Subject: Re: [Catalina-22] Sailing without a dinghy - Opinions please

From: "Robert Bemben" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 11 May 2007 10:56:09 +0000

Ken,
I sailed all of last year - my first year with a C22 - without a dinghy. I 
just borrowed an inflatable once to ferry some passengers to shore and back 
at anchor near the state park here. BTW: the inflatable was almost worthless 
in the 3 ft. surf!

A lot of it depends on whether you plan on anchoring or docking. At most 
Pacific NW anchorages you don't have a nice sandy bottom to wade in on; so 
you can probably rule that out. Although the hard dinghy I have now is 
wonderful - it sails too and is great for that early season "sailing fix" 
while your C22 is in for repairs & upgrades - I don't see any easy way to 
trailer both C22 and hard dinghy together. Instead I'll be sailing the C22 
to my slip in Canada and towing the dinghy back and forth on a trailer. I 
did figure out that the 10' Walker Bay would fit over the cockpit with one 
end resting on the pop-top and the other end on the transom ... assuming the 
boom were pushed out of the way. That's when I was looking at the dinghy as 
a potential "boom tent". But it wouldn't be easy to wrestle it up there.

The San Juan and Gulf Islands are super for cruising - we spent a week there 
in the fall. My favorite guides: "Cruising Guide to Puget Sound and the San 
Juan Islands" by Migael Scherer, "Gulf Islands & Vancouver Island: Victoria 
& Sooke to Nanaimo; A Dreamspeaker Cruising Guide", by Anne & Laurence 
Yeadon-Jones, and of course "Current Atlas: Juan de Fuca Strait to Strait of 
Georgia" by the Canadian Hydrographic Service". If you sail at the right 
place at the right time a nice 2 to 4 knot tidal current will get you to 
where you want to go!

Robert Bemben
Bliss Twp., Michigan
1991 C22 wing keel
Sail # 15185
"Jib Dance"

>From: "Ken G. Brown" <[email-masked]>
>Reply-To: [email-masked]
>To: [email-masked]
>Subject: Re: [Catalina-22] Sailing without a dinghy - Opinions please
>Date: Thu, 10 May 2007 23:31:39 -0600
>
>I've heard of or seen that one a few times, maybe I'd better snap it 
>up...done!
>I've got a few of those type of books for north of the border but none for 
>the San Juans.
>Thx,
>Ken
>
>Ken G. Brown, Leduc, Alberta, Canada
>1988 C22 Swing Keel #14764 - CTYH4764F888 - Sail# 103
>
>At 9:54 PM -0700 5/10/07, Dick Reynolds wrote:
> >Ken, you probably need a dinghy but to see what it's all about get a copy 
>of " Gunkholing in the San Juan Islands" by Jo Bailey and Carl Nyberg. It's 
>published by San Juan Enterprises, Inc. of Seattle Wash. It is a 
>comprehensive crusing guide covering from Deception Pass to the Canadian 
>border. It covers every place you could hope to drop your hook in all 173 
>islands. It has charts , photographs, and tidbits on everything.
> >Dick Reynolds
> >Lebanon, Ore.
> >----- Original Message ----- From: "Ken G. Brown" <[email-masked]>
> >To: <[email-masked]>
> >Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2007 6:08 PM
> >Subject: [Catalina-22] Sailing without a dinghy - Opinions please
> >
><>
>--
>
>

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From: "Ken G. Brown" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 11 May 2007 11:58:37 -0600

>Ken,
>I sailed all of last year - my first year with a C22 - without a dinghy. I just borrowed an inflatable once to ferry some passengers to shore and back at anchor near the state park here. BTW: the inflatable was almost worthless in the 3 ft. surf!
>
>A lot of it depends on whether you plan on anchoring or docking. At most Pacific NW anchorages you don't have a nice sandy bottom to wade in on; so you can probably rule that out. Although the hard dinghy I have now is wonderful - it sails too and is great for that early season "sailing fix" while your C22 is in for repairs & upgrades - I don't see any easy way to trailer both C22 and hard dinghy together. Instead I'll be sailing the C22 to my slip in Canada and towing the dinghy back and forth on a trailer. I did figure out that the 10' Walker Bay would fit over the cockpit with one end resting on the pop-top and the other end on the transom ... assuming the boom were pushed out of the way. That's when I was looking at the dinghy as a potential "boom tent". But it wouldn't be easy to wrestle it up there.

The one that's looking the most feasible to me is the Porta-Bote folding boat. It should fit up along the lifelines towards the bow, and be unfoldable when required with some effort. Not likely doable under rough conditions but who would want to be out there in the little boat then anyway.

>The San Juan and Gulf Islands are super for cruising - we spent a week there in the fall.

Yeah, getting out and about out there is my dream.

> My favorite guides: "Cruising Guide to Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands" by Migael Scherer,

Thx for the recommendation...just one clicked it from Amazon! I do that too often it seems.

> "Gulf Islands & Vancouver Island: Victoria & Sooke to Nanaimo; A Dreamspeaker Cruising Guide", by Anne & Laurence Yeadon-Jones,

Got it already.

> and of course "Current Atlas: Juan de Fuca Strait to Strait of Georgia" by the Canadian Hydrographic Service". If you sail at the right place at the right time a nice 2 to 4 knot tidal current will get you to where you want to go!

Will check this out. I have done the courses but have not yet stocked up on the tides and current info.

<>
-- 
Thx,
Ken