A Brief Survey of the Cruising Yachts Anchored Outside La Cruz



The Honcho on the hook in La Cruz



Some boats carry lots of stuff on deck.

I wanted to give you a sense of the number and type of boats we see as we sit anchored once again outside La Cruz. So this morning while eating my papayas and lime, I scanned the anchorage with a pair of binoculars. Here is what I can see:

Date: 12-14-2010 0900 CST
Approximately 31 boats anchored outside of La Cruz Harbor
Type:
26 monohulls
2 catamarans
1 trimaran
2 powerboats

Sailplan: 4 cutters, 4 ketches, 21 sloops

Boats I can identify:
45' Steel center cockpit sloop
Beneteau 36s7 (Honcho)
Catalina 38
Formosa 41
Hans Christian 38
Horstmann trimaran (approx 45')
J-124
Morgan 41
Nordhavn 47 (poweryacht)
Passport 42
Passport 456
Peterson 44 (2)
Tartan 41

I cannot identify the other boats but there are several that look like a Formosa, with clipper bows, bowsprits and center cockpits. The largest boat in the anchorage appears to be about 55 feet and the smallest is the Honcho. There are a couple of others that appear to be in the 36 -38 foot range, but are too far away to say with certainty. It appears that most of the cutter rigged boats were built as sloops, with an intermediate forestay added.  Rigging a sloop as a cutter is probably a good idea for boats with roller furling headsails. Rolling up the big jib and unrolling the little jib is easy to do in a blow. Aboard the Honcho, the only boat I can see that doesn't have roller furling, I simply douse the big jib and set the small jib on the same headstay. This boat is too small to rig as a cutter. It's certainly more labor intensive this way, but the sailing qualities of the boat are not hampered by the weight and windage of the furling gear.

Some boats have been 'rode hard and put away wet'.