Introducing RichS...

[rsahlender]

Hello,

I just purchased my first sailboat... a 1988 Compac 16/2. I already can't wait until spring to get it in the water. I have a feeling it is going to be one of the longest winters I ever experience...

While I am not new to sailing I have never owned my own sailboat and until this summer when I began checking things off my bucket list and completed several ASA classes it has been many years since I have been out sailing.

There looks to be a lot of good information on this forum so I will take time and read a bit before asking too many newbie questions.

RichS

[newt]

Welcome aboard Rich. May you enjoy your little boat as much as I do when the sun is setting and the wind is fine...

[Bob23]

Welcome, Rich:
   You will find here a healthy mix of sailing wisdom, wit and wackiness in varying degrees. Did anyone mention the initiation fee? No, they usually don't. Please send Bob23 $5000.00 cash and I'll see that no one bothers you here. It's a bargain at half the price.
   Welcome. Where do you sail? Sounds like northern lattitudes to me. I'm in the South on NJ about 40 degrees North lattitude...it's getting cold but I'll be in for another month.
   Congrats on your 16...very nice boats.
Bob23

[Greene]

Welcome Rich.

Pay no attention to Bob23.   After you read enough of his posts you'll come to the same conclusion that we have.  He is just some guy living 500 miles from the nearest water pretending he owns some mythical talking sailboat with a name that nobody understands.  He has been promising to posts pictures to prove he owns a really nice 23, but alas......

To be fair I guess I have to admit that a while back he did ask me to post a picture of his "magnificant wooden rudder"  which he claimed to have built.  



Welcome.
Mike and Admiral B

[Salty19]

Rich...Welcome to the compac family.  You picked a great boat as the first.  A CP16/I was my second and let me you it's a darn nice "little" boat that will keep you safe out there.

First things first, please know that Greene is just having fun with Bob. You'll see the two of them splattering the pages with fall-off-your seat banter from time to time.   But boy, Bob just makes is so easy sometimes for Greene it's hard to blame him.   

Secondly..and most importantly...if you can swing it go for a sail before winter!  Bundle up if you have to!  It's only frostbite!

Thankfully you'll have many other grumpy northern sailors, including myself, here to keep misery with company over the winter.  In fact I'm surprised the annual winter complaining thread hasn't already started!

[rsahlender]

Home is only just slightly north of the 40 degree line in PA Bob a little southwest of Allentown. I picked up the 16 in Long Branch NJ last weekend and hauled it to a boat yard near home to have the bottom checked out. There appears to have been several thick bottom coats put on over the years and after a power wash by the previous owners some of the bottom coats came off in chunks. I suspect it came off with barnacles as there are remnants of barnacles on both the swim ladder and the rudder. Other than that the boat appears to be in good shape. I am waiting on the boat yard to determine if they can get enough of the old bottom coats off to be able to polish it up and put on some new fangled clear stuff that is supposed to help prevent blistering for several years. However I am prepared to just put on another bottom coat if it cannot be polished up enough without going deep into the gel coat...

I plan to keep and sail it at Lake Nockamixon about 30 minutes east of here. I am sure it will be in the boat yard for several weeks and believe all boats must be out of the lake by 11/1 so I do not expect to be able to do any sailing until next spring. I am going to have to find the patience to deal with that but the logical part of me understands that is a good thing as I need to figure out how the rigging works and practice putting the mast up and down etc before I head out for the first time. But I am far less concerned about figuring that out than I am about trailering and launching or retrieving at the ramp...

Anyway a more complete introduction would include stuff like I am not yet retired but am counting the years until I can... I am a ham radio operator for 30+ years and my specialty there is high speed morse code... I have a 1969 z28 Camaro in the garage which will now have to learn to share my time with the Compac... while my wife is happy for me that I finally bought a Compac after looking for one the better part of this year I suspect she will not want to sail nearly as often as I will and expect I'll be single handing it more often than not...

And finally, I have tried to post this response several times now and I keep getting delayed with the warning message that a new reply has been posted while I was typing... so I add a little more and try again... thanks all for the friendly welcome!

[twinswin]

Welcome, RichS.

[Bob23]

Rich:
   I also work for GM and is seems there has been a long delayed recall on the 1969 z28. I'll be out there tomorrow to pick it up. Sorry, it's a safety recall so you won't be getting the car back!
   I always wanted a ham license but I guess never hard enough so I didn't pursue it. A friend of mine who operates a local fm radio station has been morse coding for decades. I always wondered how you guys can translate all those beeps and bops to English but I guess it's just another language to understand.
   Salty was right to warn you about Mike Greene. Yep, that's an underground picture of my rudder somehow smuggled out of the top secret facility where we build them in hermetically sealed conditions. It's so top secret, even I don't know what I'm doing. Mike is obviously jealous of my design. Sure, it looks crude and can double as a wind tell.
   If your'e ever in the the vacinity of Long Beach Island, NJ, give me a heads up email. My 23 will be in the water until the middle or end of November. Brrrr..don't fall overboard in cold water!
Bob23

[brackish]

Hi RichS, welcome to the madhouse. 

If you peruse old posts you will see that Bob23 has directed all ComPac owners to send their boats to me for painting as, according to him, I have a knack for such things.  I've agreed, however, have indicated what the weather might be in H___ (can't type that, Newt's software will do a somersault) when the owners once again see their boats.  You should know that deal also includes vintage muscle cars from the late sixties era.

