Com-Pac Yacht Owners Association

I hope that this is an appropriate place to post this thought..    I have spent considerable time  trying to envision what it will be like to spend 3 or 4 weeks  on Adagio  as I  make my way from Barnegat Bay  to Lake Champlain this coming season ( post Sandy repairs, of course!)

I found this to be an inspiration..   i was reading the duckworks news letter earlier in the week  and noticed a post there about a fellow from Nazareth PA  who shipped his boat  ( 15 1/2 feet)  to Finland and then spent 3 and a half months cruising Europe..  well, the story caught my eye for a number of reasons.   pretty small boat,  i used to live in Nazareth,  3 and  a half months!!

so i wrote to the fellow, asking if he had any experience with the trip i am contemplating.   he wrote back and shared this thread 

http://renevidmer.com/boat.pdf

if you happen to dream about doing the great loop.  this is for you!   if he can do it in his boat,  any one of the compacs would surely be a candidate..  maybe not for the whole family,  but, apparently,  he travels solo..   enjoy!    jt

i spent 30 days in a starwind 19 sailing the keys.  very doable.

also, look up the book, the unlikely voyage of jack de crow.  it's about a fellow who sailed a 10' mirror dingy from south wales to the black sea.  quite humorous.

remember, anything is possible with the right planning and the correct attitude!


carl

JT:
   Wow..great tale.  Check out Tinkerbell and Yankee Girl. I guess you can google 'em.
   I suppose it depends on who your'e sailing with. My wife and I would murder each other. I'd be more inclined to sail solo.
Bob23

I second that one Bob, Id be on on the smaller boat but my wife is another story.  Also depends on how far away from land your willing to go in a small boat.  Im hopeing to make a run at the keys again this summer for a month.  Koinonia will have a bigger diesel and a 20 gallon tank instead of that dinky 11 gallon tank!  Id love the launching ability of the CP19!

That guy took a very interesting route!  When I was little I remember a guy kayaking the great loop.  guy had a small mast and a pole that came out to help hold the paddle so he didnt have to hold up its full weight.

If you happened to enjoy that story,  you should check this one out..  http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/13/outings/rene/index.htm

This is pat two....     http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/13/outings/rene/index2.htm

Adveturous is not quite adequate to described this fellow!     

I agree that careful planning can go a long way towards increasing the odds of success.   As supportive as my wife has been,  I suspect that the Lake Champlain trip would be pushing the envelope for her.   At this point,  she may join me for a segment.   I am hoping that my son might be available for a segment as wee.   When it comes to planning,  however,  I am not counting on any crew.    Jt

JT,

It all depends on what you define as "cruising" and the creature comforts you expect to enjoy along the way.

Long and short "cruises" have been undertaken in smallish boats by both experienced and inexperienced skippers to varying degrees of success and "enjoyment".

I recently joined the West Coast Trailer Sailing Squadron on a 3 day cruise to a nice anchorage on one of the Gulf Islands of Charlotte Harbor, SW Florida. I sailed and lived aboard solo on my modified 17' Com Pac Sun Cat "Frisky" and had a wonderful time.

In addition to having a boat that sails reasonably well (and safely), the two most important activities that contribute most to really enjoyable cruising are EATING WELL and SLEEPING WELL. So make sure that your boat is  well equipped and prepared for these activities.

Here are a few pics that illustrate my mods for the EATING WELL function.

A homemade Storage Module with large working countertop.

(http://i1125.photobucket.com/albums/l594/CPYOA/Com%20-%20Pac%20Sun%20Cat%20Storage/IMG_0275.jpg)

A Ham & Cheddar Cheese Omlet with hot coffee and buttered toast!

