cape 25 trip

[Sailing Vessel Lefty]

I left Vinyard Haven first week in October and just got to Hampton Roads now; who says these boats aren't fast? I'm continuing south in the hope of finding some warm weather, no luck yet. Started to get a little frostbite, otherwise all is well. Somebody said I should post this here. I must say the boat is just grand, does everything I ask, no matter how unreasonable. Best imaginable boat for singlehanding, I would say. She sure does take a beating and keeps right on going.
The season ain't over till it's over. Chris.



douglas_rock@hotmail.com

[Evan]

Chris --

How far south are you planning on going? Also, did you make any modifications to the boat of any sort to prepare for your lengthy cruise? Or, are there any modifications (extra gear, etc.) you wished you made?

Evan



eeames@aol.com

[evan]

Is she a CD25 or CD25D?



eeames@aol.com

[Dan H.]

Chris,
It's great to hear from someone who has actually let go the dock lines and sailed off on search of the endless summer. There are quite a few of us that are stuck on dry land under various amounts of snow, about 2.5 feet here in Chicago. The Chicago harbors are frozen, so it's too late for the us to escape. Please continue to post accounts of your trip. I would particularly like to hear details of equipment and tactics that came in handy. Any technical advice based on lessoned learned on your trip would be appreciated. Of course you must tell us your fun in the sun adventures as you continue south. Keep the updates coming.
Good sailing,

Dan H

I left Vinyard Haven first week in October and just got to Hampton Roads now; who says these boats aren't fast? I'm continuing south in the hope of finding some warm weather, no luck yet. Started to get a little frostbite, otherwise all is well. Somebody said I should post this here. I must say the boat is just grand, does everything I ask, no matter how unreasonable. Best imaginable boat for singlehanding, I would say. She sure does take a beating and keeps right on going.
The season ain't over till it's over. Chris.

djhhan@aol.com

[Sailing Vessel Lefty]

Pretty much everything on the boat has been modified, when I got her she was just a storm wrecked hull and not much else. The big change is a wooden mast and boom off an old Alden yawl my friend had in his yard for a flagpole. I had some spreader tangs made up on Herreshoff's pattern I copied out of a book. The sails are mix and match used for the most part, about the same sail plan by guess and by God, five jibs and a main. She's a regular 25, not the d and after trying a fifteen, a seven point five, a nine point nine, a four and a three point three, I finally settled on the six as the best engine. Other modifications include a bridge deck, a three part main sheet tackle from the end of the boom to a galvanised pipe traveller, back to the boom, foreward to another block and down to a cleat on the bridgedeck, if you follow me. I put lots of cleats on deck, I have three and a samson post foreward, two amidships, and four on the stern, some of them quite large. I have two fisherman's anchors on the bow, a twenty five and a thirty, thirty feet of three eights chain and a hundred fifty feet of five eights nylon on each.
I've been living aboard these five years, this is my fourth winter, the first year I've tried going south. In the past I've contented myself with sailing around Vinyard Sound on the nice winter days, but that has kind of got boring. I don't really have a lot of gas money, so what I do is wait for a fair wind and sail, then when the storms come, I try to put a big hill between me and the wind. I'll go as far south as I can get, but I have to be back for work in June, I drive the launch in Vinyard Haven for the summer.
I'll be out of here in a few days, after I buy charts and cooking gas.
Chris.



douglas_rock@hotmail.com

[Sailing Vessel Lefty]

Dan,
I lived in Chicago a few years and remember the winters well, I was a bike messenger. Working in forty below real temperature and hundred below wind chill, the New England winters have seemed mild ever since. Hot chocolate is my most important tactic and a good thermos essential equiptment. At anchor a good single malt scotch is money well spent.
Chris.

Chris,
It's great to hear from someone who has actually let go the dock lines and sailed off on search of the endless summer. There are quite a few of us that are stuck on dry land under various amounts of snow, about 2.5 feet here in Chicago. The Chicago harbors are frozen, so it's too late for the us to escape. Please continue to post accounts of your trip. I would particularly like to hear details of equipment and tactics that came in handy. Any technical advice based on lessoned learned on your trip would be appreciated. Of course you must tell us your fun in the sun adventures as you continue south. Keep the updates coming.
Good sailing,

Dan H

I left Vinyard Haven first week in October and just got to Hampton Roads now; who says these boats aren't fast? I'm continuing south in the hope of finding some warm weather, no luck yet. Started to get a little frostbite, otherwise all is well. Somebody said I should post this here. I must say the boat is just grand, does everything I ask, no matter how unreasonable. Best imaginable boat for singlehanding, I would say. She sure does take a beating and keeps right on going.
The season ain't over till it's over. Chris.

douglas_rock@hotmail.com

[Jon]

Good to hear from you Chris!

I was wondering how your adventure was going. Keep up the spirit and keep us posted!

All the best,
Jon
s/v Sovereign
CD25 #625

[Sailing Vessel Lefty]

Whats up Jon, all the best to you and yours. Where can we get some more information on G. Stadel? He seems to be a man of mystery, far as the internet is concerned; I am finding next to nothing. Chris.



douglas_rock@hotmail.com

[Eric]

This sounds a lot like my winter, only without the sailing, the single-malt Scotch and the wooden mast.

ew

Pretty much everything on the boat has been modified, when I got her she was just a storm wrecked hull and not much else. The big change is a wooden mast and boom off an old Alden yawl my friend had in his yard for a flagpole. I had some spreader tangs made up on Herreshoff's pattern I copied out of a book. The sails are mix and match used for the most part, about the same sail plan by guess and by God, five jibs and a main. She's a regular 25, not the d and after trying a fifteen, a seven point five, a nine point nine, a four and a three point three, I finally settled on the six as the best engine. Other modifications include a bridge deck, a three part main sheet tackle from the end of the boom to a galvanised pipe traveller, back to the boom, foreward to another block and down to a cleat on the bridgedeck, if you follow me. I put lots of cleats on deck, I have three and a samson post foreward, two amidships, and four on the stern, some of them quite large. I have two fisherman's anchors on the bow, a twenty five and a thirty, thirty feet of three eights chain and a hundred fifty feet of five eights nylon on each.
I've been living aboard these five years, this is my fourth winter, the first year I've tried going south. In the past I've contented myself with sailing around Vinyard Sound on the nice winter days, but that has kind of got boring. I don't really have a lot of gas money, so what I do is wait for a fair wind and sail, then when the storms come, I try to put a big hill between me and the wind. I'll go as far south as I can get, but I have to be back for work in June, I drive the launch in Vinyard Haven for the summer.
I'll be out of here in a few days, after I buy charts and cooking gas.
Chris.