Making Ex-Racer My Cruiser . . . Am I Mad ?

[Weyalan]

Originally Posted by delmarrey

heeled over a bit thar.

Yes. We had 2 reefs in, but were carrying a working jib, whereas we whould have changed down to a heavy weather jib when the wind started to gust over 40... but the bow guys were pretty cold and tired, and if we had taken the #3 off and changed to a #4 we would certainly have fallen below the layline to get around that cape and had to tack back out... so, since we were above the layline and not too pressed I made the decision to continue with the gear we had... I knew that once we laid around the headland, freeing off 15 degrees would mean we would want the #3 instead of the #4 anyway... not a great decision in terms of the longevity of the #3, but my bow guys thanked me for it and we laid the cape on 1 board.... and it was a race

[delmarrey]

Originally Posted by Weyalan

.... and it was a race

I thought this was an EX racer?

[Weyalan]

Haha... indeed. But every now and then we relapse!

That photo is taken about 250 nautical miles into a 300 mile race... the old girl performed creditably, finishing 15th across the line in a fleet of 35 boats, 8th on corrected... beating several nearly new boats including a Hanse 42 and an Elan 41, not to mention a couple of Beneteaus

When we finished we unloaded the race gear / sails, loaded on the cruising gear, cleaned her up and headed of for a week of cruising... We didn't see any of the other race boats, though.

[delmarrey]

Yep! That's what I like about mine. One can tighten'r up and go it, if ya want, point'n higher then most every thing out there. It's hard to resist sometimes.

I'll see one of those new fancy sugar scoop rigs trying to past me by. So I'll tighten up the sheets and stand up on deck and wave as I point past them into the wind.

Although, I do like to keep it <25º. I'm fastest at 22º. But heck I (re)built this thing to cruise. I'm still in my 60's. So maybe when I get to my 70-80's I'll get me an IP.

[savoir]

Careful. Picking up chicks in an IP is a tough gig.

[delmarrey]

Originally Posted by savoir

Careful. Picking up chicks in an IP is a tough gig.

That reminds me of a time I was at a guess dock in Everett. When I got up in the morning a guy was looking over my boat.
He said "it looks fast"
And I said "yep, for an old girl".
He said "ya wanna see my boat".
I says "sure" (he wanted to show off his boat)
He takes me over to this old restored IP and takes me aboard. Inside was this tall gorgeous chic. She wasn't expecting company and started picking up her bra and stuff. (oops)

I says "nice setup and pretty too" So we talked a while up in the cockpit and I headed back to my boat.

Later that morning they started to pull out and head back to Canada. The Chic was with him and as they were walking away she says "Bon voyage, that means good bye" in a tone of voice like she was jealous of me or like I was going to take the guy away from her. Hope she didn't think I was gay.

A strange experience for sure. But he sure picked up the chic. This guy must have had the moola cause the two personalities didn't match up.

[savoir]

Clearly she saw the wallet before the boat.

Some guys stuff socks down the pants while others stuff newspaper into the wallet. Whatever works I guess.

[mr-canada]

Originally Posted by Weyalan

Obviously the boat has a "very basic" fit out at the moment, and has lots of other things that are less than ideal for a cruiser: i.e. Mast is rather high for a cruiser (66') / Draft rather deep (7'4") / Running backstays / Small fuel & water tanks (120L & 120L).

But, on the other hand, it is a big roomy boat with plenty of room and very cheap. Basiically, I cannot afford to buy a 40 cruiser, but I can afford this, and, hopefully, will fit it out over the next 3 years to be a comfortable cruiser. Am I being a complete fool?

I would suggest not. My Col 26 was basically totally outfitted as a racer by some RVYC guys who upgraded the heck out of everything. It started out with the racing kit as well, souter mast, double spreaders, full length fin keel (5 ft draught), all winches upgraded, crazy rigging upgrades all over the place.

While I'm way smaller than your 40ft size range the only hiccup I've found cruising with the boat is the truly basic amenities inside the boat, the lack of bells and whistles pre-installed and the deep draught is sometimes terrifying coming up to an unfamilliar dock where I fear it may be too shallow at low tide.

Basic amenities arent that detrimental to cruising though. My flooring is the stock original fibreglass waffle pattern, so if it gets wet in there its not a big deal. The interior is all firbreglass connected direct to the hull so it's easy to clean. There's no laminate or fancy fabrics or plumbing so it's easy to maintain and winters well. Only thing I dont like is the lack of float activated bilge pumps, given there's no additional electrics on board I'm hand pumping to buckets from the bilge. Given its former racing life nobody bothered to fix the lever pump that could be operated from the cockpit and its a very old English made gasket that is likely very hard to find.

[Weyalan]

Next Friday we will be heading off for a cruise of nearly 3 weeks. I'm so excited at the prospect. We have our furling headsail and a brand new crusing mainsail... full length along the boom, but only hoists to just under the runners, so with checkstays off and strapped at the mast we can tack and jibe inside the runners. Yay.

It'll be the first time that these 2 bad boys get a real work out (aside from keeping beer cool, of course)

[Weyalan]

Time for a break from this



And a bit more of this

[sctpc]

what you going to the west side? or you coming to vic

[Weyalan]

Originally Posted by sctpc

what you going to the west side? or you coming to vic

We still haven't made up our mind where to head. We were thinking Port Davey, but I'm starting to think Port Arthur, Fortescue, Maria Island, Schouten Passage, Wineglass etc. might be pleasant... choices, choices

[JPA Cate]

Looks like a nice window for Port Davey, though, Patrick.

[Weyalan]

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

Looks like a nice window for Port Davey, though, Patrick.

Indeed it does, Ma'am, indeed it does. I am prevaricating wildly. Lisa's Mum and Dad (on board Alleena) are leaning towards East Coast. We will probably make the final decision as we throw the lines, or even when we get to the mouth of the Derwent, haha.

[Wotname]

Sounds very nice; enjoy