(http://i1125.photobucket.com/albums/l594/CPYOA/Com%20-%20Pac%20Sun%20Cat%20Storage/IMG_0277.jpg)

Definitely FOOD for thought!

capt_nemo

hey.. looks like you have your priorities straight!    i  tend to be satisfied with very little..  so, i think that it should be relatively comfortable..   we have slept on the boat a number of times over the past two years, so i am confident that it will be no problem to sleep well at night.   i have found that an afternoon nap in the cockpit is very nice too!    i like your set up for your cooking arrangement. thanks for sharing...    at this point.  i have a one burner / pot set up  hanging on the aft bulkhead.  that seems to do well for heating water for tea and making soup.    i need to make other provisions for scrambling eggs!      jt

   Although I've made no long extended voyages on my 23, I find it's a comfortable boat to sleep on. My cushions are original though so a Thermarest sleeping bag pad adds lots of comfort.
I fly a riding sail while we're anchored or at her mooring. That, along with a 2nd anchor, practically reduces swing to zilch. Depending on where you stop, that might not be a factor...or it might. I would imagine a trial 1 week shakedown cruise would be in order.
  In a recent issue of Small Craft Advisor, there is an article about sailing non refrigerated. It's a condensed article which appeared in Good Old Boat about a year ago, maybe more. A family of 5 liveaboards (including 3  boys) sails extensively on the East coast and the Caribbean (don't quote me on that) without ice or refrigeration of any kind and they've really thought it out well. If you'd like, I could scan it an email or you probably can find it on GOB's site. Just remembered the authors name: Connie McBride.
  I'd bring some small weights...a lack of excercise can make one lethargic.
Bob23
Nemo- That's a great looking omelette...is that a Suncat option? One nice thing about eggs is they need no refrigeration.

good morning , Bob.   i recall reading that article in good old boat.  as a matter of fact,  when i posted this last night, i was sitting in barnes and noble, enjoying a cup of tea and reading the current edition of good old boat!    i have also been visiting  a site  from a designer up in maine, who promotes a rather minimalist approach to cruising and who also suggests that, along with a lot of other complicated systems, one should consider forgetting about refrigeration when planning a sustainable cruising situation.    i think that having expectations that we can bring all of the conveniences of home to a liveabord experience ( particularly on a 23 foot boat )  would insure failure..    I am looking forward to documenting my experience this summer.. thinking of buying an inexpensive video camera to bring along.   I sure am anxious to see how it all works out!  in a conversation that i had with a friend a few months ago, i described an experience from childhood..    my grandparents had a cabin on the deleware river, north of Easton PA.  we rarely went there, but i can still remember how excited i would get to be around the dock and the boats when we did happen to visit.   and i loved the opportunity to get into the "speedboat "  ( it had a 20 hp johnson engine)    and go out on the river..  but, what a disappointment to find the just up stream , there was a set of rapids  and less than a mile downstream, there was another set of rapids..  " what was the point, i thought..  you couldn't really go anywhere in the boat!"   i have been dreaming of a cruise ever since :)

Single handed? A 20 foot Flicka or 26 foot Hinterhoeller Yacht, Nonsuch Ultra would be great, IMHO.

skip.

   It would be great to follow your cruise via video. I think your CP 23 would do just fine. It's funny, how that wanderlust gets planted in us from an early age and just needs to resurface. Ironically, I just bought Sterling Hayden's book "Wanderer". I had a flashback, upon opening the book that I was Bilbo and all the dwaves were in my house with Gandalf....and the Tookish side was winning! The thirst for adventure would win out in the end!
   I had the same experience while vacationing on Budd Lake in NJ as a kid. We had access to an aluminum rowboat and me, spotting something white on the other side of the lake, decided to "go for a row to find out more about it". After a long time, I reached it only to find out it was a discarded washing machine and the row/rescue back is another story (in Messing about) but I just had to find out what that white thing was!!!!!! I still do!
Bob23

My longest cruises so far on the 23 have been the 4 night BEER cruises in Pensacola.  I could easily extend to a longer cruise but not sure my wife could.  She kind of got used to those 8-10 day Carribean bareboat charter cruises on a 38' CC Endeavour and a 42' CC Hunter Passage.  Have to admit those were nice.  For her, standing head room and a decent head made all the difference.  The center cockpit boats also really give a nice master stateroom aft.  

So I guess I could go smaller, even much smaller, but I'd be by myself. : :(

Really like Capt Nemo's ingenious drop ins.  The sliding drawer for the ice chest is on my sketch board as we speak but will come out from the normal place under the companion way steps.  I just bought a water jug like his that will hold two gallons and fit over the bulkhead cuttout between the main and forward cabins, going to make a little platform that will clamp there for it to sit on.  Just for potable water, don't like drinking the tank water, just never quite sure about purity and how non-toxic that antifreeze actually is.  Still struggling with a table design that will work in the cockpit and the cabin, raised enough to get your knees under it with ample room for two to dine, that can be stored under a cockpit seat.  Got a sketch pad full of rejected designs.

