Association Forum - Big Boat Cruise..Then today..Cat 25 sail

Assn Members Area · Join

Home.

Association Forum

Ships Store

Cruising

Racing

Technical Tips

Photo Gallery - New

Boat Search - Updated

Manuals & Brochures

Swap Meet

Links

Officer Flag Line & Staff

Bylaws & Constitution

Members Area

Join the Association

Notice:
The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.

Association Forum

Username:	Password:
Save Password
Forgot your Password?

All Forums

Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Catalina 25 Specific Forum

Big Boat Cruise..Then today..Cat 25 sail

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Author

Topic

OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

Member Avatar

USA
3502 Posts

Initially Posted - 01/02/2007 : 16:27:32

I was away last week...I guess no one missed me.
A couple of years ago, we promised the kids a cruise ship vacation for college graduations. My son garduated Va Tech last Dec (Dec '05) and my daughter graduates this May from ECU (UNC - East Carolina State). We have a 30 yr wedding anniversary this coming summer with a Mediterranean cruise (Celebrity Millenium 12 day) planned with 2 other couples and so..two cruises next summer was going to be a bit much all at once...so we opted for a Carnival Triumph cruise during the college break between Xmas and New Years. (The kids wanted a party boat...but this past week was mostly families.)

No sailing excursions at the ports but..we did do river tubing in Jamaica.

Before we left, I put the cover on my Cat 25 just in case we had snow. But relatively warm weather still prevails here in Wash DC area. I took the cover off today and went sailing. Heavy winds...first time I reefed to the second set of holes ! I had my jib furled about 50%. First time I had the boat hit 7+ knots ! I think my knotmeter may have been reading a bit high. Next time I have to bring my GPS with me to get a better gage of the speed. However, since I had my boat bottom painted this Fall, it does seem to be faster by a knot or so. Probably just getting all the slime off helped ! There was only one sailboat coming out as I headed back in. Otherwise, CG ship and CG inflatable and probably at least 10+ helicopter flyovers which seemed more than normal. (Probably due to Pres Ford's Funeral service.)

Anyway...good to be back and...still sailing. I don't think we will see any ice this year in the Potomac...but I guess too early to tell.
I think it made it just into the 50s today.

Larry
'89 Robin's Nest#5820, Potomac River/Quantico, Va
http://catalina25.homestead.com/olarryr.html

Edited by - on

cat1951
Admiral

Members Avatar

USA
636 Posts

Response Posted - 01/02/2007 : 18:58:26

Welcome to the 30 year club. Ours is in September this year and we are still trying to decide what to do. Although we may already have done so. We are building a new house closer to the lake where we keep our C25. The move will cut almost 35-40 minutes off of our 1 hour and 10 minute drive and will cut over 1500 sq ft off of the house. We are now empty nesters, and the Admiral, the dog, and myself had over 1,000 sq ft of house for each of us. That's way too big for us.

What will we do for our 30th? We are still contemplating a cruise, but would want one that starts out in San Juan and hits the Grenadines. We have been to most of the Caribbean on other trips already. Or we may take a trip to San Francisco. We have both been there, but not together, San Diego, or New England for the fall... Or we may just sit on the patio of the new house and sip Champagne.

Whatever we do, I know we will both enjoy ourselves. Hope you do as well.

Edited by - on

OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
3502 Posts

Response Posted - 01/02/2007 : 19:48:03

September...Caribbean...may be chancy with hurricane season. Though...they say that the cruise ships change routes to avoid the storms. We did a southern caribbean cruise several years ago that started in San Juan. I think it went to Martinique, Barbados, etc. Not sure which cruise line goes to the Granadines.

The one we go on this summer leaves in second half of July from Barcelona and ends in Venice. I wanted to go to the Scandanavian countries...in search of Vikings and their ships....but I got voted down by the others. Maybe I will get to go some time in the future...when I have some dough again.

Edited by - on

OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
3502 Posts

Response Posted - 01/02/2007 : 19:57:32

by the way...I still have to set up my air flights for that summer cruise and we were planning on going 2-3 days before the cruise. Anyone have hotel recommendations for Barcelona ? My preference was to stay in a fairly nice hotel that has easy access to some of the major sights but itself is located in a relatively quiet area either in the city or in the countryside. I was considering going into the Pyranees but it seems like a hassle dragging all our luggage to what may be a circuitous route to stay in a very small hotel and then it is not close to the Barcelona highlights. A hotel in the city or outskirts would allow us to see the sights and maybe do some other activities. There is a bike ride for a half day that is on paths, etc that we were planning on doing. Otherwise, we are open for suggestions for 2, maybe 3 days before the cruise. Hotels ? Activities recommended ? (Yeah -- I probably should ask this on a travel forum. But thought I would give you guys a shot.)

