# Offshore sailing on a Catalina 22?



## saldrich (Oct 10, 2013)

If you had a Catalina 22 sailboat, what is the furthest away from shore would you take it? 

Would you take it offshore?


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## bigdogandy (Jun 21, 2008)

It all depends on:

1: weather
2: condition of the boat
3: your abilities

With the right combination of all 3 you could sail it across the ocean. With any one item being deficient I wouldn't sail it past the breakwater. 

This should be interesting!


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## wikiwiki (May 11, 2014)

A Schock Santana 22 sailed from California across the Pacific and ended up being used for 'cargo' and 'passenger' service from island to island in Micronesia


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## saldrich (Oct 10, 2013)

This guy cruised 4,000 miles on a Catalina 22 and he went offshore.


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## TQA (Apr 4, 2009)

I sailed mine across the English Channel, Hamble to Cherbourg, Troon to Stornaway and back and down the Adriatic to Albania. 

However it has big cockpit and I don't think I would want to be out in strong winds and big seas. 

So my answer is yes in reasonable conditions.


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## JonEisberg (Dec 3, 2010)

saldrich said:


> if you had a catalina 22 sailboat, what is the furthest away from shore would you take it?
> 
> Would you take it offshore?


No...


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## desert rat (Feb 14, 2013)

Let us see what changes in the answers. Everything the same except 27 ft instead of 22.
This is where the uh, if, maybe, begins for me mostly. There are specific little boats that are WOW.


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## dabnis (Jul 29, 2007)

Depends what you mean by "off shore" I would think it could mean "in the ocean, about twice as far off shore as you can see.? My "off shore" experience between San Francisco & Victoria, B.C. was in Destroyer Escorts. I have some experience in Northern California ocean waters from San Francisco & Fort Bragg, & some limited excursions out of some of the inlets on the Oregon Coast. The waters "close to shore", like in the picture below, can be extremely rough. 

One of our boats was a Coronado 25, bigger than a Catalina 22, & it did pretty well in ocean waters. Although for long term voyages I would think space for extra water, food & fuel would be limited.

I guess it all depends on where you are. If you want to live on peanut butter & tortillas as in the video, & you can keep the boat "zipped up" from breaking seas, You might survive.

The breaker in the picture is inside the Bonita channel marker, which is about 15' high. IIRC

Paul T


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## Sal Paradise (Sep 14, 2012)

This couple went to the Bahamas from Key Largo on a C22- Catalina Direct Clubhouse Forums


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## shananchie (Jan 29, 2014)

The Catalina 22 is lightly built and designed to sail in sheltered waters. In good weather, you can sail anything, so pick your weather carefully if you're feeling adventurous.

If you get caught in a storm, well, good luck ... It wouldn't take much to capsize one, and everything is going to break if that happens. 

That size of boat, the builder has a choice: Make it light enough to tow behind a big car, or build it heavy enough to make it seaworthy. The 22 can be towed behind a big car.


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## socal c25 (Nov 1, 2013)

Here in So Cal you see Catalina's at Catalina Island all the time, depending on which harbor you leave from it could be 21 to 30 miles. I came across one offshore about 20 miles off the backside of Catalina Island. Sturdy boat if rigged for the harsh environment of offshore work. I wouldn't cross an ocean 1000+ miles but under a hundred is ok by me.


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## Sal Paradise (Sep 14, 2012)

Locking down the cockpit hatches, and putting the boards in the companionway, using a new Honda 9.9 HP long shaft and a nice big new plastic fuel tank ( 20 gallons) , GPS, proper safety gear, maintaining the keel , sailing conservatively , checking the weather - all will tilt the odds in your favor for coastal hopping in good conditions. 

Even so, I would only go in good conditions with lots of planning and ways to call for help.


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## Minnewaska (Feb 21, 2010)

Goodness, people of rowed boats across the Atlantic. Using anecdotal examples of what people have done is of little importance to me. Would I? No. Would you? Maybe. It's a personal decision. The boat was not designed for that job.