Hey JT:
I really liked our C27.

Our family of two adults and 3 daughters all under 11 cruised for about 30 days covering all sights between the New River (river) and the Pamlico river in NC.  We had a bullet proof Boston Whaler dingy that we trusted the girls with at anchorages.  It was a good time on a boat that was just the right size for us. 

I often wounder if one of the CPYOA members now owns the boat?  It was named the Windrunner and had a stained glass compass rose in the top drop-board.

regards charlie

charley..  sounds like you have some great memories!     if there were more than two of us,  we would have to move up to a larger boat.. but the short term and long range outlook is that my wife and i will be the only ones really using the boat..  and  i just might end up ding a fair amount of single handing  in the near future..  so the 23 should be very comfortable!   when i lived in NH, a colleague of mine had a 27.  he was the one who introduced me to compacs, actually.   we sailed it on lake winnipesaukee..    i think that it came from florida.     he had a surveyor look at it,  and when he got a positive report, he bought the boat sight unseen..   it all worked out well..   and i was very pleased to find a compac when  i started looking at boats!   jt

JT,
Suzie and I would like to welcome you and your crew for a stop over on your way up the Hudson River.  We live about 8 miles from Shady Harbor Marina in New Baltimore and we would be happy to be a part of your support team. 

http://www.shadyharbormarina.com/

They have a small store and a nice restaurant there but we would gladly take you out to get supplies and come back to our house for a BBQ.   Please consider it if it works into the schedule.

Allen & Suzie

Preperation is key!! On our last trip to south fl in our27 I had things like extra water, fuel, engine water pump, starter, even injectors . After making spaghetti we discovered we had no bowls or spoons. Go figure!

Reminds me of a surf trip I took ages ago...remembered all the camp gear and pancake mix except the spatula for flipping the cakes. We used a skeg from a surfboard.
Improvisation is one of the fun side-trips to any trip.
Bob23

I cruise with my wife for three- four weeks at a time with only an over night stop at a marina every 7-10 days. This is in a Sun Cat.  We do have a custom boom tent that provides cover from rain and excessive sun. We do not use refridgeration and cook with a butane stove in the cockpit. We take 10 gallons of water in two 5 gallon containers, and a 24 case of bottled water for the time spent at anchor. We top up the supplies from our truck that we leave in the marina that acts as our central base. If we were to travel to a different marina we would have to rely on buying the supplies. All neals are caned or back packer meals. Harvest foodworks is a good one with tasty meals for two. We find precooked bacon and eggs last 4 days then we go to individual cereal boxes. We use tetra-pac milk. Lunch is canned meats and crackers or bread.
We have a lot of experience canoe tripping and the Sun Cat is an extension of that, using many of the same concepts.

wow..  so much good information!   
Allen and Suzie.  what a kind offer!   i am already looking forward to meeting you guys!   -  and  meeting up with you on Champlain as well...

ontario  ( sorry i don't know your name)   i think that we are like minded :)   i see the boat as a backpacker's dream !  so much space to pack things that otherwise would have been in my pack..  and i don't have to carry a tent or set it up each night..   i will probably go with an ice chest.. i love milk in my tea and with my granola  :)    also like cheese with my crackers  :)     raman noodles with peas and corn..     

i just discussed with my wife that i plan on spending 5 or 6 hours max  traveling ( and only on nice days )   the rest of the time i will spend exploring - rowing my dinghy, visiting sites..     getting plenty of exercise :)     probably a fair amount of reading as well ! 

koinonia - thanks for sharing the story about the bowls..   that is priceless..   jt

giving up refrigeration/ice allows for a smaller simpler boat. 8-)

