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How many people have you had on your boat at once?

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delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Initially Posted - 09/20/2012 : 12:18:29

Rita & I are hosting some friends on SL on Saturday. It originally just started out as a couple, but then they asked it it were OK to bring a friend. Sure! Then they asked to bring another friend, um... sure. So, we're looking at a crowded cockpit with six folks on board. Now from what I understand the two extra friends are both small Singaporean women and Rita's pretty small as well.

We've been out before with six, but two of them were small girls so it wasn't a big deal. I'm not overly concerned, the weather is currently predicting a pretty light air day, like 3kts so it may be more boring than exciting for them. The original couple are somewhat more than novice sailors I think (I don't really know them all that well, they're part of RIta's extended SE Asian group), and I have no idea what the capabilities are of the other two. I know one's here visiting from SIngapore and "loves to sail", but that's about it.

As long as it's fairly calm two folks can spend time up in the catbird seats making the cockpit less crowded, or I can drive from there with my tiller extension since I'll be putting my "good" tiller back on this weekend.

Depending on how much wind we've got, might decide to put up the 135 (which would be a first) and head over to Blake Island for lunch & then back.

David
C-250 Mainsheet Editor

Sirius Lepak
1997 C-250 WK TR #271 --Seattle area Port Captain --

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zeil
Master Marine Consultant

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Canada
1297 Posts

Response Posted - 09/20/2012 : 13:56:38

Four adults and 5 children ages 5 to 14 years... winds between 10 to 20 kn without a reef. It's a bit crowded but spread between cockpit, cabin and bow we had lots of fun and were well in-control. We even towed the dinghy for a while with a couple of kids in it on a long 75 ft painter.

Johanna even prepared a hot lunch and provided lots of snacks... Kids in the cabin made drawings and did coloring using the table. Not a peep from them when the boat healed well over 15 degrees. They just love the atmosphere of our petite sailboat. One afternoon with nice warm weather is, however, plenty long for all of us.

All wear life-jackets and are trained one hand for the ship and one hand for themselves whenever on deck. Below decks life jackets can be taken off and are readily available stored in the aft berth area. Kids participate in sailing, safety, raising the flags, casting off, raising and trimming sails and basic navigation. Yes... we get a kick out of it as well...

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philagnes2003
1st Mate

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USA
68 Posts

Response Posted - 09/20/2012 : 15:47:41

6 Adults and 2 kids age 5 and 8. That's no problem (wheel steering), we even BBQ for lunch in about about 8 knots of breeze.

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delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 09/20/2012 : 16:01:39

Sounds like we're in good shape then. Also found out that the couple learned to sail on 15' boats, which actually makes me feel better. If you can sail a dinghy, you have a pretty good grounding for anything larger. Not necessarily the other way around.

We've got our grill we can use & I know one of them is making some Malaysian/Singaporean treats (he's a fabulous cook, can't wait to see what he comes up with). It ought to be a good day.

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Nautiduck
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3704 Posts

Response Posted - 09/20/2012 : 19:12:43

7. 5 adults and 2 children. All in PFDs. Light winds.

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britinusa
Web Editor

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USA
5404 Posts

Response Posted - 09/20/2012 : 19:51:50

It's not really how many you can, but how many you should!

We see boats that are way overloaded every time out, and when an accident happens, the response is always 'Did you see how many were on that boat?'

Enjoy, but be safe!

Paul

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PCP777
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1225 Posts

Response Posted - 09/21/2012 : 08:47:49

Whenever we have a crowd on board it's best to have a couple people sitting on the cabin house to windward. last night we had 6 on board, and since the foredeck and cabin top seems to be very popular in light wind we weren't crowded at all. It was five adults/teens and my five year old. Just make sure you have enough PFD's , Dallas Police did a PFD check on me last night plus you should have them anyways.

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delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 09/21/2012 : 09:32:38

We've got plenty of PFDs on board, no worries there. It's shaping up to be a cool-ish overcast day so I've recommended everyone have some woolies with them. Don't want anyone getting cold. The wind is still predicted to be 2-3 kts in the morning, but piping up to 10 in the afternoon.

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delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 09/23/2012 : 18:48:18

We took our friends out yesterday, and as predicted, the winds were really light. However, the prediction for "showers after 11am" didn't come true, so my making sure everyone had their Gore-Tex & woolies was a bit of overkill. The sun came out enough for me to be sporting a sunburn today. The two Singaporean women had never been sailing before and appeared to be a bit disappointed while we were running out on the engine because of the noise, even though our friend pointed out several times how quiet he thought it was. Fortunately there were seals, sea lions, jumping fish & other sea life in abundance, so they got to get reasonably up close & take pictures.

Just as we were raising the jib, Rita managed to catch the brim of her Tilley hat on one of the starboard shrouds and pop it off her head into the drink. I immediately appointed one of the ladies as the "pointer" & told her that her only job till I said otherwise was to point at the hat & then had Rita & our friend strike the jib back down so we could just motor in a 180º to go get the hat. Both ladies had now started pointing at the hat keeping it in sight for me while I managed getting everyone ready for the recovery. Rita was on the bow with the "short" boat hook, and our friend in the cockpit with our long fiberglass boat hook to back her up. This is almost the exact same area where we'd lost our Gatorade bottle a few weeks earlier BTW. I oozed up on the hat keeping it on the starboard side (in hindsight, should have used port to keep it out of the prop, but we coasted up in neutral). Rita missed it the first time, but quickly got the hook through the chinstrap & rescued her own hat. Well done and another man overboard drill completed.

We spun back around and got the jib & main back up & engine off. Then came the oohs & ahhs about how quiet & peaceful it was. Of course there was virtually no wind, so we were literally doing about 0.1 kts, barely enough to even notice a wake. As it was getting on toward lunch time and most everyone wanted to eat, I opted to motor sail out of the middle of Elliott Bay over toward the Duwamish Head Marker where I knew I'd be out of all the commercial traffic's way & we could eat in peace. However, once we got out of the wind shadow of West Seattle, the wind picked up and we were actually sailing, only doing about 3 kts, but better than ghosting along. I gave the tiller to one of our friends and let him drive while I quickly ate & watched our course & position. He did pretty well, straying off course frequently, but not too bad. Once I finished, I took the tiller back from him so he could eat, but then someone else wanted to try, so I passed the tiller off to them. We ended up having to a quick tack due to a stinkpotter coming storming into the bay on a collision course with us. I tacked us out of his way, only to have him turn right back onto a collision course with us again! We'd barely gotten up enough speed to tack back, but we made it through & he went on whatever his very important mission was.

It turned out that the two ladies had an appointment at 3:30-ish so they had to get back, so around 2:30pm or so we started heading back to the marina. We got back at around 3:10 or so and made a really nice landing in the slip, no drama at all, my favorite kind.

Our friends were in a hurry, so we quickly got them on their way while Rita & I got the boat cleaned up, including removing the porta-potti for the very first time. It got inaugurated by one of the ladies during the trip, not sure which one, but it was the first time it's actually ever been used. I was glad to see that the velcro I'd put it down with along with the high-rise guides did a pretty good job of holding it in place, but still peeled up cleanly so the velcro halves are still happily in place on both sides of the joint.

Since we hadn't known about the 3:30 deadline, we'd already cancelled plans to watch one of my best friend's son play football, but we were still able to catch the last 1/2 or so of his game. Unfortunately they got shutout 0-32...ouch.

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