catalina in less than 2 hrs!

[mermaelee]

I escaped the weekend heat wave by going to catalina with my wife. It was the first time since I put on a 90hp Johnson. I put the other two bolts so now I have four total holding it in place. We averaged 14 kts going to the island in flat seas (no bow crashing). Isthmus was out of moorings so we went around the west end to Cat harbor. there it was only about 60% full and we easily picked up a mooring (only $21) and they don't kick you off the next morning at 9:00 like at avalon. We actually left at 4pm without having to pay the extra day since it was sunday. Basically we got to Isthmus in about 1 hr and 45 minutes from Huntington Harbor which is about 26 knot miles away. Not including the 15-20 minutes it takes to get out of the marina. Is 14kt cruising speed ok? I noticed most of the time there was a fan like spray of water off the sides of the cockpit. No spray was getting into the boat. I had the ballast empty. and about 350 lbs. of gear. I feel guilty about not even putting up the mast for the whole trip. I miss sailing but the wife considers it as back up power if the engine were to go out. The way westbound to get around the west end was against the wind and swells and it takes about 5 knot miles to get to the end from ishtmus. I slowed the boat down to about 11 knots and the bow did crash down at times. Coming back I had to slow down to 8 knots and once the whole boat felt airborne so it took 50 minutes to get to the downwind down swell leg. Then I could surf down the swells at 14-15 kts. and return trip from Cat harbor was 3 hrs and 20 min. I didn't have any 5200 when I put in my knee bolts so I used 99 cent store bath silicone. It washed out of my hands easy and I noticed that at mooring the knee bolts were below water line. I was worried about wet feet since we sleep in the rear birth (gotta admit it is the biggest bed). There was no leakage. Should I pull the bolts out and redo it with 5200 or will the cheap silicone do the job?

[richandlori]

I would go with the 5200 just to be safe. That cheap stuff may cost you more in the end. Great to hear about your Catilina trip. From your story, it wasn't clear, so did you have the mast down while motoring or did you just not use your sails? With the mast down, and stored on the boat, I would think it would be too difficult to get around the boat for the weekend.

Rich

[Bobby T.-26X #4767]

you'll probably never have a problem.
but, if it wuz me...I'd re-do/ 5200.

[Richard O'Brien]

You might also try white polyurethane caulk. It's not quite as severe as 5200, but I've used it to seal underwater fountains for concrete installations. It used to be a contractor only item, but now you can even get it at Home Depot. It has all the stick-and-seal you could ever want for a bolt.

[Rolf]

Congrats on your first mac to Catalina trip. One month ago I returned with my x from Isthmus to San Pedro (19 miles) in my personal record time, one hour five minutes. Avged 17and a half to 18 knots with mast up, wife and kid loaded down with 400 pounds od junk and gas--90 horse tohatsu burned 7 gallons. It took a little over 2 hours to get there against swell and afternoon wind.
Rolf

[mermaelee]

I kept the mast in the down position for the whole trip. It does'nt realy get in the way. It is easier to keep it down rather than have to put it down in order to go under the bridge to get out of Huntington harbor. Oh, by the way on our way back into the marina I saw another Mac X heading out without any mast at all. I thought they should keep it on just for backup power.