My First Sail On My New Eclipse

[Pearler]

 My wife and I just returned from our maiden voyage on "Luna-Sea II" We attended a sail to Cayo Costa with the West Coast Trailer Sailing Squadron (WCTSS). There was a total of 12 boats on the trip. I'm happy to report that my new Eclipse exceeded all my expeditations. We had just sold a larger sailboat and was a bit apprehensive about the downsizing. If anyone is interested, you can read a write-up and view pictures of the trip at my web site www.bbtss.com. Also if there are any trailer sailors listing in from the Florida's big bend area, your welcome to join the forum at my web site.

Regards.
Terry CP Eclipse "Luna-Sea II"  Seapearl Tri "Osprey"

[Craig Weis]

Pealer
That is a nice boat and the pics are great and the best part is that you and yours enjoyed the boat.
The lake sailed on is it 1,000 or 10,000 acres I'm not sure [edit your post].
skip.

[Pearler]

Thanks Skip, I've been telling everyone...She's a keeper :lol:

PS-Lake Monroe is where Tim sails

[AT]

Pearler,

Congratulations!

I got the Eclipse 10 days ago and last weekend was her maiden voyage too!

My impression was also very positive; the only thing that I did not like was her relatively low speed. Somewhere around 4 knots in a 10-12 knots wind is a bit slower than I expected. Five knots was very difficult to reach and I only saw 6 knots a few times when it was blowing over 20 knots.
The sailing took place in Biscayne Bay; wind was from 0 to 24 knots as measured by me. We reefed her above 15 knots. Helm was neutral with main and jib almost all the time except in very strong puffs when she tried to round up, but generally the balance is excellent. With unreefed main only at 20-24 knots the balance is "strong weather" helm. I did not try jib only.

Perhaps I have not learned yet how to handle the boat to achieve a good speed? Yesterday I averaged only 3.5 knots for the whole day with the wind mostly in 10 to 15 knots range. Any suggestions?

The best thing that I liked about the Eclipse was how she handled at anchor in a strong chop. In these conditions Macgregor used to be all over the place bouncing like a toy.

Space on the boat was adequate for 3 people (I and 2 children) for overnighting. I think we can survive there for a week or maybe two. I am planning to sail to Dry Tortugas on Memorial Day week.
I like how dry the boat is. Settee lockers are completely dry, the vee-berth locker is drainable which makes it useful for storing drinking water and snorkeling gear.

A.T.

[Craig Weis]

I'd put a few more miles and days on if we were to consider the DRY TORTUGAS. My friend Mark on the USPS site below and his 36 foot Mariner sailboat , Sankaty, [see pic and link to his trip of the Great Circle including the DRY TORTUGAS spent a 'weather day' at anchor due to a storm.   skip.

[AT]

Well, I sailed to Dry Tortugas twice before - 5 and 6 years ago - alone - in winter and spring (which is notoriously worse than summer) - in Macgregor, so I don't think it should be a problem to do it in a better built and more stable boat in a summer. Actually, I concider it a good shakedown cruise, for I am familiar with the route  and my multitasking burden will be reduced. The only problem I see is that I will need to plan more carefully to account for a reduced speed, but then I will have an advantage of a longer daytime in June, so I can probably cover at least 40 nm a day. Another advantage now is that the last itme I had to drive all way down from upstate New York, and now I live here, so I can monitor the weather more closely and adjust plans rapidly.

[Pearler]

AT,

Congratulations to you on getting the Eclipse! For the most part we're very happy with ours. A couple of concerns showed up on our first sail that I wanted to point out to you, so that you can check your boat for the same problems. The first issue was with the boom vang. The very first time I cinched it down, the bolts on the eye strap pulled right out of the mast. I haven't repaired it yet, so I'm not sure what the problem is. On first inspection the bolts appeared to be a bit short, so I may get lucky and only have to replace them with longer bolts. The other problem was I lost the wing nut off the rudder mounting bolt. Luckily, I didn't loose the bolt and was able to put a temporary fix on it with a Tie-wrap and a piece of string. I ordered a new one from CP and plan on adding a lanyard, so it doesn't get away again.    

On the issue of speed. We didn't get a whole lot of sailing in on our first outing. Most of the sailing we did get to do was down-wind runs. Our speeds were about what you experienced, in the 4 to 5 kt. range. I must say, it was about what I had hoped for. I'm not sure that we can expect a whole lot more without upgrading the sail plan. Give yourself some time to get used to her. I'm sure with some practice we'll get better at it and learn the full potential of her sailing characteristics. And.... think of all the fun we'll have doing it!