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## jameswilson29 (Aug 15, 2009)

saldrich said:


> If you had a Catalina 22 sailboat, what is the furthest away from shore would you take it?
> 
> Would you take it offshore?


You mean "farthest", not "furthest".

No, I would not sail a C22 offshore; coastal, maybe.

It is the skipper, not the boat. Part of being a good skipper is understanding the purpose and limitations of your vessel.


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## PBzeer (Nov 11, 2002)

Hopping down the coast, a mile or two (or even less) offshore is one thing. Going out an inlet and just sailing around is another. And then, there's going out of sight of land to a different landfall.

Weather permitting, I'd do the first two, but would have no desire to do the third. But, even with good weather for the first two, you've got a small boat, with a small motor that would mean you have to time going out and coming back in, to catch the tide right.


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## JonEisberg (Dec 3, 2010)

Sal Paradise said:


> Even so, I would only go in good conditions with lots of planning and ways to call for help.


Pretty amazing, when you think about it, that we've reached the point of the mindset being so commonplace, that _having the means to call for help_ might actually make all the difference whether to go, or not...

Blondie Hasler would be be turning over in his grave... 

Seems an interesting question, I wonder how many among us might give up sailing, or stop venturing out of sight of land on small boats, if all means of summoning assistance were somehow suddenly denied to us?

Seems to me that anyone who would not consider hiking up to Tuckerman's Ravine in winter _without_ a cell phone or PLB, probably shouldn't be doing so _with _one, either...


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## Minnewaska (Feb 21, 2010)

JonEisberg said:


> ......I wonder how many among us might give up sailing, or stop venturing out of sight of land on small boats, if all means of summoning assistance were somehow suddenly denied to us?


That's a really good question. To some degree, I think it would mute most of us to some degree. I certainly wouldn't stop sailing, nor cruising. However, if every coastal passage had to be the same prep as an offshore passage, it would naturally limit the ability to go.

For example, I have a good coastal liferaft and ditchbag that are really only good for a day in the raft, while the epirb does its job. If I had to potentially survive for many days, until someone randomly stumbled upon us or we figured out how to make landfall ourselves, that would require offshore prep for even a coastal hop. It would change the game.

I do get the point that some don't make the proper preparations even for a coastal hop and expect the Easy Button to bail them out. That's not proper seamanship.


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## saldrich (Oct 10, 2013)

Sal Paradise said:


> This couple went to the Bahamas from Key Largo on a C22- Catalina Direct Clubhouse Forums


Nice!

An even better thread.....

Transatlantic crossing in a C22?


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## Sal Paradise (Sep 14, 2012)

JonEisberg said:


> Seems an interesting question, I wonder how many among us might give up sailing, or stop venturing out of sight of land on small boats, if all means of summoning assistance were somehow suddenly denied to us?


I am old enough to have spent many days on the water ( & doing things that were far more dangerous ) before cell phones, so I feel I can actually answer this; I think it would make very few people give up any adventure type sport. We might act slightly differently without celll phone communications, we might bring a few extra tools, practice swimming  ......do a little bit more maintenance perhaps. But ultimately it would stop very few. In fact an argument could be made just the opposite - that more people are distracted by their smart phones and so there are less people who can muster the time and attention for sailing. Sure, a few people use the I phone to film their adventures, but many times more just stare into the things while walking like a zombie through a mall.

Now you can't really mean "all means of summoning assistance". Not sure what that really means - does that include flares and distress flags?

Any man brave or foolish enough to sail a 22' boat offshore probably wouldn't be stopped by lack of communications. After all, sailboats are extremely reliable vehicles if used within their limits.


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## JonEisberg (Dec 3, 2010)

Sal Paradise said:


> Now you can't really mean "all means of summoning assistance". Not sure what that really means - does that include flares and distress flags?


No, of course not... I was thinking more of our modern means of "calling for help" - VHF/HF radios, cell phones, EPIRBS, Sat phones, SPOT, and the like...


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## tommays (Sep 9, 2008)

?? I never even had a VHF on the J24 until 5 years ago to call the launch service for mooring pickup ??


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## Kenneth Lee (Dec 26, 2017)

really, thanks


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