C-P 27 on the Chesapeake

[Nicolina]

I am considering to buy a 27 for family sailing on the Chesapeake. Is there any owner out there who'd like to discuss his/her ownership experience and perhaps let me come along for a short sail?

[kchunk]

Hi there Nicolina! I don't have a 27 but I used to own a Catalina 27, so I might be qualified to add a little insight. I think the first question is what is your boating experience (not necessarily sailing experience)? You can learn sailing but if your family has never owned a boat before, delusions of grandeur abound! Trust me! Anything from bottom jobs, to summer thunderstorm, to hurricanes will certainly pop you're sailing bubble if you're not prepared. And if your family doesn't like camping, they might not like weekends on a boat. For me, my biggest concern was/is will my kids be OK entertaining themselves? I like the quiet time but the kids can complain, "I'm bored!" Makes me want to use them for lobster bait! 

I can't offer you a ride on a 27 (was real close to buying one a couple months ago and still kicking myself), but with a little more info about your situation you might find a lot more help here.

--Greg

[Nicolina]

Thanks, Greg, good points.

To answer your questions: I spent a lot time on boats (and repairing boats) as a kid, mostly rowing boats. Sailing came later life. I now own a Precision 18, which I love, but it is not the best boat for the family on the Chesapeake.  It is small and feels "tippy" to the passengers. My son (3 yrs) loves sailing; he would go every day if he could.

What I am looking for is a comfortable boat for day sailing for the clan and the occasional overnight with two or three people. I want a sturdy boat, no particular maintenance headaches, and the ability to single-hand, but it should have a diesel and a decent head (family boat). Speed is not the top priority. I looked at Compacs before I bought my present boat, and I think the 27 would fit my requirements, but I'd like to pick up more information.

I am also not in a rush to buy; the Precision is still getting a lot of use!

[kchunk]

OK, that helps a lot. My 1st boat (sail or otherwise) was the Catalina. At that time, my kids were 7 and 2. Thought the boat would be a lot of fun...a place where we can get away when we wanted to. Turned out, I was never comfortable with my family aboard. I loved gong out with my brother and/or friends, but I hated being the captain with no crew (like when my wife and kids went out with me, they were just passengers). Also, this was back in 2003, when we had all of those hurricanes file through central FL. We kept the boat in a slip on the ICW. What do you do when the hurricane comes? Worry...a lot! I wasn't so worried about the welfare of my boat, but more so, what if I didn't prepare my boat good enough and it broke free and damaged some else's boat? Talk about hurricane anxiety and sleepless nights! Oi Vey!

Now, I'm not trying to talk you out of buying a boat. But I would like to help making the day you sell your boat a sad day rather than the second best day of your boat ownership.

• With a bigger boat you need to be prepared to haul the boat, both for routine maintenance and in the event something below the waterline goes awry. Know how much a haul out costs? ...a bottom job?
• You'll need a hurricane plan. Can't just throw a 27 on the trailer and tie it down in your yard. Know of any hurricane holes near your marina? And can you be the first one there?
• Oh yeah, the marina...be prepared to cough up $8 - $16 per foot a month...plus tax! Plus electric! Plus a lot of other things I can't think of...
• Want to take your boat on your Florida vacation? Unless you have the ability to tow your 27, better figure more than a week down the ICW to FL.
• There's a saying that escapes me at the moment but something along the lines of "nothing rots faster in port than men and boats." If you don't use it it will just fall apart at the dock. Dock queens can be a maintenance nightmare!

Now, like I said, I'm not trying to talk you out of a boat. If someone tried telling me this before I bought my Catalina, it wouldn't have changed anything. I had myself convinced to buy it. I'm just passing along my experience. FWIW...

I can also tell you as a Catalina 27 owner, the Com-Pac 27 is a much nicer, more versatile boat, with a whole lot more style!

Good luck! Please let us know how it goes.

--Greg

[Nicolina]

Greg,

A sociologist would find plenty of reserarch topics in our exchange. In my case, the funny thing is that my wife (who is not a sailor) wants the bigger boat more urgently than I do. I have no big hopes of having the whole family on the boat for long trips, but they will like the odd sunset cruise. But one never knows what patterns of use for a boat will be before one has it. At least, several family members are keen on the boat.

Oh, and I don't have a trailer for my P-18. I'm a slip dweller, paying $6.60 per foot per month at the moment. Longer boat, more dollars. Sure. Just imagine they'd charge by displacement!

J.

