Page 1 of 1

New DSA Cruising Chair

PostPosted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 2:28 am
by rrcrazy
Hello Fellow Cruisers!

I am Dan Mejak. I have been recently appointed the DSA Cruising Chair. My main goal is to encourage all kinds of cruising with our Daysailers. My wife, Robin, and I currently own a DSII named Compass Rose. We mainly cruise the freshwater lakes of Ohio and Michigan. We have a great place to keep our boat at Leatherlips Yacht Club in Columbus, OH with Fleet 98. We don't race very much, we just enjoy being on the water!

If you have any ideas on how to encourage cruising within the Daysailer Association, feel free to drop me a line!

Re: New DSA Cruising Chair

PostPosted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 9:48 pm
by Shagbark
You could figure out where to place the head!

Re: New DSA Cruising Chair

PostPosted: Mon Jan 23, 2017 10:10 pm
by GreenLake
In my view "cruising" isn't limited to to all-day / overnight scenarios. I've done plenty of "destination" cruises, where each leg may be between 1-5 hours; for those the question of placing the head hasn't proven as urgent. Ditto for the one time I did camp cruising with 50 nm legs. Somehow, that was a non-problem.

My problem is more the lack of self-driving cars with trailers. Those would make one-way cruises so much more possible :)

Re: New DSA Cruising Chair

PostPosted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 12:00 am
by Alan
We talked in a thread some years ago about placing a removable port with a built-in storage bag in one of the DSII benches. That would work well enough, especially if you dosed the bag with Grand Canyon Pooh Powder or equivalent.

The head depends on your crew, I suppose, and their inhibitions or lack of them. The famous sailor Humphrey Bogart reportedly said, "The problem sailing with dames is they can't pee over the side." I quoted this to my crew, followed by "Humphrey, you haven't met my wife." If I hadn't won her heart some decades earlier, that would have done it. :)

Re: New DSA Cruising Chair

PostPosted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 2:56 am
by rrcrazy
Well we just always used a coffee can when I was a kid. There is room in a DSII for a porta potty. It's just moving it around is the issue. However, I also keep a boarding ladder up there in case you need to "jump overboard"! I guess if you wanted to convert the "ice box" in the seat of the DSII on the port side to a head, well there you go! You just need to install appropriate valves, seals, latches, etc. so it doesn't all go everywhere when heeling over or the occasional (and unwanted) capsize!

Re: New DSA Cruising Chair

PostPosted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 3:00 am
by rrcrazy
GreenLake wrote:In my view "cruising" isn't limited to to all-day / overnight scenarios. I've done plenty of "destination" cruises, where each leg may be between 1-5 hours; for those the question of placing the head hasn't proven as urgent. Ditto for the one time I did camp cruising with 50 nm legs. Somehow, that was a non-problem.

My problem is more the lack of self-driving cars with trailers. Those would make one-way cruises so much more possible :)


I think that's where organized cruises come in handy. Our Sea Scout Ship sailed Lake Erie this summer from Monroe, MI to Put-In-Bay, the Lorain and finally Sandusky. They had a power boat as well as people driving trailers and sag wagons along to the destinations.

Re: New DSA Cruising Chair

PostPosted: Tue Jan 24, 2017 4:24 am
by GreenLake
Alan wrote:The head depends on your crew, I suppose, and their inhibitions or lack of them. The famous sailor Humphrey Bogart reportedly said, "The problem sailing with dames is they can't pee over the side."


Well, the only one to ever take a leak over the side on my boat was what Bogart would have called a "dame". And I have a strong suspicion it was the novelty rather than the urgent necessity of the act, that compelled her, because we were practically at the dock.

Re: New DSA Cruising Chair

PostPosted: Tue Feb 14, 2017 2:08 pm
by ChrisB
Dan,

The Florida 120 would be a good place for Daysailer skippers and crew to get their feet wet with cruising. It is an informal gathering of like minded (read: crazy) sailors of small boats who meet up in the Pensacola, Florida area in May every year. The weather is generally favorable and not too hot, there are restaurants, bars, and re-provisioning stops along the route and even a couple of places with cold showers and bathrooms. I've done it in my DS II several times as have one or two other DS's. Search "Florida 120" on Facebook.
-Chris

Re: New DSA Cruising Chair

PostPosted: Mon Jul 03, 2017 12:17 am
by druidae1492
I cruise Washington's San Juan Islands as often as I can get away from the shore. I live in Bellingham Washington if anyone wants to cruise in tandem some time. I know a lot of awesome spots. :) Chart 18421 for reference.
Snapshot 2 (7-2-2017 4-15 PM).png
Snapshot 2 (7-2-2017 4-15 PM).png (110.29 KiB) Viewed 11263 times