"Sherwin Dubren" wrote in message
...
For trailerable boats on small lakes, the rules are
quite different
from a fixed keel boat on the ocean or large lake. I also learned to
sail on a Rhodes
19 with no engine, but I wouldn't take that boat to the Bahamas. My
Westerly 22 foot
boat is very heavy and made to take lots of punishment. The rules for
it are obviously
different than for your vessel.

Your Westerly 22 is a very nice boat, and much different from my Catalina
22. I think you should feel safe in the Bahamas in your Westerly, but I
wouldn't take my C across the gulf stream. The advice I offered was meant
for a light trailerable boat such as Bruce's.

I was raised in a sailing family that spent a few summers cruising from
Tampa Bay to the Bahamas in a Tartan 27. My aging parents have moved up to
a trawler, Which they now live on for a 3rd of the year. It's taken 30
years for my father to leave the well-maintained Tartan in my possession.
The difference between my two boats is quite extreme, from standing room, to
private head, and of course inboard vs outboard.

Happy sailing,

John.