[doug]

While I don't have a 27, I know Gary (a gent who frequented the board before it got hit by the virus and went down) has a 27 on the bay (we bumped into him at his maria down on the Rappahannock River a couple of miles up from the bay. You might drop him a line and see how 9 months of so of owning a 27 feels. Another choice would be to get in touch with the Com-Pac distributor for the mid Atlantic Tred Avon Yacht Sales in Oxford MD. We looked at a couple of boats with them only to have them sold before we could get off the time and make a decision. Seemed like a great group of people.

[bmiller]

Nicolina,

You would be hard pressed to find a boat better suited to what you described. It's almost as if you were writing ad for Com Pac. My wife and I have been very happy with our 27. We have sailed her across the Sea of Cortez, to Catalina and the San Juan/Gulf islands. We have spent up to a month on her. She spends summers on a mooring at Dillon reservoir in Colorado. The boat has served us well. Solidly built, easy to care for and very livable below. All boats, in my opinion, are best used following the 6/4/2 rule. That is 6 for cocktails, 4 for dinner and 2 for sleeping.

If you have any specific questions I will do my best to offer substantive answers.

Bill
Proud owner of Pooka

[jdonaldson]

Hello:
My wife and I owned a 1986 Compac 27 from 1994-2005.  We loved it.  It is the perfect boat for the Bay with its shoal draft.  We always felt completely safe it, it could take anything the Bay could dish out -- 60 mph thunderstorms, small craft advisories, etc.  We traveled the length and breadth of the Bay, sometimes for 2.5 week cruises with 3 aboard.  We would space the trip into B&Bs along the Bay about every 3 days.  We were always comfortable.  I made numerous upgrades to the boat until it was a floating palace.
The only caution I would provide is with the small Universal 10 hp diesel that was supplied with the earlier 27 and 27/2 models.  The boat was clearly underpowered and needed at least 13-15 hp.  However, it ran flawlessly and I maintained the diesel faithfully.  We had no problems in 11 years of cruising with that Tiny Tim!  People who have the later 18 hp Westerbeke have reported more problems.  You can read about some of these on the web site for The Sailboat Company in Richlands, NC.

I am considering to buy a 27 for family sailing on the Chesapeake. Is there any owner out there who'd like to discuss his/her ownership experience and perhaps let me come along for a short sail?

[Gary]

Nicolina:

I have a COM-PAC 27 at Regent Point Marina, Topping, VA.  Doug was referring to me in his response to you.   First a bit of background, past sail boats we've owned (over 40 years ago) we're a wooden Snipe (great fun on Lake Ontario), 18.5 ft. Alacrity twin bilge keels (made for th North Sea, stiff & very slow), and a Pearson Aerial (26ft.) a very nice cruising boat.

Spending over 6 months searching for a boat which is well founded, well built and easily single handed or easily handled by 2 folks now past 65, led us to the COM-PAC 27.  Have not sailed it since I brought it down last Sept. from Galesville, MD. over a 2 day time period.   Approximately 120 miles.  Sailed & motor sailed most of the way.  Nice handling boat with an easy motion, and suprising with a better turn of speed than I would have thought. 

We bought this boat to determine if we still enjoy sailing (after 40 years).  If so we'll probably move up after a year or so to the COM-PAC 35, as large as I would EVER go.

Our first sail will hopefully be this weekend as most of the work we wanted to do is done now, such as, we've had the sails cleaned by SailCare, a new roller furler installed, all new standing rigging, new head, etc.   Merely things we wanted to have no questions about.

Once we feel comfortable handling this boat we'd be more than happy to extend an invitation so you may see how they perform or not.

The bottom line is that they're an extremely well built boat.  No core per se.  Anything used as core is really bi-axial & tri-axial glass with microballon filled resin.  Meaning nothing to rot.  BTW, I'm in the aerospace composites field.

The only aspect I don't like about the 27 is that it has a wheel.  In my mind before a boat should have a wheel it needs to be above at least 35ft.

The bottom line is that any boat is better than no boat.  Just know what you want & expect and the primary use it's to be put to.

Regarding slip rental fees, I've think you've been quoted the high side.   Guess it depends where on the Chesapeake you're planning to keep same.   But many marina do not have all their slips rented.  Many folks aren't only under water on their homes!

Quality always costs a bit more, but usually pays off in the long haul - meaning usually lower in cost when all is taken into account.

At any rate, good hunting in the meantime.  From what we found not many COM-PAC 27's on the market in normal times.  But be picky and do your homework, etc.

                                                                                                          Best regards,

                                                                                                             Gary