Deeper Water

[Bewildered]

I am moving my Eclipse to a slip in San Diego, CA soon.  Even with a draft of 18" the thin waters around Vero Beach, FL are just too shallow for sailing without constant fear of running aground.  Too bad since I purchased and installed a sailboat support system on my backyard boat lift.  I was a sailboat captain in the San Diego area for many years and miss the huge, active sailing scene and amenities San Diego has to offer.  As well as the ample  water depths of the SD Bay and the Pacific.  The boat lift support system is for sale and can be seen in the photos.

[passagesfromtheheart]

Hi, Bewildered!

One of my goals is to get out to San Diego to check out the sailing scene there -- I hear, as you have said, it's fantastic! It can be kind of tough-going for sailors in my area -- not many of us in these parts -- not at all as it used to be back in the 70s and 80s when I grew up sailing here and there were TONS of sailboats. Makes me very sad, the current state of affairs in that light, if I'm being fully honest.

I've been trying to figure out how to lift my Legacy (safely) up off her trailer so that I can work on the underside of the hull. I am looking into these 'trailer lifts' to lift the boat, so yesterday, I called my local "boat store" -- noted on their website as the "premier full-service boat store" in my area -- to see if they might carry something as such. As soon as I mentioned the word "sailboat" -- the service rep's reply was "Oh, sailboat? Ummm, yeah, sorry, I can't help with you that." He further said, "You should try calling someone who sells sailboats." To which I thought...hmmmm...and who might that be in this day and age in these parts? The answer is no one.

The above said, I'd love to get out to (be a part of!) a sailing community IRL one day -- it would be fantastic! On that note, this forum serves as my sailing community and for this, I am tremendously thankful!

Hope the move out west is smooth sailin' -- how soon are you planning on the transition?

[crazycarl]

Sailing is big here in Oriental, NC. It's the "Sailing Capital of North Carolina". There are over 3,000 sailboats registered in a town of 900. Sailors as far away as Raleigh berth their boats here. Drive over the bridge into New Bern and you'll see mostly sailboats at the marinas. Great sailing waters is why I retired here.

[Bewildered]

I hope to visit Oriental someday.  It sounds like a lovely place.  Anywhere with that many sailboats has got to have lots going for it. 

[Bewildered]

Happy to report that I dropped my mast and hauled out my boat today on its Performance Trailer.  Tomorrow it gets shrink-wrapped for the cross-country journey from Vero Beach, FL to San Diego, CA.  After a year long, expensive refit/renewal of my little yacht, I am somewhat apprehensive about the journey.  I chose to have a professional boat hauler do the job since the singly axle trailer is not up to such a long, journey.  I did get to break in my new Newport NT300 electric outboard.  It performed well drawing much less energy from the battery than I anticipated.  A fully charged 40 amp hour battery on a 2.5 mile trip used approximately 10% of the capacity.  I kept the little  motor at 70% throttle in light wind and sea conditions. A bit more testing will tell if it is up to what my needs are.  However, it was delightfully quiet and smooth.  I may need a steering link connection rod to coordinate the motor with the tiller.  There was a small bit of prop and rudder contact that needs to be addressed.