Order my new Compac 23

[gmerrill]

I recently sold my 2018 Eclispe which was a great boat. I mean a great boat. Just wanted some more room. Agonize on paying the price increases on boats in production due to COVID related price increases. I just retired and in all probability this will be my last boat so I put my ordered in.  Lots of options including the diesel. Is it worth the extra money. If I wasn?t 62 and already having 2 back surgeries I would say no. I?m planning on doing a lot of coastal sailing along the Gulf of Mexico with the this boat. I said a lot just to ask for some pros and cons of the 23. Where is it likely to leak. Where is it?s best point of sail. Broad reach etc etc. Thanks for responding to my asks
Greg

[deisher6]

Hey Greg:
As you well know the right sailboat at the right time depends an many factors.

As a young family of five, three daughters all <6, in the mid 1980's we traded from a C-16 to a 23.  I recall my first ride in the 23 with Keith Scott, I marveled at the boat.  It was solid, responsive, good looking and had room for the family.  I had visions of light cruising in the New River, NC area.  There was not enough room.  We quickly traded up to a Jaguar, then a new ComPac 27.  We spent some 207 days on her during the next 3.5 years. 

In all fairness there was a CH-46 pilot moored next to us with a large white dog, North Dog, who sailed the heck out of his C-23.  He sailed out of New River Inlet nearly every weekend for 2-3 day excursions.  Keith wrote about some of his adventures on the Sailboat Company web site.  I think that the note is still there.

Much later in eastern MT another C-16 served well as a trailerable boat to sail solo and camp at Fort Peck Lake on the Missouri in northern MT..  Three back operations by that time. (I had a hard time following the Doc's instructions)

Moving back to NC I immediately looked for a C-27 because I was familiar with the systems and knew that I could sail it by myself. Found one, fixed it up a bit at a time and sailed her for several years.  A C-27 is not an all weather boat and in some conditions does not point well and pounds some.  However in other conditions, see my note on the C-27 section of this blog, it excels.

When the CFO said that we could buy a bigger boat if I could sell the '27.  I did.  With a PS-34 I can go coastal cruising, but probably will not do much of it. However, I can and will go anywhere on the Pamlico whenever I want.

So at 72 with one more back operation than you, I am pretty sure, if trailering was not an issue, and I lived near a marina, I would have at least a C-27.  If trailering is a consideration.  I am not sure that I would want to regularly step and unstep a C-23  and might look for a better suited rig.

Smooth Sailing and enjoy the boat that you wind up with.

regards charlie

[Cpy23ecl]

The diesel will be really nice when cruising, especially the times when there's no wind and you need to motor for hours at a time.  Other than that I would personally stick with a 4 stroke outboard.  My 6hp sailpro would move my 23 along at hull speed at well under half throttle.

My 23 sailed considerably better than I expected but definitely doesn't point well.  It was considerably more comfortable than my new eclipse.  The only leaks I had was from the ports because the 35 year old gaskets had hardened and didn't seal all that well and around the companion way from the hose spray when washing the boat.

If it wasn't for the Eclipse advantage when trailering, raising the mast, etc I would go back to the 23.

Fred

[Renae]

If it wasn't for the Eclipse advantage when trailering, raising the mast, etc I would go back to the 23.

This.

I love my Suncat because I trailer sail.  If I had a slip or a mooring, I can't imagine keeping it.  There are so many other really good options for a lot fewer dogecoins once you take trailering out of the mix.  I know that's potentially heresy here, but I think tools are made for jobs.  I don't pound nails with my socket wrench.*




* = Well, ok, there was that one time...

[brackish]

Have to say I'm a little confused.  Asking for pros and cons after the fact?  If you've placed your order, enjoy your boat. With eleven years of 23 ownership, I could offer quite a few pros and some cons but I'll stick to those mentioned.  Diesel, I don't have one and I wouldn't.  No back surgeries but do have chronic sciatica but the 6 hp sail pro is so easy to lift with the mount, much better than the original 9.9 EL which weighed 45 lbs more, that there is no back issue.  Additionally, if it were say a 27 with enough room for a real head and a true galley with a provision for a cooler, a diesel would be fine.  But the 23 doesn't have that, is challenged for cabin space, and where the diesel would go is where I put in a drawer and custom cooler.  Made cruising much better.  Best point of sail, beam to broad reach in my view.  Worst point of sail, very close reach and a con is that it does not point close to wind.  Leaks? the only leak I've observed is deck to hull joint only where the chain plates stress that area and that is a trickle, for me not worth fixing at this time.  I possibly wasted  time and money installing an auto bilge pump which sits in a bilge that has been perfectly dry except for the times I test the pump.  With an inboard that may not be the case based on the type and quality of the stuffing box or whatever Compac uses to keep the water on the outside of the boat.

[Cpy23ecl]

For inboard boats its worthwhile to use this packing:

http://gfopacking.com/

I've used it on the last 2 inboard boats I've owned and I've been able to have dry bilges.  You can tighten the stuffing box enough that you have no drips when the prop shaft isn't turning and barely weeps a bit under way.  I've not experienced any shaft wear and have never had the stuffing box heat up.

Much cheaper than a PSS unit.

Fred

[curtisv]

Some thoughts on the need for diesel.

Most of my sailing on a CP23 was engineless and I did light coastal.  Mostly stayed on anchor but occasionally paid for a mooring.  It was the lack of need for docking (and flexible schedule) that made this not a problem.  There is a saying that almost everyplace is a safe anchorage in force zero conditions.

If you are retired and patient no motor or a small outboard is fine.  If you need to come to a dock, then the outboard is needed.

You should get a large battery (AGM or better yet but more expensive Li-ion) and a solar panel, plus be sure all lights are LED.  NAV lights if you sail at night draw power.  An anchor light draws power (and definitely needed if you opt for creative anchorage sites in force zero).  Cabin lights draw power.  If they are all LED, then a small solar panel should be fine.  Instruments and more so VHF also draws power, but instruments very little except when backlit at night.

Even if you have a diesel and alternator get a larger battery and a solar panel.  You don't want to be running the diesel a lot just to charge batteries.  Its noisy, vibrates, and stinks a bit.  It heats the cabin.  It is also bad for longevity to idle the diesel just for charging.  Too small a battery bank is a bane of larger boat sailors as charging twice a day sucks and everyone in the anchorage dislikes you for running the engine first thing in the morning.  btw- when I chartered I ran the diesel after leaving the anchorage and only in the morning so as not to heat the cabin before sleeping in an already too hot cabin.

If you are impatient (or sail with others that are) and feel obligated to keep to a schedule then maybe a diesel is for you.

If you are not much of a sailor and need to take the sails down every time the wind hits 15 knots then you need a motor.  If you don't sail coastal or Great Lakes then chances of sailing in 25-35 knots is very small but it helps if you and the boat are capable of handing this or more under sail even if a struggle to do so.

If you sail on a lake smaller than the Great Lakes, then don't bother.  Just a big ongoing expense and an outboard is fine.

If you want to do things differently and don't mind the cost you could opt for an electric outboard.  Most well known is Torqeedo but I had trouble getting simple questions asked (about a pod drive considered for another boat) so tech support may be non-existant in US if you ever need it.

Curtis