Jt: you could reinvent and improve the

e Jack Benny cooler.
bob23

I am enjoying the posts. I read the man's blog where he clocked 8000 mlles in a 15 1/2 foot boat through the Eastern U.S.  The boat looked like a sailboat but I never saw sails. If that is the case, that is one heck of an advertisement for Mercury outboards.
Also enjoyed the connie mcbride article of foods requiring no refrigeration.
In my younger sailing days, I wouldn't think of sailing off for a week without an ice chest full of ice and beer.  Now, a little glass of wine at room temp  at the end of the day  is just dandy. ......and, I do not have to use the "head" nearly as often :0)

good morning mandolinut...  the blog you mentioned may well be the same that i linked to  at the beginning of this thread..  it was a very interesting read.    i am glad that you are enjoying the comments here...  good advice and very interesting perspectives..   the biggest problem that i am experiencing right now is  how to get excited about preparing to teach rules of exponents  in the dead of winter when a month long cruise from NJ to VT  looms just over the horizon :)      well,  i can allocate a few moments of our snow delay this morning to thinking about sailing through new york harbor - in fact,  i just spent half an hour on a blog that is all about that very topic..  the rest of the time..  i guess i had better start to think about exponents  :)   jt

I read somewhere that the size of the accommodations on board are meaningless because you tend to get used to the space you have.  My wife and I are comfortable with our 23 on cruises of a week or 10 days.  I have to stop at a marina every other day, especially in the summer, or I ll be sailing alone though.  We are currently planning a spring cruise - end of April or early May- from Gulfport to Anclote Key/Tarpon Springs.  Our fellow sailors in their 30-35 footers think we are nuts but we are very pleased with our little HideAway. 

Some one commented on the West Coast Trailer Sailor Assoc.  earlier -   I was the one that lured Ron Hoddinot away from his 27 Catalina when I took him sailing on my sea pearl. He sold the 27 and bought whisper -- the rest as they say is history.  When our big boat days are done I may just build one of those boats they had at Cedar Key this year and join fun    Matt       

hi Matt,  good to hear from you!    It sounds like you have plans for an interesting cruise in mind..   i certainly agree that the 23 is a pretty comfortable boat, at least as far as my limited experience is concerned.   i will let you know what i think after spending some significant time aboard  :)     I  appreciate the tips that you have offered here on the site, and look forward to hearing about your upcoming trip!  jt

JT:
   I think a copy of this is indespensable:
http://www.amazon.com/Eldridge-Tide-Pilot-Book-2013/dp/1883465192/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1358465409&sr=1-1&keywords=eldridge+tide+and+pilot+book+2013
   Your 23 will be fine. There really is a lot of room down thar.
   Here is some info on the couple that cruised 52 days in a CP 16...motorless!
http://cpyoa.geekworkshosting.com/forum/index.php?topic=4154.0
   Lookin' for a crew? Bob23

JT, your trip to Lake Champlain sounds interesting. I live in the Albany NY area and have explored parts of the canal system with my cp-16. As you approach Albany on the Hudson river you will need to drop your mast, secure it and rig for motoring through the Champlain canal. The canal starts at Waterford, and continues to the southern part of Lake Champlain in Whitehall, it is a 60 mile run through 11 locks. There are marinas, town walls and lock walls to overnight on. The locks are contacted on marine channel 13, so if you have a masthead antenna you may have to rig an alternate one or use a handheld radio. You should be able to singlehand the canal and locks without a problem.
The town of Waterford is a popular stop for Loopers as it is the east entrance to the Erie canal as well as the southern
entrance to the Champlain canal. The town allows free dockage for 2 days along with power, water, showers and wifi. It is a short walk into town to eat if you don't want to cook.  Like Eagleye I could lend a hand for support in the area, if you have specific questions my e-mail is good in the profile section, glad to help.
Mike

hi Bob.. how was your trip to Florida?  did you get over your cold?    it is going around school like crazy, and i have i now :)   thanks for the tip on  eldridge..     it will be good to have "old style" navigational aids along..   i  don't even have a smart phone!   

i think that i read about the couple's 52 day adventure on the cp16..    i visited their site and saw that they documented 4 adventures..   the sailing trip was the last one..  hmmm.   maybe 52 days on a 16 foot boat was just a bit over the limit!! :)

of course,  you would be welcome aboard Adagio anytime..  i will let you know the dates as we get closer to  summer.    i am hoping to shove off sometime in the last week of June..    I know that is a busy time for you.  but maybe you would like to join me for the northern barnegat bay,  leg of the trip :)

