New to sailing, and just bought a 23

[Joie De Vivre]

[img]Well I just bought my first sailboat (1985 Com-pac 23) and looking forward to taking her out and seeing what she will do. I might have a lot of stupid questions guy's and gals so don't go hatin on me please. Have been reading a lot of post the past few days on here, and learned a lot.
Any of you down in the Florida Keys?? Would not mind getting together and doing some sailing.

[jthatcher]

hey there..  good to have you on board!   where are you and where do you anticipate sailing?    i love our 23..  it has been a great boat so far..    still lots to learn for us, but the folks here have been very helpful.   jt

[Joie De Vivre]

Thanks,

Im livinig in the Florida Keys (Summerland Key) and so most my sailing will be around here. I did not get a trailer with the boat so she stays in the water behind the house.

[Bob23]

Howdy there Joie and welcome:
   I also sail a 1985 23... what's your hull number: Maybe we have sisters! I'm #321.
   There is no stupid question you can think of that I haven't already asked. But if you do come up with something original, please specify if you'd like a correct, incorrect or totally off the wall and equally stupid answer. They're all the same price!
   Bob23 in NJ and "Koinonia"

[Joie De Vivre]

Not far off, she is #337. Thanks for the welcome.

[brackish]

Welcome!!

They Keys, like that, lived there for a while as a kid, have been back a couple of times as part of delivery crews.  I'm thinking that might be a good place to take my 23 for an extended cruise.  Not this year though, tied up with a quest to do the Camino de Santiago de Compostela

Both before I bought my 23 and after, I found it helpful to go back to the start of the 23 section and browse all the posts.  Got a lot of useful info about the boat, even found a number of posts about my boat by the previous owners.  Nice snow day ( or in your case rainy day) past time. You'll find a wealth of info, however, in the old posts that reference a picture in the gallery, they do not exist having been wiped out in some previous hacker war.

A fine forum name, are you a south Louisiana transplant or just have the attitude?

[Joie De Vivre]

Born and raised in Baton Rouge, and spent most my life there. But been here two years, and love it. How about you???

[brackish]

Lived up and down the eastern seaboard as a kid, but spent most of my adult life on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.  Currently in Tupelo, but anticipate a move back to the Coast next year.

[Joie De Vivre]

heres one of those silly questions, but need a good answer. I have to pick her up tomorrow as no other time and I have a East wind, but have to go east to get her home. Will she sail good going back and forth say SE and NE? Or will I need to motor her all the way?? Never sailed a Compac 23

[jthatcher]

So just maybe, if you started right now..... Nah, guess you would not make it to the barnegat bay bash at the end of the month.   Too bad!  I am surprise that bob did not extend an invite, even if you are 1000+ miles away! Good luck with picking up the boat.  Sonds like you might get to use the motor!  Jt

[Bob23]

   She'll tack back and forth NE and SE. How far do you have to go? On your first post you said that this is your first sailboat. Have you sailed before? If not, can you get someone who has to go with you on this very first trip? Even if you motor, you need to know how to sail the boat in case the motor decides to quit. The 23's don't like to tack with just the mainsail. 
   If you find that youv'e gone too far north and end up in NJ, you have a standing invitation to the Barnegat Bay Bash on 7/28.
   Bob23

[Joie De Vivre]

I wish I had someone that could go with me. I have sailed smaller boats before but this will be the largest, (but it's still small right ) Everyone has to work and I don't have any other day that I could do it. (CEO coming in next week for a visit at work) As long as she tacks NE and SE, I should be fine, I do have a 150% that came with her, so should I use that as well? Thanks for the invite, If I make it that way I will.

[Joie De Vivre]

I only have to go 20 miles or so.

[Shawn]

Congratulations on the new boat!

"I only have to go 20 miles or so. "

That is a long sail, is that all to wind? If so and if you end up fighting the tide that will take a long time. In the best of conditions the 23 will go just above 6 knots so you are looking at no a minimum of a little more than 3 hours for the trip. If you are sailing you could easily double or triple that time depending upon the wind, point of sail you will be on and tide.

What is the wind like where you are? A 150 is big and if you end up in a lot of wind it is going to be too big. Does your main have reef points? Do you know how to use them? You won't want to be on your first sail on a 23 with a 150% up and full main sail in more than 10 or 12 knots of wind. Trying to make real progress to wind with just the main is an exercise in frustration. You could easily end up at a knot or less of VMG.

Do you have a radio, anchor and all other safety equipment?

What kind of outboard? How does it run? How big is your tank?

I'm not trying to discourage you (honestly), just want to make sure you are setting yourself up for a successful trip. The last thing any new boat owner wants to have happen is getting discourage on their maiden voyage home.

Frankly, for your first sailboat on its maiden voyage if you have to go 20 miles to wind I would suggest motoring for the majority of the trip and sail the last bit home. Don't wear yourself out at the start of the trip.

Shawn

[Joie De Vivre]

Shawn
The wind tomorrow is looking like out the East at 10 mph, maybe to 13. I have a Yamaha 8 on back with a 6 gal tank. DO you think I will need to reef the sail at 10 mph? If so I might just need to always reef her on this boat as this will be a light wind day for around here.
I have a hand held VHF, and yes to all the rest. Also will be towing a kakak behind her.
I just don't know how far the tank would last, 6 gal??? I would not mind doing that but would hate to run out of gas and still need to get a good ways.
I can get my hands on a 110% as well, if you think it would work better.