Everything you need to know is here.  Don't hesitate to ask.

[Salty19]

So Rich, I see what you mean about not being able to sail this year.  Used boats almost always need some love before they can be recommissioned.
You are wise to address the issue now for a  more worry-free experience next year.

And I see you're nervous about trailering and launching.  The 16 is actually pretty easy to tow with nearly any vehicle with a tow rating to support the boat and trailer.  My 05 4runner literally did not know the 16 was back there! Can't say the same for the 19.  If you've towed anything before, you'll be just fine.  What tow vehicle will you be using?

Launching is a little unnerving the first time out.  No question it helps to have another set of hands to set it up and launch, but it's not required.  the tough part will be securing the boat once you've backed in and released the bow winch line hook.  You'll have to secure it before hand.

Also when setting up, I was not a big fan of lifting the stick and attaching the forestay by myself.  Others have no problem with this...I don't like heights so standing up and walking forward on deck on the trailer made the knees shake a bit.  Oddly enough walking up on deck when the boat is in the water is easy.

there are tricks to doing this that make it easy. 

P.S.  I beleive there are slips available at Noxy...there are 4 or 5 other compacs there and they are members here.  Having trailered and now with a slip, the extra cost of the slip is easy to swallow when you can just show up in the car, climb aboard, remove the sail cover and cast off.  I sail much more often with the slip, and often on a whim.

[newt]

As for my software- well it used to be hardware once. Oh you mean the stuff on the computer, I will see if I can dig it out of my crockpit....(old joke)

[Bob23]

Watch it, Newt: Your'e barking up thin ice!! You old crackpot, you!!!
Bob23

[rsahlender]

I always wanted a ham license but I guess never hard enough so I didn't pursue it. A friend of mine who operates a local fm radio station has been morse coding for decades. I always wondered how you guys can translate all those beeps and bops to English but I guess it's just another language to understand.

No time like the present. The FCC dropped the morse code requirement. The license tests are now all electronic theory with rules and regs mixed in...

If your'e ever in the the vacinity of Long Beach Island, NJ, give me a heads up email. My 23 will be in the water until the middle or end of November. Brrrr..don't fall overboard in cold water!

Well... a nice cooincidence. I was lucky enough while growing up in the 60's and 70's that my grandparents owned a house in Brant Beach. They did not like the busy summers there and so let us stay there from the time school let out in June until it started up again around Labor Day. The is where I cut my teeth sailing, along with lots of surfing, water skiing, fishing, claming, etc etc... while I don't get over there very often these days my brother now owns that house and lives there year round...

And I see you're nervous about trailering and launching.  The 16 is actually pretty easy to tow with nearly any vehicle with a tow rating to support the boat and trailer.  My 05 4runner literally did not know the 16 was back there! Can't say the same for the 19.  If you've towed anything before, you'll be just fine.  What tow vehicle will you be using?

Another cooincidence. I drive a 01 4runner currently at around 276k miles and going strong. After paying a local guy to haul the 16 back home behind his 1 ton dual axle diesel it became apparent to me real quick that the 4runner would have no issues hauling the 16 around. The concern was that for 6 or 7 years the previous owners only ever trailered it one block down the road to the public ramp where they launched it in the spring and hauled it out in the fall keeping it at their private dock off their back yard all season. Not much wear on the trailer but into and out of salt water so I wasn't sure how the bearings would hold up for the 100 mile trek back home. We stopped several times along the way to check on things and the little tires were hotter to the touch than the bearing caps so I needn't have worried.

Launching is a little unnerving the first time out.  No question it helps to have another set of hands to set it up and launch, but it's not required.  the tough part will be securing the boat once you've backed in and released the bow winch line hook.  You'll have to secure it before hand.

Yes I am more concerned about launching and retrieving than anything else but I am just now in touch with several other Compac owners at the lake so hopefully I can coordinate my launching with one of them and we can help each other as needed.

P.S.  I beleive there are slips available at Noxy...there are 4 or 5 other compacs there and they are members here.  Having trailered and now with a slip, the extra cost of the slip is easy to swallow when you can just show up in the car, climb aboard, remove the sail cover and cast off.  I sail much more often with the slip, and often on a whim.

I am on the wait list for one of the 24 foot slips at Noxy since August. At the time I was not finding any decent 16's for sale close by and nearly bought a Catalina 22. I am glad I held out for a Compac, especially a 16 since I will likely be single handing more often than not, but am unsure what the rangers will think about keeping a 16 in the larger slip... I agree with you and do plan to keep the 16 in a slip so I don't have to launch and retrieve every time I want to go out but guess I better get my name on the list for a 20 foot slip and save the larger one for someone that really needs it.

RichS

[newt]

Rich, I hear Bob 23 uses a mooring. That may even be cheaper- you need to talk to him about it.

[Bob23]

Rich:
   Tell your brother when he gets ready to renovate to call me. I'm a self employed building contractor specializing in LBI new homes and renovation. I can also humbly state that I am the best around. It's not easy being this humble, I can tell you.
   Again, if your'e ever in the area, you have a standing invitation aboard my 23. Think of the 23 as a 16 and a half.
   And because you are a former LBI local, we're running a half price membership drive here at the site- $2500.00 cash and you're in! Such a deal!!!
Bob23
(I do use a mooring and am proud to say my 23 has withstood 60 mph gusts. I however didn't sleep a wink that night!)