Rivers: Sails or bare poles?

[Cat36Mahalo]

one thing not mentioned - is the current really effects tacking. I've spent a lot of time on the Columbia River at Kennewick. It was frustrating in light wind when tacking back across the river - you would go down river and loose all the head way you made on the opposite tack. This was the main reason for moving my boat to the Snake River which is more of a lake where I was because of all the Dams.

[valhalla360]

We actually bought our Gemini on Lake Pepin (didn't sail there though). It's certainly large enough to do a bit of sailing.


As long as the boat has a reliable engine, you can always pull the sails in and use the engine...if you want to pass thru the locks, they will want you using the engine anyway.


Realistically, if you want to get from point A to B, 99% of cruisers would just crank up the engine.


The big choice to make is speed vs effiency. A sailboat will take you at a brisk walking speed under sail (slower if wind isn't good) or motor. A planning power boat can go much faster giving you the ability to take longer trips.


With a planning boat, a weekend trip a 50-100miles away is no big deal, 2-5hrs travel time. The same trip on a sailboat, figure 1-2 long days each way. Of course that, that speed comes at a cost. A 50mile motor with a sailboat might burn 5-10gallons. A 50 mile motor with a 35' planning boat might burn 50 gallons.


For weekending with an occasional trip, a planning power boat is a great option (and what we had when doing that). It allows a much larger cruising range and because we weren't doing a lot of miles, the fuel consumption was acceptable. When we started long distance cruising, we went to a sailboat as speed was less important but covering a few thousand miles, fuel cost did play a factor.

[Hudson Force]

I sail downwind in restricted space with a furling genoa and a mizzen staysail because I can put everything away without heading up.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Wow, that is a tour de force of sailing skill! The Frome (a.k.a. Wareham Creek) is less than a boatlength wide over most of its length

I love it up there! But I would only dare to go up in my dinghy. You are trying to give us bilge keel envy, I can see . . .


Hard to believe that this idyllic place sits right on top of the largest known pool of petroleum in Europe.

Ride up with the tide.. spend a few hours for lunch and a couple of beers then ride back down..

[SuW]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

If I'm in an area with restricted room to maneuver, channel or whatever, or in something like the cut coming into Panama City which can have strong currents and has big rocks on both sides, I have the motor running and in gear, just in case

We have our boat on the St. Lawrence and I agree with you, except that we will motor sail if we get a boost from the wind direction (fighting 2-3 knots of current in some parts makes going up river quite slow).

And when we leave the dock, we will take the darn sail covers off and make the sails ready to use! If your motor dies or your prop gets entangled it could save you from embarrassment

We also make sure the anchor is ready apart from a tie-down.

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Ride up with the tide.. spend a few hours for lunch and a couple of beers then ride back down..

Sure, but I will admit I do like to have the engine ticking over, just in case. There is nothing like going around a bend and meeting a catamaran to set the pulse racing

We did run aground and cleaned the bottom of the keels quite nicely on the gravel bank downstream of the bridge much the amusement of the tourists who were sat on the quay eating ice cream. On the way back down we took out the windy thing on top of the mast on a tree branch, its never been quite the same since and off a couple of degrees which gives us some odd tacking angles.

Pete

[SVRocinante]

As many have said, it depends!

We've sailed on The Hudson River many times from the Battery north the Newburg and love it... yes, sometimes it's slow,going and a lot of tacking, but that usually means I mistimed something ;-)

On the other hand, I always motor up & down the East River... not saying you can't sail it, I simply find it a bit too narrow for my tastes.