Cal 20

[campuscab]

Well after months of watching Craigslist and Ebay, driving to marinas, I finally bought a boat. I started out with a $5,000 budget. After paying bills, buying the wife a car my budget was way less. Then I had to store, slip the boat, etc. I had almost gave up and put the dream away for another year until I saw an ad. Boats starting at $1,000. Well that sounded like me so. I called. The guy and his wife turned out to be great. They had a small marina on the Detroit river and had a couple if dozen boats between 1 and 5k. I settled on a cal 20. Good for my budget, easy to handle, can tow if needed, and I think they look pretty cool. He had a couple that were very nice in th 25ft range and 2-3k range. The one was raced so the rigging was pretty complicated and intimadating. The Cal looked friendly. I have done my sare of sailing centerboard daysailers, had a laser, sunfish, oday. So this did not seem to be a far jump. There are a few I would love to have that were bigger but this one called out to me. "It's good enough". (that's the name of the boat.) I looked at 24 boats atleast today and many,were bigger, cleaner, nicer but she called to me. I don't know why but as soon as,I saw her I knew that, was my boat. I got a slip on the the river for 750. The couple were awesome. Telling me stories about bahamas trips in a 16 ft boat,local races, the pet goat. This is sailing at its best. There are too many people that think you need a crew of 8 and 250,000 to sail. So I will keep everyone posted. Now I am patiently awaiting the ice to melt. We are betting April first.

[OldPelican]

the Cal 20 is a great boat with a fine history. I've seen a few that required immense strength of will not to buy. if I were even twenty years younger I'd go for one in a heartbeat; however, at my age a camping boat is a little short of the creature comforts these old bones require now

[Kettlewell]

I used to own a Cal20. Sailed her from Newport all over the Buzzards Bay/Nantucket area. The nice thing about them is they are such sweet sailors that you really sail everywhere. Many times we would be ghosting along at a nice pace watching all the cruising boats motoring, and in any decent wind they move right out.

[campuscab]

It was frozen still not melted maybe next week. There were a dozen people at the marina today. The water is great for bringing people together. This,is going to be,a great summer

[GeoPowers]

I loved my Cal 20. You'll have a great time for sure.

Frank

[islander20]

Ive had my Cal 20 for about 8 months now and love it. Its a lot of fun to sail, feels a lot faster than it is. I had mine up to 7.5 kts. surfing on a broad reach. Read stories about guys getting them up to 15 kts. with the spinnaker. Really responsive too. Having a tarp tied over the boom is really nice in the sun and in the rain. Have fun!

[campuscab]

The couple I bought it from made a boom tent on theirs. He owns dozens of boats and still takes ot the smaller ones like the Cals