 16 Aug 2006 08:52:49 -0400, DSK wrote:

Probably as safe a location as any accessible by navigable
water on the east coast.

Not really considering that all of the Great Lakes, along with their
associated river and canal systems are navigable.

Can I sail a catamaran to Richmond, VA ?
 

Probably as safe a location as any accessible by navigable
water on the east coast.


Wayne.B wrote:
Not really considering that all of the Great Lakes, along with their
associated river and canal systems are navigable.


Yeah, but they're not on the east coast... officially...

Besides, they still get hurricanes. Hurricane Hugo, long
time ago now but still vivid in memory, hit Lake Norman with
great damage to property including sinking a lot of boats.
A lot of Gulf hurricanes end up hitting the Ohio & Tennessee
valleys.

Earthquakes, hurricanes... at least we don't have plagues of
locusts any more...

DSK

Can I sail a catamaran to Richmond, VA ?
 

On Wed, 16 Aug 2006 19:03:21 -0400, DSK wrote:

Yeah, but they're not on the east coast... officially...

And the Hudson River is where exactly?

Can I sail a catamaran to Richmond, VA ?
 

Yeah, but they're not on the east coast... officially...


Wayne.B wrote:
And the Hudson River is where exactly?


Depends on which end you're at.

Maybe the confusion arose over thinking of places on
navigable water *from* the East Coast rather than *on* the
east coast.

DSK

Can I sail a catamaran to Richmond, VA ?
 

wrote:
The boat is about 21' wide with a bridge clearance of 56'6"
but I can remove the mast if I have to.
.....

For any possibility of mast-bridge problem, in this case or in future,
you might be interested to check out how the Volvo Round-the-World
70-foot yachts "limbo'ed" under a bridge in Melbourne, Australia,
during their stop-over with their masts intact. It was a sight to
behold. Apparently they:
1) used water bags to weigh the top of the mast downward, or for some
boats,
2) attached a halyard to another motor boat alongside and winched.

Solo Thesailor
http://sailingstoriesandtips.blogspot.com

Can I sail a catamaran to Richmond, VA ?
 

Duh!
This is a catamaran! Tipping it to lower the masthead is not a very
bright idea.


Solo Thesailor wrote:
wrote:
The boat is about 21' wide with a bridge clearance of 56'6"
but I can remove the mast if I have to.
.....

For any possibility of mast-bridge problem, in this case or in future,
you might be interested to check out how the Volvo Round-the-World
70-foot yachts "limbo'ed" under a bridge in Melbourne, Australia,
during their stop-over with their masts intact. It was a sight to
behold. Apparently they:
1) used water bags to weigh the top of the mast downward, or for some
boats,
2) attached a halyard to another motor boat alongside and winched.

Solo Thesailor
http://sailingstoriesandtips.blogspot.com


--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

Can I sail a catamaran to Richmond, VA ?
 

This got me thinking about something - when a catamaran heels (or is
tipped in some way) does the masthead go up, or does it go down?

A few minutes on the calculator reveals the answer (assuming I did the
trig right): tipping the 50 foot mast of a boat 10, 20, and 30 degrees
reduces its height by 0.76, 3, and 6.7 feet respectively. However,
assuming a 20 foot beam, the center of the boat is raised 1.74, 3.4,
and and 5 feet respectively. The other factor to be considered is
that shifting the weight entirely to one hull will lower that hull
(and the entire boat) by some amount, roughly .5 to 1.2 feet on this
hypothetical cat.

Thus, the answer is that tipping a cat will raise the masthead until
it reaches a point somewhere between 5 and 20 degrees, depending on
the geometry.

BTW, the polar charts for my boat don't normally have a heel angle
greater the 5 degrees, but it does go up to 8 degrees when carrying a
spinnaker on a beam reach in 20 knots of true wind. Boat speed is
around 17 knots. I can honestly say I have no intention of verifying
these numbers, although the folks at the factory claim they have.


Jeff wrote:
Duh!
This is a catamaran! Tipping it to lower the masthead is not a very
bright idea.


Solo Thesailor wrote:
wrote:
The boat is about 21' wide with a bridge clearance of 56'6"
but I can remove the mast if I have to.
.....

For any possibility of mast-bridge problem, in this case or in future,
you might be interested to check out how the Volvo Round-the-World
70-foot yachts "limbo'ed" under a bridge in Melbourne, Australia,
during their stop-over with their masts intact. It was a sight to
behold. Apparently they:
1) used water bags to weigh the top of the mast downward, or for some
boats,
2) attached a halyard to another motor boat alongside and winched.

Solo Thesailor
http://sailingstoriesandtips.blogspot.com



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

Can I sail a catamaran to Richmond, VA ?
 

Jeff wrote:
This got me thinking about something - when a catamaran heels (or is
tipped in some way) does the masthead go up, or does it go down?
.....

Thanks for comment, and good work (I didn't check the calculations).
Apology I wasn't thinking specifically for catamarans -was just
thinking of options to consider for boats in general.

Cheers
Solo Thesailor
http://sailingstoriesandtips.blogspot.com