New to the forum

[Celestialsailor]

Hi everyone...I have a Hallberg Rassy Rasmus 35. Been sailing for 25 years now and currently in the SF bay

[Lexx]

Hello and welcome to the forum ... from Port Douglas, North Queensland Australia ...

Lexx

[Lance Gettler]

Hello, I'm new here too. I've only been sailing for 11 years and i'm currently boatless but I'm looking forward to participating in a sailing forum. I have done a fair bit of offshore passage making.

[Auzzee]

Hi Lance, welcome aboard. Thanks for your input on the medical kit thread; You're obviously not a minimalist! I was interested to read your comments regarding favourable currents. I remember reading, years ago when I was a virtual sailing neophyte, that currents are more often accompanied by unusual weather patterns and rougher seas. (It may have been in an early Pardey Heavy weather volume). Due to the temperature differentials between the water within the current, and the water adjacent to its influence, the weather can be mean. Speed gains can be absorbed easily by a day or so of rough weather...not to mention that more beer gets spilled when the waves are bigger.

[Decided]

The wife, daughter and myself have come to the conclusion after 7 years of reasoning that: South Africa is not a farmer friendly country, too many of our friends have been murdered and wrongfully arrested etc. when protecting their family's and property. Thus a decision has been made to sell our farm , buy a simplex to rent out for a small income. Now i need some advice, we have sailed a wee bit but the buying of a yacht is like getting married for the 2nd time, darn expensive it can be, specially if it is the wrong yacht or wife. We are looking at a 40 foot Roberts spray, decent welding and general condition not bad. It has done an ocean crossing or two, needs new instruments and running rigging for R325 grand.
Question 1 - any folks out there know these yachts, safe, handling good etc. It is a ketch rig. Got a 6 cyl Perkins engine with fixed prop. Speed on passage making is not an issue, we are never in a hurry. Plus i like the idea of parking it on a sand bank and wait for the tide to go out, maintenance is then a bit cheaper. Any input will be appreciated folks.

[redbopeep]

Welcome aboard all three of you. I've been out of pocket for a few days--so nice to see new faces as I get back aboard. Please enjoy the forums and contribute where you can. I see that Lance is already doing so and I look forward to many more posts by Lance!

Celestial Sailor--we'd love to hear more about your sailing! Are you passing through SFBay or is this a home base for you? Where have you sailed? I'm really enjoying the Bay area myself--I love the fact that there's pretty much always wind somewhere around these parts! The only downside is when Bay sailing on any given good wind day we know we're going to get a workout reefing and taking out reefs as we go from one area of the bay to another. We just helped fellow cruisers on another boat relocate from a marina in the South Bay that will be closing to another harbor on the coast. It was a glorious couple days of sailing but they were surprised by how many wind changes we had.

Decided, there are numerous posts like this one or that one about choosing a new boat and sometimes people do have info about particular designs. I'd suggest that you start your own thread here about your boat selection process. Those threads can sometimes get lengthy and we'd not want to hijack this one with details of a particular boat discussions. Thanks.

Again, welcome aboard!

[Coyote]

There wasn't any wind here YESTERDAY.

Until 5:30 when we got 18 knots. Four miles at 1 knot, 10 miles at 7.2 knots.

[redbopeep]

There wasn't any wind here YESTERDAY.

Until 5:30 when we got 18 knots. Four miles at 1 knot, 10 miles at 7.2 knots.



Yep, that's what I mean. Gotta love this place. Glad I wasn't sailing in the Bay yesterday--don't like the "no wind" moments.

[Coyote]

I only cared because a good friend was aboard and needed to make a flight. Other than that, I'd happily bob around in the bay all day and just wait for it.

[redbopeep]

Ah, you're like my husband. He has infinite patience for the wind--and enjoys the little fights with the currents when they are against him. I enjoy it as well--as long as I'm not the one tweaking things to keep us from running aground--or in front of a ferry--with no wind!

I find that if we bring another person along, they are not able to stand the drifting about part.

[redbopeep]

Ah, you're like my husband. He has infinite patience for the wind--and enjoys the little fights with the currents when they are against him. I enjoy it as well--as long as I'm not the one tweaking things to keep us from running aground--or in front of a ferry--with no wind!

I find that if we bring another person along, they are not able to stand the drifting about part.

[Coyote]

We had food, beer, music, and friends aplenty. The south bay was almost empty. The day was warm but not hot, the water was even enjoying a rare warmish day. I was already where I wanted to be.

There are days when it isn't so pleasant.

[Decided]

Thanks for the welcome, Navigational suicide? If i get a chart plotter and two laptops with navigational aids, and back up generator for power if all else fails, will that be ok. I do not know much about celestial navigation, I do not want the barnacles to abandon ship when i start navigating. The other question is how can i re- register a yacht from South Africa, maybe Grenada, Caribbean. Our country has a bilge full of red tape and then some. Specially the land based sharks that pass themselves off as safety inspectors. It would be rather pleasing to raise a foreign flag and inform them to get off my yacht. I would not compromise on safety and purchase new life raft, flares, and all relevant goodies. I just do not want to be registered in this crappy country.