We don’t face the melting-ice issue here in the Northwest, but we live aboard our 30-foot motor cruiser all winter and start cruising in early May, almost always heading north from the Port Townsend area to revisit favorite anchorages in the San Juan Islands before meandering into the Gulf Islands of B.C. Best cruising months around here are May and September, avoiding the crowded back bays and marinas of mid-summer. During the June, July and August period we enjoy shorter cruises south into all corners of Puget Sound; we especially love South Sound.
Don't forgot to send us a favorite photo from your cruising grounds and if we get a few we'll post them as a follow-up. To josh@smallcraftadvisor.com —Eds
I will be sailing with the Southern California Potter Yachters from the Long Beach/San Pedro (CA) area to Catalina Island beginning on June 18. This is an annual trip and we usually have about 6-7 small sailboats (16-22 feet) making the journey. We sail to Two Harbors which is much more quiet than Avalon. Several sailors stay a full week, but I plan to stay three nights this year. There is more information on the SoCal Potter facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/groups/842538882462093/
We sail on a lake in North Texas. My wife and I race a Flying Scot in a fleet here during 6 or 7 months of the year, and occasionally "cruise" even during the dead of winter. My brother and I are completing Scamp #560, which has been in the works for two years. Hopefully it will make its debut by the end of May. We're all in our 70s, btw.
Yeah, there's always someone younger or in better health and having perhaps aged better that tells me such things. Heh. In my mind at least I'm still a sailor.
Keep this in mind you don't stop sailing because you get old. You get old because you stop sailing!! Well, that's what they tell me anyway. I was sailing until last year but got old anyway!!!!
Norman, I own 2 boats and a dingy. You can borrow one of mine! They are on Oahu though, so you will need to come here to retrieve one. Yes, I have a boat problem! :P
The Salish Sea, South Puget Sound, San Juan Islands, Canadian Gulf Islands. I've done the Salish 100 cruise the last 3 years aboard my 15 ft. Devlin Nancy's China sloop. I crew on my friends Sabre 32 in the San Juans and Gulf Islands. Now that I've sold my Beneteau 343, I'll be looking for a smaller cruiser I can keep at a slip in Olympia, WA.
I'll sail and wind-surf mostly my local lake here in Austria; plus there will be some camp-cruising my Goat Island Skiff in the Venetian Lagoon and in the Kornati archipelago in the Croatian Adriatic.
Have my Hobie Adventure Island on a sand stake in Alamitos Bay, Long Beach, CA. Mostly sail in the outer harbor, inside the longest man-made breakwater in the world. Hope to get out to Catalina; did it on my Hobie 16 40 years ago but haven't had the courage yet on the tri.
Western Lake Erie, the islands in a north south string between Sandusky OH and Leamington, Ontario Canada. 36' American Tug trawler and 24' Limestone power boat. Looking for the right sailboat after a 20 some year gap from a 24' Bristol Corsair.
Phoebe, Thanks for the thought. At 83 and still boating, canoeing, and hiking two Labradors, I fear the Beneteau is the motor cycle I will never race. The Marshall 22 or 18 cat boats or the Australian Cygnet 20 recently reviewed, are more the laid back ideas I had in mind. John
Yes the Marshall and the others look very cozy indeed! However, the First 27 has the allure of no teak — while I *can* varnish well, I don’t regard it as my vocation!
I had the 24’ Bristol Corsair for 27 years. It came to me with varnished mahogany cockpit sides and hatch boards. Every year strip and over the winter seven or eight coats of varnish. The Limestone was new and has lots of teak in the cockpit. Not wanting to do varnish again we tried teak oil. Each of 34 years we touch up a few spots with oil on a paper towel. No sanding, no multiple coats. The trawler has no teak outside.
My objection to the 27 First is that at 83 I can’t move around fast enough to keep up with that kind of sailing. Thanks for the suggestion and conversation.