Mikew..   thanks for the info and the offer of support!    i bought a copy of the publication about  cruising the canals of new york..     it makes for great reading on these cold winter nights :)   let's make a point to get together for  breakfast or lunch along the way.     i heard back from the fellow with the 15 and a half foot boat who sailed both the great loop and a 3 month trip in europe.    he said that in all of his travels there was only one lock that required him to have a crew member to lock through and that it was one of the ones on the champlain canal!   not sure which one..  do you happen to know anything about that?      where do you do most of your sailing?     jt

jt, no problem to get together for lunch along the way. The canal should be OK singlehanding, I see kayaks and jet-skis do the trip. I believe north of Lake Champlain on the canal in Canada, they require 2 people on board to go through their locks. I sail my 16 on Saratoga Lake about 25m north of Albany. I was going to add- a leg of your trip to watch would be "outside" from Manasquen inlet to Sandy Hook bay. Definitely pick your weather for that one. I helped deliver a Catalina 30 from South Amboy, NJ to Annapolis and if the weather acts up, it's no fun.
Mike  

JT:
   Seriously: Maybe I could assist in the leg from the Point Pleasant Canal, through the inlet around Sandy Hook and into Raritan Bay. I'll echo Mike on his warning about the outside leg. I have not sailed there but have read enough and talked to enough folks to be cautious about it.
   It's true that it's a busy time for me but let's see how things go. My cold was an upper respiratory infection...fancy soundin, eh? The Florida sun helped out greatly...think I need a refill on that prescription.
  Eldridge's is helpful if for no other reason for it's info on tides and currents in New York Bay.
Bob23

I agree with both of you guys regarding caution on the "outside" leg of the trip..  the benefit that is on my side is that there is no time table set in stone for this trip.   i can wait for the weather to cooperate.    Nice to know that you might be interested in coming along Bob..  I won't plan on it at this point, knowing that you could be swamped with work at that time.. but let's keep that idea alive :)   It sure is fun to be looking ahead to summer as we prepare for the low temps that are forecast for the next week or so!     i saw your update on your trip to Florida after I posted the question here..  good to know that things worked out well...    i was hoping to get as far south as GA  during our spring break at the end of Feb. but it looks like that time will be devoted to making sure that the house is ready for us to move in May...  Better to spend time on that now so that I am free during the sailing season  :)   jt

Quote from: jthatcher on January 11, 2013, 03:21:35 PM

I found this to be an inspiration..   i was reading the duckworks news letter earlier in the week  and noticed a post there about a fellow from Nazareth PA  who shipped his boat  ( 15 1/2 feet)  to Finland and then spent 3 and a half months cruising Europe..  well, the story caught my eye for a number of reasons.   pretty small boat,  i used to live in Nazareth,  3 and  a half months!!

Wow, small world!  I grew up in Nazareth.  I moved to Easton 13 years ago, but my in-laws still have a large property in Nazareth, which is where I do the majority of my boat repairs, and where I keep one of my sailboats stored.  There must be something in the water...

My wife and I vacation with family near Westport Ontario, and last year took a trip to see the locks on the Rideau Canal system.  I hope to someday make a trip through the canals, the locks are really cool to watch.   we are also planning on making a voyage down the southern end of the Hudson River and around NYC at some point eventually.  Can you tell I'm getting jealous?!?!?

hi smier,
     we took a drive last weekend - back roads down to jim thorpe and then over to nazareth.  i have not been there for many years...  it was nice to drive through - we lived on mauch chunk st.   my mom served what was then the methodist church in town..  i had heard that it closed , and now is being used by a different congregation. 

it is great to hear that you also have the bug to travel in your boat.   i  i can't wait!    i am hoping to head up to maine in march to go to the maine boatbuilders show.    it has been a long time since i have attended it, and it is a bit of a trip for a weekend, but  i want to get there to talk with some folks and to pick up some items for the trip.    it has been a lot of fun beginning to plan - i am sure that i will learn a lot as i go.   i am looking forward to reporting here as i go.    next time we get down that way i will let you know..    maybe we could get together for tea and desert and sailing talk!  jt

Hey JT,

Thought I'd add my two cents re your forthcoming adventure. The following was posted on another thread, but I thought it would be of general interest to a Compac-o-naut that could meet you on the Hudson for the trip north.

