[C320-list] Commitment #867

[Chris Burti]

Commitment has a new Owner, Richard Sloop. Hopefully, he will join the
Association. I'll continue to stay on the forum for a while as we shop for
a trawler.

For those wondering why...We loved Commitment, but last June we were
crossing the Pamlico Sound with a forecast of SW winds at 16 -17 kn, which
should have been a perfect reach to Ocracoke. Unsurprisingly, NOAA got it
wrong. What was surprising was how wrong.

By the midway point, the winds had increased to the 20-25 kn range and by
the time we reached the entrance channel into Ocracoke, they were steadily
in the thirties with gusts into the mid forties..Needless to say, it was a
fast and rough crossing. Preparing to go into Big Foot channel, it took all
my strength in the big Lewmar's low speed to winch in the genoa (something
I rarely do)  and we had to crab all the way up the channel to avoid being
blown out of it into the shoals (another sailboat coming in 9 Foot channel
was blown out of the channel and had to be pulled off by the USCG).

Our C-320's are great sailing boats and with the sails properly trimmed,
they can handle far more than we can. As we were heading in crab style
under WOT, I was thinking to myself: "This is the time a lot of less
experienced sailors decide it is time to sell the boat". Sure enough, as
soon as we were tied up at the dock and things were settling down, the
Admiral shocked me by saying it was time to think about it. Well, the rest
of the trip was great, good weather and good sailing, but the seed had been
planted.

We are in our seventies, the Admiral is petite and I came to the
inescapable conclusion that if i were incapacited in those conditions, she
could not have gotten the sails in and in those winds, the engine would
have been inadequate to overcome the sails, so rescue was improbable.

I'm not ready to limit my sailing to light wind days, a little daysailer is
fine for that, and I ascribe to the wisdom of Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry
where he observes that "A man has gotta know his limitations." The Admiral
is capable at the helm and can get a powerboat to safety, we are not ready
to give up being on the water, so ...stinkpots. here we come.

We've made a lot of friends, virtual and in person from this group over the
years and wish everyone fair winds and following seas...

Fair winds
Chris Burti
Farmville, NC