Pacific Northwest Adventure anyone???

Hi all,

We have this little island up here in Canada called Vancouver Island which happens to be almost exactly 1000 kilometers (625 miles) around. I'm just putting together some planning on how a group of fast cats could do a screaming circumnavigation of the island safely next summer that will span about 1 week.

I have a few cats from here, Cali and Florida that have shown some interest and would like to pursue the idea further. The perfect config would be six 20'+/- cats which could be escorted by our 19' inflatable with a 115hp on her.

Think of it as a Pacific Northwest Worrell 1000.

Here's the Marine Weather Forcast website so you can start to watch the patterns and maybe get psyched up for this challenge.

http://www.weatheroffice.gc.ca/marine/r ... l?mapID=02

Interested?
David Gauci
Hobie 21 #195
"Urban Legend"

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David Gauci

Hey David
I'm John from Nanaimo. Brenda and I just finished a circumnavigation of Saltspring Island from Nanaimo in a pair of Hobie Adventure Islands. 106 miles in total. Good fun but obviously doesn't compare to the challenge your proposing. My interest in hobie's started after seeing a show about two 16's touring from somewhere way up the coast in American waters to Vancouver back in the eighties. I've wanted to circumnavigate Van Isle ever since. You have my interest. I've never sailed a cat but it sounds like I'd have lots of time to learn the craft. As for personal attributes, I'm generally known to be pretty laidback with others but work hard towards completeing tasks. Do I have the salt? I've done some climbing both sport and alpine. I've raced streetluge in the U.S., Switzerland, and Germany. I've flown a Hang Glider at 9,000 ft. Hiked the Jaun de Fuca, Skydived, Bungeed, bla, bla, bla........ I've done week long Kayak trips but nothing like this. I'm going to sail my Adventure Island from Departure bay to Horseshoe bay this month on the first opportunity. (Preferrably in 15knt from the NW.) Ok, I'm done tooting my horn.
Put me down for extreemly curious at this point. Would you even want a single someone like me or are you looking for pre-paired boats?

David, there is already a race on this Island for sailboats. It is mostly large monohulls, but some of the local multihulls have also taken part. Might want to check it out.
Caleb Tarleton

Hey Caleb,

Thanks for the info. That race is the Van Isle 360 which is more of a big boat event. I've owned and have raced OD keelboats for the past 35 years and have done many dozens of offshore races, deliveries and passages. I doubt that any of them would be as physically challenging or as exciting as taking a small fast Hobie around the Island with a goal of max boatspeed and endurance.

Consider me an official convert on these multihull hot rods!!

David

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David Gauci

David, we have a connection on the Van Isle 360. See http://www.vanisle360.com/2005legs/ Dragon Fly, a mulithull was the 2005 winner. The crew for this Cat is made up of local small multihull racers. I think the Dragon Fly is for sale, or may have been sold. Either way, the crew has had a lot of experience on this race, and could offer suggestions if you do want to follow up on this race.

Caleb Tarleton

Be sure to check the video on this link. Do you really want to do this on a small cat?

In the 70's there was a Hobie Cat race called the Can Am, on the Juan De Fuca Straits, Port Angeles to Victoria on one day, with return on the second day. There is a video of this survival event.

On June 3,4, 2000 we revisited this event with eight Hobie 17's. Turned out to be a mild crossing, but a lot of fun. Taking part were Lonnie Byers, Dave Ellis, Jan Kristiansen, Peter Nelson, Andrew Richardson, Caleb Tarleton, Tom Tarleton, and Dave Wilder. The Canadian Coast Guard Aux provided the safety boat, as a training exercise.

Caleb Tarleton

Hi There:
I see that most of the people that have replied to this thread are from the BC area. I am from Edmonton and want to learn sailing, and then purchase a Hobie Cat. Are there any schools on the coast that have Hobies in their fleets to train on? If you can recommend any schools that would be awesome.

Thanks
Darren