new picnic cat owner

[dannyd]

Hello all,

I just picked up a 2007 and looking forward to the first sail. I have owned a Compac 19 and my previous boat was a Watkins 27. I needed a small compact light easy up and down boat and the picnic cat was the only choice. The boat is like brand new and garage kept since new. Nice Honda 2hp came with it and I just need to get an electric troller for the lakes. A bimini and cushion set are on my list.

Danny
Freehold, NJ

[CaptRon28]

Hi Danny -

We must be neighbors (Freehold NJ). I keep my Horizon Cat at Lighthouse Point Marina in Toms River on Barnegat Bay now. I was sailing it at the Manasquan Reservoir (Howell) for the first half of the season, but shoulder surgery late  last year was making it difficult to raise the mast by myself, so I parked it at a slip on Barnegat for the rest of the season. Mast stays up and I can sail whenever I want to with no help. If you want to get together one day for a sail on either boat, let me know.

I mounted a 55 pound (thrust) Minn Kota trolling motor on the swim ladder for the reservoir. It worked reasonably good, but I'm back to the Yanmar diesel now.

[dannyd]

I live 5 min from the reservoir and that will be my main fresh water place to sail. Stiil have to get a hitch put on (picked up boat with a Uhaul pickup) then off to the lake or down to the Redbank area. I think that the 45-55 lb thrust will be OK for a boat this size and I can mount it on the adjustable motor mount.

[CaptRon28]

55 pounds of thrust moved the much heavier (3500 pound) Horizon around the reservoir (rather slowly though). I only used it to get away from and back to the launch ramp. The ramp is one of the best ones I've ever used. You'll need a decent deep cycle battery on board and maybe a battery charger as well. Not sure what the Picnic Cat comes with.

If it wasn't for my shoulder, I probably would have used the boat there for the whole season. I had to rely on getting someone to crew to help raise the mast and that didn't always happen. 

I've got the truck and trolling motor. If we can somehow plug the motor into your boat I'd be happy to go out with you on the reservoir. Sort of miss it already.

[DW]

Hope you enjoy the Picnic Cat.  We've had ours only a couple of weeks but love it so far.

A MotorGuide 40# thrust, 36" shaft trolling motor (about $170 at Walmart) works great on our Picnic Cat.  On our generally quiet lake, the #2 forward setting is plenty for most maneuvering.  We tested the #5 setting once, and it was a lot more than we needed. 

Afterthought: Will you mount the battery in the forward compartment?  Ours is set up that way (they ran the long wire at the factory), although I haven't completed the connections and still just place the battery in the stern under the tiller.  That extra 60 pounds in the back does seem to affect the trim, though, so I hope to move the battery forward soon.