I sail in Buzzards Bay fro late May to early October aboard a Cape Dory Typhoon named Just Now (from the expression used in Bequia meaning…any time between now and never)
The heavy keel keeps me upright crossing the Cape Cod Canal channel that has a steep chop when the usual strong SW wind blows against tide and combines with the wake of a freighter.
It’s fast as well and can sail me out to Cleveland ledge Light across to Marion and home to Red Brook Harbor in a day.
The upper part of Buzzards Bay has myriad bays and coves to explore for a small day sailer. I am grateful for my own mooring since transient anchorages and moorings in July and August are in short supply.
My trailer sailer, a 20 ft Blockley Privateer (YARRR MATEY!!!), is based out of the Saint Michael's area in the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay. I'm about to head over this weekend to do a full clean and disinfect, and then a combined systems sailing test of both the sails (she's gaf rigged), and a tohatsu propane sailrite motor. This year is all about getting to know my mini pirate boat, and getting her setup for some sail camping trips in the Chesapeake this summer. Hope to make a big trip to Virginia Beach and back. Or maybe to the border of Maryland and Virginia and back. Or just to Tangier's island? I had no idea how freaking massive the Chesapeake was until I sailed into the middle of it on the second sail after I got my boat last year in October. Right now I got a buddy who I helped rebuild his boats out in Bermuda teaching me, but I hope to single hand it later this year. I really want to explore this not quite but almost inland sea right next door to me.
And say, how come Florida got the Everglades Challenge, Texas has the Texas 200, Washington's got the Race to Alaska, but the Chesapeake's got... nuthin like that?! What gives?
We don’t face the melting-ice issue here in the Northwest, but we live aboard our 30-foot motor cruiser all winter and start cruising in early May, almost always heading north from the Port Townsend area to revisit favorite anchorages in the San Juan Islands before meandering into the Gulf Islands of B.C. Best cruising months around here are May and September, avoiding the crowded back bays and marinas of mid-summer. During the June, July and August period we enjoy shorter cruises south into all corners of Puget Sound; we especially love South Sound.
Don't forgot to send us a favorite photo from your cruising grounds and if we get a few we'll post them as a follow-up. To josh@smallcraftadvisor.com —Eds
I will be sailing with the Southern California Potter Yachters from the Long Beach/San Pedro (CA) area to Catalina Island beginning on June 18. This is an annual trip and we usually have about 6-7 small sailboats (16-22 feet) making the journey. We sail to Two Harbors which is much more quiet than Avalon. Several sailors stay a full week, but I plan to stay three nights this year. There is more information on the SoCal Potter facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/groups/842538882462093/
Video of a 2021 sail is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dLPyg335xo
Traditional Small Craft, kayak or Hobie Cat. Anything without a keel!
The Western Lake Erie Islands were the waters where I grew up sailing~
We sail on a lake in North Texas. My wife and I race a Flying Scot in a fleet here during 6 or 7 months of the year, and occasionally "cruise" even during the dead of winter. My brother and I are completing Scamp #560, which has been in the works for two years. Hopefully it will make its debut by the end of May. We're all in our 70s, btw.
Yeah, there's always someone younger or in better health and having perhaps aged better that tells me such things. Heh. In my mind at least I'm still a sailor.
Since I unfortunately no longer have a boat all of my sailing will be from memory. Thankfully, I still have a good memory!!
Second this, Norman. Somehow, after over fifty years of sailing, I got old..er....
Keep this in mind you don't stop sailing because you get old. You get old because you stop sailing!! Well, that's what they tell me anyway. I was sailing until last year but got old anyway!!!!
Norman, I own 2 boats and a dingy. You can borrow one of mine! They are on Oahu though, so you will need to come here to retrieve one. Yes, I have a boat problem! :P
Coastal N. Carolina's rivers, bays, sounds, marsh trails and inlets~
Getting geared up for Summer Sailstice!! ♡
Thank you for the Like. What do you sail in that beautiful area?