If Bob23 is able to crew with JT up to the GW Bridge, I can pick Bob up at the Palisades Interstate Park Commission: Alpine Boat Basin & Picnic Area. A weekday is best as the park is jammed on weekends. Also, another Compac-o-naut can probably meet us there to help Jason with his trip up the Hudson.

How long via CP23 (figure on the motor + sail) from Tom's River to the GW bridge? The boat basin is about 3 miles north of the bridge. Can it be done on one looong June day? Remember, June 21st is the longest day of the year.

Marty K.

i agree, skip,  there are probably many different definitions of cruising..    in my case..  port to port definitely fits the bill.     i imagine  6 or so hours under sail or power, whichever makes the most sense on a given day..  the boat is a means of traveling from place to place and providing a  bed for the night..  the rest of the day?   visiting historic sites..  visiting coffee shops..   talking with local folks...   meeting other boaters...   enjoying sunsets in the cockpit with new friends.. 

  ok.   pretty idealistic eh?  like maybe it will never rain on the days that i have chosen to cruise  :)     of course there will be days when it would be best to remain at anchor..   visiting a library.  visiting coffee shops..  museums..  :)     it is all about attitude.  make the most of each day..  don't try to sail on lousy days..  make sure that i have good foul weather gear  and some great books to read...  appreciate  our country from the perspective of a waterman ... 

so..  the compac 23 sounds like a great boat to have..  a flicka would be fun..   a dana 24 would be a bit more luxurious..    a norsea 27 would be awesome..    but my 23 is paid for...   the new tohatsu will burn  a half gal  an hour when under power..  fits very nicely with our philosophy of low impact living!      jt


marty..    not sure that i will make that entire trip in one long day..  probably put in at the Atlantic highlands or anchor nearby at the end of the first day..    then on to new york!   we will keep in touch and  formulate a plan!   

JT,
Just one thought about traveling up the Hudson.  There is a tide all the way to Albany so be sure to have the tide charts so you can plan your stops to the museums and coffee shops when the tide is moving against you.
On one of our learning sails Suzie and I sailed for over an hour and traveled only a half mile.  There was only a 5-6 mph wind and I do believe we were going backwards at some points.  We finally had to start the motor because a huge ship was blowing his horn at us and we had to get out of the channel.  :)

Allen

(http://i1058.photobucket.com/albums/t403/eagleye54/P11304901_zps38a60400.jpg)

good point, Allen.  i already bought a copy of the tide charts..  i was studying them last week...  lots of good info in there!   I agree that the effective time heading upstream will be limited..  leaves  plenty of time to visit along the way! :)    thanks for including that pic..  that is quite the ship - good idea to steer clear!   

also just ordered some items from duck works..    an anchor riding sail,   a sprayer that will enable me to take warm showers in the cockpit..  an extra winch handle..  and some  tape for fixing sails..     i have quite a shopping list to take along with me to the boat show in maine next month.   hamiliton marine has a store  next to the show.. and i imagine that they will be having some show specials.   yea!!!     

we missed you last weekend..   looking forward to getting together at some point during the summer.   jt

It is interesting that the subject of large ships was brought up. I luv's them. In lake Michigan or The Bay of Green Bay an occasional ship is encountered. I give these guys a wide birth. I cast eyes upward to ascertain that the radar reflector is still perched atop the spreader, and sometimes try to radio these guys.

By the time I was a high school kid the parents had divested themselves of the schooner, the Star Boat, and had taken up houseboating by first renting, then buying houseboats to the tune of five houseboats before migrating South in a Grand Banks Trawler and a Cessna 310.

On the Eagle River and the Wisconsin River things were very calm with no large ships to contend with. We cruised from the dam with no lock up to Portage, Wisconsin where we ran out of water and pushed the houseboat across the sandbar, dropped the hook surrounded by a 1/4 mile of water in all directions and the boat would sit down into the sand. When the water was blown back in she rose and we walked her into about 18 inches of water and motored out with the 40 hp Johnson outboard cocked up till 3 foot was achieved.