Tell us more about your plans to sail to Dry Tortugas. What a trip that would be. Will you be going with a group? I think that's the only way I would consider doing the trip in my Eclipse. It'd be even better if you had a friend with power boat along, as an escort, on the trip. I guess I just don't trust my sailing abilities enough to make such a trip. I had been out there many years ago and it's a place well worth seeing. Here is a link to a trip report by Tom Scott. http://bbs.trailersailor.com/forums/precisionarchives/index.cgi?read=1919,Dry,Tortugas  He made a solo trip in his Precision ( P-18 ) back in 2002. Tom is a better sailor then I could ever hope to be. I guess that's why I'm a...Big Scardy Cat when it comes to blue water crossings. I'll be looking forward to reading your report on how the Eclipse does. She's very seaworthy and with planning, should do fine.

[AT]

Hi Pearler!

Interestingly enough, we too lost the wing nut. And fortunately, we spotted it right in time to save the bolt. Definitely a design flaw.
Now it is secured with a regular locking nut (one with a plastic insert). I hope it will work better.

Did not have troubles with the vang, it worked properly.

Doe your sink drain while the boat is in tha water? Mine drains well while on the trailer, but not when in the water. I suspect there air in the drain gets trapped and will not escape.

Regarding Dry Tortugas: I sailed there once in 1999 from Little Torch Key (about 30 miles East of Key West) with a stop in Key West, and another time in 2000 from Fort Myers Beach also with a stop in Key West on the way there. I went straight back to Fort Meyers on my way back the second time, took me about 40 hours. During the second trip I encountered 35 knot winds and 9 foot waves most of the day when sailing from Marquesas to Dry Tortugas. That was about the limit for Macgregor and that was when I decided to get rid of it.

This time I am planning to go with my two 12 years old sons. There is a good chance that a friend with his family will join us in their O'Day 222. The biggest problem I can foresee is a shortage of storage space for food and water: the challenge is to keep enough supplies for three people for 9 days that we plan to be out. With all things that we need to take with us, we will have to tow an inflatable tender behind, which should also slow us down. Tender is a necessity in Dry Tortugas.  

The plan this time is to launch in Bahia Honda state park, go to Key West, then to Marquesas, then to Dry Tortugas in 3 days, stay there next 3 days and then come back the same way. If we launch on Friday night and come back next Sunday night, it should be possible to do it. We may cut our stay there by a day, or stay longer by a day or two if the weather does not cooperate, but usually it is good this time of the year.

Out of all places that I sailed at, Dry Tortugas is by far my favorite. Please let me know if you have any questions concerning getting there.

AT

[Pearler]

Hi Pearler!

Doe your sink drain while the boat is in tha water? Mine drains well while on the trailer, but not when in the water. I suspect there air in the drain gets trapped and will not escape.

AT

My sink drains down thru a thru-hull fitting in the bottom of the boat, but like yours it doesn't drain when the boat is in the water! I spoke to Gerry Hutchins today about the draining problem. He said that he was aware of the problem. He also said that they had changed the location of the thru-hull fitting to the side, but wasn't sure that it would solve the problem, because the fitting ended up being so close to the bottom of the sink. I'm going to try installing a Tee fitting just above the thru-hull fitting with a piece of hose attached. my hope is that it acts like a air vent....What do you think,will this work?

[AT]

I think that the sink should drain above the waterline to do it properly, so their improvement might work. The bottom of the sink is definitely above the waterline, so if they route the drain at least a couple inches lower it should work. Too bad they did not figure it our earlier. Any chance that they will fix our boats?

The vent might work too, but I am not sure. It is a little tricky. The "tee" needs to be above the waterline to be able to let the air up, but if it is too high above the waterline there still be some air trapper beneath it.

[Pearler]

I think that the sink should drain above the waterline to do it properly, so their improvement might work. The bottom of the sink is definitely above the waterline, so if they route the drain at least a couple inches lower it should work. Too bad they did not figure it our earlier. Any chance that they will fix our boats?

The vent might work too, but I am not sure. It is a little tricky. The "tee" needs to be above the waterline to be able to let the air up, but if it is too high above the waterline there still be some air trapper beneath it.

AT,

I didn't ask if they would upgrade our boat. I'm not sure it's important
enought, to have a new hole drilled. I'll try the vent mod first. If that
doesn't work, I may try to come up with some type of holding tank. I
think a lot of the lakes up north are starting to prohibit the dumping
of gray water overboard. This may be a good time to up-grade!