The Salish Sea, South Puget Sound, San Juan Islands, Canadian Gulf Islands. I've done the Salish 100 cruise the last 3 years aboard my 15 ft. Devlin Nancy's China sloop. I crew on my friends Sabre 32 in the San Juans and Gulf Islands. Now that I've sold my Beneteau 343, I'll be looking for a smaller cruiser I can keep at a slip in Olympia, WA.
I'll sail and wind-surf mostly my local lake here in Austria; plus there will be some camp-cruising my Goat Island Skiff in the Venetian Lagoon and in the Kornati archipelago in the Croatian Adriatic.
Have my Hobie Adventure Island on a sand stake in Alamitos Bay, Long Beach, CA. Mostly sail in the outer harbor, inside the longest man-made breakwater in the world. Hope to get out to Catalina; did it on my Hobie 16 40 years ago but haven't had the courage yet on the tri.
Newport, RI, Narragansett Bay, Sakonnett River, Cuttyhunk & Martha’s Vineyard.
Western Lake Erie, the islands in a north south string between Sandusky OH and Leamington, Ontario Canada. 36' American Tug trawler and 24' Limestone power boat. Looking for the right sailboat after a 20 some year gap from a 24' Bristol Corsair.
Im looking at the new Beneteau First 27 as a pocket cruiser
Phoebe, Thanks for the thought. At 83 and still boating, canoeing, and hiking two Labradors, I fear the Beneteau is the motor cycle I will never race. The Marshall 22 or 18 cat boats or the Australian Cygnet 20 recently reviewed, are more the laid back ideas I had in mind. John
Yes the Marshall and the others look very cozy indeed! However, the First 27 has the allure of no teak — while I *can* varnish well, I don’t regard it as my vocation!
I had the 24’ Bristol Corsair for 27 years. It came to me with varnished mahogany cockpit sides and hatch boards. Every year strip and over the winter seven or eight coats of varnish. The Limestone was new and has lots of teak in the cockpit. Not wanting to do varnish again we tried teak oil. Each of 34 years we touch up a few spots with oil on a paper towel. No sanding, no multiple coats. The trawler has no teak outside.
My objection to the 27 First is that at 83 I can’t move around fast enough to keep up with that kind of sailing. Thanks for the suggestion and conversation.
John
I sail in Buzzards Bay fro late May to early October aboard a Cape Dory Typhoon named Just Now (from the expression used in Bequia meaning…any time between now and never)
The heavy keel keeps me upright crossing the Cape Cod Canal channel that has a steep chop when the usual strong SW wind blows against tide and combines with the wake of a freighter.
It’s fast as well and can sail me out to Cleveland ledge Light across to Marion and home to Red Brook Harbor in a day.
The upper part of Buzzards Bay has myriad bays and coves to explore for a small day sailer. I am grateful for my own mooring since transient anchorages and moorings in July and August are in short supply.
My trailer sailer, a 20 ft Blockley Privateer (YARRR MATEY!!!), is based out of the Saint Michael's area in the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay. I'm about to head over this weekend to do a full clean and disinfect, and then a combined systems sailing test of both the sails (she's gaf rigged), and a tohatsu propane sailrite motor. This year is all about getting to know my mini pirate boat, and getting her setup for some sail camping trips in the Chesapeake this summer. Hope to make a big trip to Virginia Beach and back. Or maybe to the border of Maryland and Virginia and back. Or just to Tangier's island? I had no idea how freaking massive the Chesapeake was until I sailed into the middle of it on the second sail after I got my boat last year in October. Right now I got a buddy who I helped rebuild his boats out in Bermuda teaching me, but I hope to single hand it later this year. I really want to explore this not quite but almost inland sea right next door to me.
And say, how come Florida got the Everglades Challenge, Texas has the Texas 200, Washington's got the Race to Alaska, but the Chesapeake's got... nuthin like that?! What gives?
The Neuse River, North Carolina. From New Bern to Oriental. And Kerr Lake (Buggs Island) on the border of Virginia and North Carolina