Edited by - on

cat1951
Admiral

Members Avatar

USA
636 Posts

Response Posted - 01/02/2007 : 22:13:27

Funny you mention the Caribbean and hurricane season. Our honeymoon was on a windjammer (Polynesia) that still sails out of St. Maarten to Saba, Anguilla,St. Kitts, St. Eustasias, and St. Barts. Since our aniversary is September 17th, we hit St. Maarten on the 19th after overnighting in San Juan at what was then known as the Caribe. We got caught in a tropical depression and had to skip both Anguilla and Saba. Our first stop was St. Barts and on the way over, we had 30' swells. The only people on deck were my wife and I, another couple, and the Captain at the wheel. I thought we had it made with so few on board till we hit the St. Barts harbor and 110 other seasick passengers came up on deck. They tied us up in the mouth of the harbor and were planning on putting all of us ashore in a hotel in case the storm hit hurricane force. It didn't and we finished out the cruise to St. Kitts, and St. Eustasia.

Since it was my idea to hit the Caribbean (in September) on our honeymoon and the windjammer was anything but comfortable, I have already taken the Admiral on our second honeymoon. I made up for it by taking her to Hawaii a few years later. And we went back to St. Maarten a year ago March to sail with her sister and brother inlaw. We sailed from the lagoon at St. Maarten over to and from Anguilla. Stayed with them for a week and had a great time. That's why we now have the C25. It is not the 38' Island Packet that her sister has, but it will do for Grand Lake in Oklahoma. ........Now that I think about it, I still owe the Admiral that nice cruise

OH... and while in Italy, I highly recommend the Ufizzi (?) Gallery in Florence, St. Mark's square and the Doges Palace in Venice. If you happen to really make it to Florence, please please look up the Vivoli Ice Cream shop. You will not be disappointed...all hand made and hand packed some of the best ice cream you will ever eat. Also, hit the Ponte Veccio (Ponta Vekkio) for some jewelery shopping.

Edited by - cat1951 on 01/02/2007 22:16:57

OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
3502 Posts

Response Posted - 01/02/2007 : 22:46:35

Mike - Thanks for the suggestions.

I got the okay from my wife that we should hit all those places as they are main attractions not to be missed. ..and we like ice cream !

We also stop in Athens andnot sure if any of the others have the same interest as I but recently there has been a lot in the paper about the Antikythera mechanism (do a search on Uahoo for info) discovered over 50 years ago in a sea wreck from something like 4 BC. Apparently it is an extremely accurate clock mechanism and scientists just learned what it was - For 50 years they could not figure out what it was and now that they know...they cannot figure out how they had the smarts back then to make it ! It is on display in a museum in Athens.

Edited by - on

redviking
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
1771 Posts

Response Posted - 01/03/2007 : 19:22:03

Barcelona - stay near La Rambla... sorta the center... check out the strip, the spiral church and the harbor. Too bad about scandinavia.... You should go there! Much more civilized, they all speak english, and no part of Denmark is more htan 45 km from the sea!

sten - '82 SR/FK #3220, Swansea MA

Edited by - on

OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
3502 Posts

Response Posted - 01/03/2007 : 21:01:04

Sten,

I am already working the others for a scandanavian trip...in the future. I made a copy of your suggestions for Barcelona. I think what I will do is find a website that has a detailed map of the area (or a library book) and then see where these areas/attractions are located. Thanks for your comments.

Edited by - on

DaveR
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
2015 Posts

Response Posted - 01/07/2007 : 11:19:55

Larry,
Vacation? Cruises? Hmmmmmmmm, I used to know what those were but can't quite place those words now. But 7+ knots, that rings a bell! In November I hit 7.4 knots (with a clean hull) on my GPS while off shore in Daytona Beach on a down wind tack, winds 15 to 20 and surfing 4 to 6 ft. waves, so it's definitely possible ..... and fun!

Edited by - DaveR on 01/07/2007 11:20:20

OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
3502 Posts

Response Posted - 01/07/2007 : 20:03:15

I brought my GPS with me the other day and accounting to some degree for the waves and tide (+/- 1 knot or so), the old knotmeter seems fairly accurate. But the winds were not as great the day I brought the GPS with me...on the average I was going around 4 knots which is a much more common occurrence.

Edited by - on

Topic

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Jump To:

Association Forum

Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.