Three more houseboats ratcheted through at Starved Rock Marina on the Illinois. One houseboat we motored down to New Orleans and back in 1969. On the Illinois River one encounters tow boats and trains of 13 or more barges. This was very common. These guys push water! The kid here once piloted a 38 foot houseboat with twin 383's/inboards-outboards across the wake of a tow boat more than 1/3 of a mile away after we passed each other only to be pulled into a complete 360 degree circle! Yep. Puckered my sphincter. The 'P's too.

A couple of rules for safe small boat boating around tow boats and barges on rivers.

~The marked channel guarantees 14 foot depth. Don't believe it. Sometimes the smaller boat can leave the channel. The tow boats can not.
~Tow boats and barges are deceptively speedy. More so then you think. Especially with a 3 to 4 knot downstream current.
~What the tow and barges displace in water, is pushed ahead of them.
~And what water is displaced rushes in behind them.
~Two tow boats passing each other move more water then they displace. Counter and confussed currents. Beware!
~Never enter into a lock with a tow boat or tow boat and her barges. Tow boats don't shut the screw down when locking through. Outboard in a test tank? Yep, your the 'Bobbee'.
~Commercial traffic has first locking. Tows are split, pushed through, barges tied off, tow locked back through for barges left behind. Takes all day and half the night.
~Some hazardous cargo like anhydrous ammonia are lock through without any other boats. Crew and lock personal down protective gear. Stay away from these barges when tied off.
~Motoring around waiting for a lock opening? Don't cross in front of the dam. Run her up on the beach and tie off to wait. Have lunch, walk the dog...
~Tow boats and barges take to the outside of a curve. Take the inside of the turn they can not make. Toot the horn accordingly.
~Barges sometimes brake loose from the tow or when tied off. Do not be where these things are going to drift or be blown to. Just a tap will sink a small boat.
~I forget the size...each barge is about 250 foot long, 110 foot wide and draws 13 foot. So say 20 barges displace 30,000 ton of water. The houseboat is only 4 ton.

On the river we like to dodge in behind a spit of land that creates a dead end lagoon 45 foot wide and 100 foot long and run her up onto the mud. Run the spring lines out, the gang way out, and spend the night. When a tow comes by the water pushed rushes into the lagoon and the boat rises up pulling hard on one spring line. The water 'hangs high' for five minutes and then departs driving the stern and out drives into the mud. The whole lagoon empties of water and the fish and turtles flop around till the houseboat is floating again. This goes on all day and all night. But it is far better being here, tucked away, then out in the river proper.

And that's cruising on the river.
We were heading up river from New Orleans and the lock master hands my dad a letter with a colorful Crayon drawing on the envelope of our houseboat, addressed to "Master Craig Weis on the Mississippi River, down stream of Alton, Illinois." My H.S. girlfriend Laurie Potts was bright enough to send her letter to me to a lock and dam combo where it waited for us to catch up to it. How cool was that? 

Here we are behind one of those dead end spits with rising and lowering water as per tow boat passing. Note gang plank.

hi skip,
  thanks for sharing those experiences..  it sounds like you were born into a very cool family!     I went to college at Duquesne University in pittsburgh,  and i often sat up on the bluff, watching the towboats on the Mon..   I always thought that i would enjoy working on a tow boat..  in fact, i was just looking at pictures of them last evening..    at this point in life,  i don't think that i would want to be out on deck, handling heavy objects that could cause my back to spasm in an instant,  and i do not have the background to work in the engine room..but..   i think that i would do just fine in the kitchen..  :)   i enjoy cooking and baking..  and i have periodically dreamed of living the life of a cook on a towboat..   28 days on and 28 days off..   i think that i could find something interesting to do on those 28 days off!   and, although i have no direct experience,   i can only imagine that   a good cook is an essential for ingredient for maintaining a contented crew..     hmm..   anyone know of any cook jobs on towboats??   jt

  Skip, I have to say that I love your stories and pictures!  I have 3 children, ages 9,7, and 5.  I hope that they will someday look back fondly at helping me fix up and sail my old boats.  Surprisingly enough, my 2 girls (7 & 5), seem to enjoy sailing the most.  My wife and son aren't completely sold on it just yet entirely.  One of the ideas my wife does like, is the idea of a leisurely paced sail down a portion of the Hudson, stopping along the way to explore various towns, and finishing up in NYC.
 My idea has been to tow the boat north and have a buddy or my inlaws bring my truck and trailer south and meet us a week or two later.  My problem is, for me sailing and the challenges faced is a vacation, I enjoy the adventure.  To my wife sailing is fun, but it borders on work, so if I want her to sail with me I have to make it fun an relaxing for her.  It's also one of the reasons I will be sticking with easily trailerable boats for the foreseeable future.
  Sorry, I just realized that I have once again derailed your thread...  I love  day dreaming about this stuff!

