[C320-list] Six-week cruise on a 320

[Diane Fowler]

Good to hear from you, Jack.

I live in Cape Coral, FL, and am racing my baby, #948, Windy City, to Tampa on May 17!!  Hope we have winds East15, right?  May even overnight near you!

Name of your boat?  Room for us on May 18 at your club??

We took our boat to Bahamas last year.  Best addition was mounting a small TV ( old one with built- in DVD) on the wood trim of hanging cup rack.  Directly over nav table.  Bought a small, 2- plug invertor from Walmart.  Runs great!

A friend made copies of her 40 favorite movies, so we had another form of entertainment on rainy days.

Also, I had my blue cloth salon interior upholstery replaced with cream colored mariner vinyl.!  Gorgeous.  Now, I don't freak out about salty bathing suits.

Wishing you fair winds!

Captain Diane Fowler, Sellstate Priority Realty Network.    
Www.CapeCoralHomes.com
239-850-4935
Sent from my iPhone

> On May 2, 2019, at 8:56 AM, Jack Brennan <jackbrennan at bellsouth.net> wrote:
> 
> Hi all:
> 
> We just returned from a six-week, 900-mile cruise on our new-to-us 320 through the west coast of Florida, the Ten Thousand Islands area, Florida Bay,  the Keys, the southeast coast of Florida and across the state on the Okeechobee Waterway. Some thoughts:
> 
> • My wife has always been a reluctant sailor who thought a week aboard was an eternity. She loved the 320’s comfort and was kind of sad to see it end after six weeks, much to my surprise.
> • *I learned the value of redundancy. If something breaks, what will you use? The thermostat died on our new Cold Machine. We ended up buying a Yeti, which we should have had anyway for drinks. We also ran out of propane. That new BBQ came in handy for morning coffee.
> • We mostly carried our 9-foot inflatable dinghy on the foredeck. It fit nicely and was easy to load and unload. However, I am going to opt for Weaver davits for true ease. Regular davits, in my opinion, cause too much windage. We had lots of wind in the 20s, and companion boats with davits got kind of tricky.
> • Lile other modern, light and fast sailboats, the 320 can struggle in tough conditions. Leaving Key West, we somewhat unexpectedly  faced 20 to 25 knot winds on the nose with a short, steep chop in Hawk Channel. Occasional series of 4-5 footers close together would stop us dead. It took us nearly six hours to do 20 miles and reach the next harbor. It was the same for a Beneteau 331.
> • The wing keel is not as bad as advertised in groundings. The Keys are full of 5-foot-deep water, and we touched a couple of times. The wing keel did not dig in, as many claim. We just bumped along and got free, as other keels do.
> • Handy clothes storage is the biggest problem aboard. The recently discussed shelves in the hanging locker would be a great addition. 
> • Never, ever turn a faucet all of the way on, unless you are filling a pot or water bottle. Part way will put out a strong dribble that saves water for showers and dishes, reducing the number of trips to the fuel dock for water.
> • The 320 is fast. We did an overiight, Tampa Bay to Fort Myers, 115 miles, in a little over 20 hours with the 130 jib up to handle 15-knot winds on the starboard stern quarter. The EV 100 handled things just fine.
> 
> We’re going to tinker with some improvements, and I’ll post them if they pan out. Any other suggestions on improving the cruising experience are welcome.
> 
> Jack Brennan
> Sonas, 1998 Catalina 320, no. 528
> Tierra Verde, Fl.
> Dolphin Cruising Club of Tampa Bay
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> Sent from Mail for Windows 10
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