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Clean Bottom = Good Sailing

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DavidBuoy
Admiral

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USA
707 Posts

Initially Posted - 09/21/2018 : 05:34:48

Had what was my favorite sail of the season yesterday and figured I would share.

Context: My wife and I both had off of work so we could do some work on the boat. Winds were around 8kts steady for the most part. Temps were a high of 81deg.

Although we hauled the boat in the spring for two new coats of bottom paint and a keel cable, we decided it was time to get the bottom smooth again as we could see visible growth and boat was starting to feel slow. Also, the outboard had been running extremely poorly and wouldn't idle for a while (similar to this topic:http://www.catalina-capri-25s.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=31154).

We came down to the boat around 10am and serviced the motor (Tohatsu 9.8). This meant fresh gas with treatment, new fuel filter, checked oil, replaced spark-plugs and put in a new t-stat. Results were amazing! Fired right up and would idle all day at 900rpm. Smooth as hell and great start to the day.

We then motored across the creek to our marina, and had it pulled out around noon and had it power-washed and then re-splashed. Immediately, between the motor being at full power and the slippery bottom, you could feel the hull easily sliding through the water.

We then headed out to the bay and hoisted full sail and just started cruising around making amazing speed. We were steady in the low/mid 6kts while close reaching towards the bay bridge. The boat felt great and I was pretty happy.

Once we started getting towards the bridge we had cracked off and were heading on a deep reach but it seemed like the wind and died a bit and we were starting to get hot so we decided to head back down the bay closehauled so we could get some breeze.

Thats when we noticed we were converging on some sort of massive frigate. The wife looked it up on her AIS app and it was Libertad from Argentina. One of the fastest and tallest ships of her kind. Wife also looked up kind of a funny story including it: "The Libertad is depicted in the port of Arkhangelsk on the Russian 500,000-ruble bill (1997) and 500-ruble bill (1998, 2001, 2004). According to Honored Artist of Russia Igor Krylkov, his original design featuring a steamship was rejected by the Central Bank of Russia, which preferred a sailing boat. Krylkov then substituted a new ship based off the first photograph he found of a large frigate, not knowing he was drawing a ship that had never been to Arkhangelsk."

After this we headed into the Annapolis harbor and picked up a friend. Once again the boat was flying and I let him have the helm for a good portion of the sail. Pegging the speedo and all. We crossed the bay in no time and decided it was time to head back in.

Once we started heading in, we were close-reaching the whole way and were moving swiftly enough that we were able to catch and surf the waves that were also heading in. As soon as the boat settled into a wave trough and we accelerated everything changed. The feeling and noises all shifted. Our wake looked and sounded different and the boat took a different position as we all noticed we were flying now. Speedo settled in around 7.2/7.3kts and we rode this for about 30 mins and crossed the whole bay in what seemed like no time.

All in all this was probably one of my happiest times on the boat (especially since I was just accepted at a new job the day before) where everything just seemed to align. I was ready to keep going forever until I got the nod that it was time to head in.

When everything was said and done I check my navionics app which had been tracking everything and we had covered 23 miles in 4 hours for a 5.75kt average which also included the lulls out in the bay and putting around in our creek as well as while picking up our friend. So we're leaving for the weekend for a wedding but I know that I'll just be dreaming about being back on the water.

Captain Rob & Admiral Alyson
"David Buoy"-1985 C25 SK/SR #5053

LakeFall
1st Mate

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USA
37 Posts

Response Posted - 09/21/2018 : 06:03:19

Great pictures and seems like you were able to get your sailing fix too. Question on the SK, in the first picture, is that what is supposed to be the fully lowered position? How do you know how far to winch down, is there a mark on the cable or is the cable a certain length?

DavidBuoy
Admiral

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USA
707 Posts

Response Posted - 09/21/2018 : 06:35:39

quote:
Originally posted by LakeFall

Great pictures and seems like you were able to get your sailing fix too. Question on the SK, in the first picture, is that what is supposed to be the fully lowered position? How do you know how far to winch down, is there a mark on the cable or is the cable a certain length?

That is all the way down. It angles back. You can tell because the bottom of the keel is parallel with the water line.

You should be able to easily tell as the tension on the winch will go from taught to slack as the top of the keel rests in the trunk as you get to the fully lowered position. Hope that helps.

Captain Rob & Admiral Alyson
"David Buoy"-1985 C25 SK/SR #5053

C25BC
Navigator

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Canada
200 Posts

Response Posted - 09/21/2018 : 06:39:21

Awesome pics and narrative and a twinge of envy since I may only have one or two Sails left this season , it certainly won't be 81 deg .

Angus
S.V.Tempus
#4748
1984 Catalina 25 SK/SR/Trad.

LakeFall
1st Mate

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USA
37 Posts

Response Posted - 09/21/2018 : 07:15:17

[/quote]

That is all the way down. It angles back. You can tell because the bottom of the keel is parallel with the water line.

You should be able to easily tell as the tension on the winch will go from taught to slack as the top of the keel rests in the trunk as you get to the fully lowered position. Hope that helps.
[/quote]

I guess I never realized the trunk was the actual stop to the keel position. That's a lot of force leveraged against fiberglas. 30+ years and we still haven't devised a safety mechanism in case the cable breaks?

keats
Navigator

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USA
215 Posts

Response Posted - 09/21/2018 : 07:37:00

Wow, fantastic post. Thanks for sharing.

Tim Keating
1985 C-25 TR/FK #4940
Midsummer
Lake Don Pedro, CA

TCurran
Admiral

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USA
588 Posts

Response Posted - 09/22/2018 : 05:36:48

This is why we sail...thanks for sharing. Congrats on the new job!

Tom Curran
1981 Capri 25 Hull #101 "Dirty Debbie"
1988 Watkins 30
PAFB, FL

redeye
Master Marine Consultant

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3474 Posts

Response Posted - 09/24/2018 : 06:14:41

Yepper! thanks for sharing,,,, the Chesapeake hasta be one of the coolest places to sail..

Ray in Atlanta, Ga.
"Lee Key" '84 Catalina 25
Standard Rig / Fin Keel

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