hey smier,
    we did not hear from you when we got together for dinner last month..  i hope that you saw the posting!   i think that we are going to try for a spring gathering  down in jersey.  i will be sure to let you know..   good to hear that you are interested in a sail on the hudson.   if all goes according to plan, i will be heading north sometime towards the end of june..   we are headed up to the maine boat builder's show this weekend..  going to meet bob there..   it has been over 13 years since i last attended the show.. of course, then it was a lot easier because i lived in NH!   it is actually a 3 fold  adventure..   take my wife to the show for her first visit..  meet Bob  and Bill thomas - a maine boat builder -  there..    and then get together and stay over night with some friends in brunswick..    and, if my wife's knee is up to it,  maybe a short hike as well :)     

Sorry JT, I missed the message somehow...  Hopefully next time, it'd be really cool to meet some of you guys finally.  What type of gathering are you guys thinking about?  I'll be watching for some reports on the show this weekend, sounds like fun!
  I used to travel for work, and I have crossed the Hudson via I-84, 287, and I-95 probably at least a thousand times when I had my own tractor trailer(We used to haul fly-ash from a coal fired power plant in Salem, Mass back to Pa sometimes 5 or 6 trips a week).  I was always fascinated by the sail boats traveling on the Hudson (a couple of times I actually saw some type of a tall ship on the Hudson) and started dreaming about how cool it would be to sail down thru the beautiful Hudson valley scenery and then past NYC.  My other dream trip, which would be great for a shoal draft boat, would be Tangier Island on the Chesapeake Bay.

interesting..  i can't say that i made the trip anywhere near 1000 times, but surely between a hundred and two hundred..   we traveled back and forth between nh and pa  constantly as i lived up there for over 16 years.  in fact,  i just made the trip two weeks ago..  and i still get excited to see what kind of boats or ships i might see from the 84 bridge!   

i sent for the NY canal guide  and they have a section in there on the hudson.. there are a lot of great things to see along the way. 

tangier island sounds like a whole lot of fun as well.   as a teacher, i can't complain about potential vacation time, but  it never coincides with the best time ( spring or fall) to be on the chesapeake..   i find jersey to be almost prohibitively hot in july and august..  i could not imagine being on the water down there during the summer!

i will be sure to let you know about any plans we make in the future..  the spring gathering will probably be a dinner get together..  but i am sure that bob will be planning another barnegat bay gathering during the summer as well..   

let me know if you happen to go down to nockamixon and need a crew.. if i can make it, i would be happy to go along..   jt

Indeed, a Barnegat Bay Bash 2013 will be planned. Hopefully the Bay will not have been too damaged by Hurricane Sandy. I've seen the survey boats out checking out the ICW with sonor. There are still a lot of boats unaccounted for. And cars. And some homes or parts of homes.
Smier:
   We will be planning a Spring dinner down here in the South of NJ. During the winter, the faithful and brave attendees of the Barnegat Bay Bash 2012 version 2.0 met in PA for a fine dinner. We discussed a 2nd similiar get together down here...I'd like to pick a place on the water. The Dutchmans german restaurant is literally on the water and gives a good view of the Barnegat Lighthouse, now a recommisioned navigational aid.
Bob23...the chief thread drifter.

Count me and my 1st Mate in! On the water? Gee, I thought you might be rustle'n up some crabs 'n beer on Koinoia! But, The Dutchman sounds just fine... can't wait, salivating already! Mmmm... saurbraten mit kartofen salad und ein stein Heiniken, yum, yum.

Marty K.

And, to get back on thread, bigger is better - but isn't a ComPac 23 a "big" little boat? I'm sure Adagio is more than up to the task, the real question is: Is jt? (I'm sure he is)

And for BBB-2013 - How about on Talk Like a Pirate Day? Thursday, September 19th. Maybe we can do T,F,S,S! Eh mateys? Arrg!  ;D