Hello,
I'm the new owner of a MOD 1 Capri 14.2. I'm new to sailing and new to boat ownership. I'm eager to learn and would like to own a bigger sailboat someday.
The Capri seemed like a good choice to learn how to sail a sloop and to learn with/teach my wife and kids on.
I've been looking around for lakes that are good to sail on around me in the Chicago Suburbs. Lake Michigan is the most obvious one but that's a little intimidating right now. We got the boat in the water the day after we bought it for a couple hours on a little 20 acre lake nearest to our house. All the parts are there and it sailed. And none of us got wet-- eventhough my youngest kept trying to jump out of the boat. It's going to take some time to get comfortable with the trailer, and the docking, and the sailing, but we're learning as we go.
Here's a few questions that I haven't come up with answers to so far:
Do people usually sail off the trailer, or just walk or paddle the boat to a dock to finish rigging it? We stepped the mast on the trailer but then paddled to the dock to do the rest of the rigging.
When tying off at a dock, do you just tie at the bow on the leeward side of the dock? We tied up broadside to the dock but had a lot of trouble keeping fenders in place since there's not really anything to tie them to near the beam of the boat. We had one fender hanging from a shroud and my daughter holding the rope of another fender near the beam -- there must be a smarter way.
Does anyone have any recommendations for places to sail near Chicago? I'm looking into Lake Shabbona, Busse Lake, and Blackwell Forest Preserve. Under what conditions would it be safe to sail in Lake Michigan?
Thanks.
I'm the new owner of a MOD 1 Capri 14.2. I'm new to sailing and new to boat ownership. I'm eager to learn and would like to own a bigger sailboat someday.
The Capri seemed like a good choice to learn how to sail a sloop and to learn with/teach my wife and kids on.
I've been looking around for lakes that are good to sail on around me in the Chicago Suburbs. Lake Michigan is the most obvious one but that's a little intimidating right now. We got the boat in the water the day after we bought it for a couple hours on a little 20 acre lake nearest to our house. All the parts are there and it sailed. And none of us got wet-- eventhough my youngest kept trying to jump out of the boat. It's going to take some time to get comfortable with the trailer, and the docking, and the sailing, but we're learning as we go.
Here's a few questions that I haven't come up with answers to so far:
Do people usually sail off the trailer, or just walk or paddle the boat to a dock to finish rigging it? We stepped the mast on the trailer but then paddled to the dock to do the rest of the rigging.
When tying off at a dock, do you just tie at the bow on the leeward side of the dock? We tied up broadside to the dock but had a lot of trouble keeping fenders in place since there's not really anything to tie them to near the beam of the boat. We had one fender hanging from a shroud and my daughter holding the rope of another fender near the beam -- there must be a smarter way.
Does anyone have any recommendations for places to sail near Chicago? I'm looking into Lake Shabbona, Busse Lake, and Blackwell Forest Preserve. Under what conditions would it be safe to sail in Lake Michigan?
Thanks.