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You bet. It's skipper did some serious racing on San Francisco Bay I believe on Express 27s, and he's darned competent at the helm. Definitely takes some serious canvas to get that heavyweight rolling.

Despite the marina owner building some pretty decent docks a couple of years ago, the lack of power and water on the dock is a real drawback. He's chewing on putting same on the one finger where these boats are berthed.

And finally, the biggest sailboat on our lake, one of those Perry designed 36'ers. Another soon to retire fellow usually single hands this beauty. Note he has twin headsails hanked today (usually stowed neat as a pen). Below is the most lavish bar on this water. I don't envy him all that brightwork upkeep one little bit.   As well, this lake drops below 6' in lots of places, especially late in the summer, and it'll be season over for him soon.



P.S. This boat had been stored in a lagoon off the lake for some years. Believe it was the prior owner who left the wooden mast unprotected on the ground. Mick spent $10K for the new aluminum mast. Just a little more and he could have had a whole Suncat 17.

And the Catalina 25 (darn, I cut the bow and nice self furler off) I've sailed on twice this year. Rick's wife just approved getting a Catalina 30. They are going to retire in about 1 yr, and thinking of having a still larger boat on the Gulf coast.

Okay Frank, you made me drag my digital down to the docks. Here is a Sanibel 17 on which I had my first sail this year. Our lake is about a 5 min drive from my home. Calm in the AM, and it can pipe to whitecaps in the afternoon, dependable NW breeze.

babout, I recently went on a waiting list, and pray I don't suffer your fate. I'm now trying to find out the regulations for putting a mooring on our lake, hopefuly in a spot that would be ice free over the winter. SunCat 17 looking better each day.  

I towed this 2600 lb Santana 22 and 900 lb trailer 450 miles from Vancouver , WA on June 3rd. My van was down, so rented a Ford pickup from Budget, total round trip cost with gas about $335. May seem a little pricey, but not bad to get almost 2 tons (add motor and loads of gear) 450 often mountainous (5000'+ in some cases) miles.(If one smokes in their truck, add $50). Doing in the rain and dark was no picnic!

Bunks and keel tray all nicely felt padded. This trailer has the optional extension tongue equal in length to the trailer + extra roller wheel for launching. The trailer with the extras on it list for over $5000. I got the trailer, boat, 6 bags of sails and a 7.5 Evinrude for $2400 + my transportation costs + $132 for new trailer tires I had put on before I started towing. Total cost for this gear new = about $40,000 per Santana site.

Lights tested negative before leaving. Someone had disconnected the ground wire. That fixed, all lit up fine.

One little oddity. The trailer was custom made for this model, and has surge brakes. Seller said they didn't work, certified by his mechanic. I wasn't concerned because this big Ford had lots of muscle. BUT, the surge brake sure worked/locked when I went to back the rig up my driveway. Seller hadn't mentioned that a lever on the side of tongue had to be thrown for backing.

Last detail: My driveway is gravel and canted downward toward the street. I blocked the wheels with 2 slanted chocks, but wasn't satisfied it might not slip when I bounced around working on her. I put a big cinder block in front of the port wheel chock, and drove railroad spikes againist the block into the old hardened driveway, and all holds well. Now to find time to work on her.

Frank, that's just terrific! Sounds like boating at it's best.

Thanks so much for posting the pics! You don't sound too tickled.  

I used it in SF Bay Area temps for exterior wood. You have a choice of matte or gloss, $26qt (qt lasted years on my boat) at West Marine. Once wood is sanded, I applied a couple of coats of the matte. Granted, it's thin and care needed to apply. About every 3 months I'd coat again to stay ahead of sanding. Always looked nice and never came off on my clothing. WM customers give it a 5 for 5 rating.

ebb, not having read all 5 pages of the thread, curious to have your opinion of Deks Olje? I used it for some time with good results...as long as one keeps it applied every few months.

Peter Wilhite, son of the former owner of 63' S&S yawl Athene, introduced me to him at the club. As Pete's dad got older he decided to sell Athene to Chris Shroll because he could afford to keep her up. Last I heard of Athene, Chris had her shipped to the Med...maybe she's back in row #1 now. Really glad I had 3 wonderful sails on her.

Those trips to Bolinas were neat. They treated Peter like a member of the family. The first time out they only had the hull frames up, and man were they massive. They'd stop and tell tales, have us in the house for coffee, whatever. Just one swell bunch! Thanks for the fine memory!  

ebb: Was the gentleman building the Elizabeth Muir a long time employee at the St Francis Yacht Club? I recall driving out twice with a friend who knew him well to watch progress I'm sure on that boat. She was taking shape under a big plastic covered frame next to a friendly funky house. This was about 20 years ago, and I think he was in his late 60s early 70s then. Fun memory whether I've got the right boat or not. It was amazing seeing these few old timers tackling such a big project. Lots of fun casual humor too.

Are they still stealing the road signs guiding to Bolinas?  

No word yet. Let's see, assuming my Ford van would haul it (?), 6000 miles round trip, 10 mpg, 600gal x $4ea, only $2400 for gas + beds and food. Heck of a deal.

Just left my marina looking at the Ariel, to much work at any price!

While there a fellow said he had a Catalina 30 trucked from L.A. to Oregon for  $5 a ft., total cost in the lake here = $5000 including mast take down in L.A., launching via rental crane and mast setup. So that's only for about 800-900 miles vs about 3000.

Will share the shocking results when I get them.

Paul, I requested a quote from your link. I had forgotten Deale, and used Annapolis origin which should give a decent ballpark figure. I hesitate to think what it cost to ship 2-3 tons of boat about 3000 miles, and I'm taking a wild guess it'll be as much as the purchase price.

Wish I still had my lovely house on Chincoteague Island,VA.  ...do the Bay one year and the Atlantic the next.

No wonder you feel sick about selling so low. I've a chance on an Ariel here in Oregon for $2500 that looks like boat trash next to your beauty, let alone all the gear you've improved. I'm meeting the owner tomorrow, and I'll be thinking long and hard before I undertake that project. Your boat would be a quick no brainer purchase for me.

Best of luck!!  

Very nice, picture of more elegant simplicity! Only missing a wok on the counter.