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Range of the Catalina25

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Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
5352 Posts

Initially Posted - 06/22/2008 : 23:16:05

I left for my five day trip on Thursday morning at 7AM, and had the boat stocked with snacks, a cooler full of supplies and all the equipment I needed for the trip.

We had beautiful weather, and a good beam reach all the way out. I started out motoring at 5kts, then the wind picked up and I was making 4.3kts against the current and 5.4kts with!

Charts, GPS and Compass made piloting the trip very easy.

Here are the photos on my first day out.

Ready to go and ready for anything:

Leaving the river, entering Long Island Sound:

Passing Falkners Island, 20 miles down the course.

Passing Hammonasset State Beach and Meigs Point. Building fair weather clouds

Secure at Pilots Point marina in Westbrook CT, and in for the night

My plan was to sail from Stratford to Westbrook on day 1, about 35 miles.

On day two, sail to Saybrook Point, then through the Connecticut River entrance channel, then to the railroad drawbridge about 2 miles up and proceed 6 more miles up to Essex. A short, but potentially complicated route.

Day 3 I'd be involved in Power Squadron activities all day in Essex.

Day 4 was to be another 35 mile run toward home and day 5 would have been another short hop: this time from Branford to Stratford.

Essex is the quintessential quaint New England village with the white churches and steeples, bed and breakfast and a whaling museum.

At the start of day two, the weather forecast for my return trip consisted of: rain in the morning, with heavy rain and thunder in the afternoon. Temperatures in the mid-60's with southerly winds building to 15 to 20 in the afternoon. Waves 3-4 feet. Visibility less than 1 mile in showers and thunderstorms.

At this point, the words "make decisions based on conditions" echoed in my ears. On the other hand, the weather for day 2 and day 3 were perfect - sunny, warm and good breezes. Nothing like day four's prediction.

But, nothing changes faster in New England than the weather.

I was faced with the decision either to turn left and go on to Essex as I'd intended, or to turn right, and make a 35 mile sail back to Stratford and bag the trip.

I chose the latter - to err on the side of caution.

We've all been in that nasty weather situation: soaked to the bone from head to toe, getting knocked around by broaching waves and being downright cold! Brrrr. 60s don't seem so bad, but when you're wet and it's windy, it's absolute misery.

Been there, done that, don't want to do it again.

As things would go, the forecast was only a little wrong - temps were in the 70's. But I'm still very glad I did not make the original trip.

Now, if anybody asks me the range of a Cat 25 I'll tell them...
... I sailed 35 miles in 8 hours, could have done another 10 no sweat.

I'll probably do another similar voyage just after the 4th of July weekend. I really learned a lot about the boat, about sailing [short] distances in a C-25 and a lot about my abilities.

Fair winds!

Bruce Ross
Passage ~ SR-FK ~ C25 #5032

Port Captain � Milford, CT

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JohnP
Master Marine Consultant

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1520 Posts

Response Posted - 06/23/2008 : 12:17:45

Bruce,
You'll have lots of other occassions for trips like this - Good decision! Thanks for the nice pix.

Summer's here! I spent all weekend in the garden picking raspberries, mulching, and staking tomatoes, and not a minute sailing. But I got some vicarious sailing from your trip!

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Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 06/23/2008 : 13:02:24

I sneaked a peek at Passage on the dock in Stratford today--she looks happy with her new toys (solar panel, hatch cover,...) and beautiful brightwork. She's in good hands!

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stampeder
Master Marine Consultant

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1608 Posts

Response Posted - 06/23/2008 : 20:18:43

thanx for the posting, and for asking the original question. Very interesting.

Are those solar lights by your winches?

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Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
5352 Posts

Response Posted - 06/26/2008 : 21:32:04

Mike -
My pleasure, and I hope to do a few more overnights and multi-nights - if only the dog-gone thunderstorms would quit for a while here in CT.

Yes, one of my slip-mates put solar lights on their boat since Brewers' slip lights have all burned out, so I had a few in my garage that fit.

You'd be surprised - on a dark moonless night - how much light they produce.

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jbkayaker
Captain

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USA
299 Posts

Response Posted - 07/02/2008 : 14:44:24

"Building fair weather clouds" seems like wishful thinking to me. Those billowing up cumulus clouds are what precedes cumulo-nimbus clouds and thunderstorms.

Edited by - jbkayaker on 07/02/2008 14:45:41

Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 07/02/2008 : 15:48:06

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by jbkayaker
 "Building fair weather clouds" seems like wishful thinking to me. Those billowing up cumulus clouds are what precedes cumulo-nimbus clouds and thunderstorms.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">That's always possible, but on the CT shore, those storms will normally migrate NE away from the shore. Those clouds are standard on warm summer afternoons--caused by heat on land pushing the air upward, in turn causing a southerly sea breeze off Long Island Sound. A similar row of puffy clouds usually forms over Long Island.

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