[quote=benedict]It looked like common sense to me, too.
And no reason not to solo. Just do it with other boats around. Shouldn't even have to plan around this. If there's a good weather window, chances are you'll see other boats on the water. Catalina is what, 25 miles from Long Beach? At the midway mark a 5W VHF won't reach either shore. But it'll reach a nearby boat. Soloing is fine. But having boats close enough to see you dismast or hear a call for help is just prudent.
And if it's a good weather window and you don't see other boats on the water, you have to ask yourself why. My first sailing experience was off the New Jersey coast. We knocked around a bay for a while, and finally anchored off a popular beach. Good waves, good sun, but NO ONE was in the water. I thought, "What's wrong with these people?" and jumped in.
About ten minutes later I was excruciatingly aware of why no one was in the water. The place was overrun by jellyfish. They were spawning or something. People stared, they pointed, but they had the good grace not to laugh at me.
Speaking of jellyfish, here's another story: Years ago I wanted to sail in the Rough Ryder Regatta in Texas. It's 150 miles up the Intercoastal Waterway from Port Isabel to Corpus Christi. One of the pieces of advice I was given: Lock down, tie down, WELD down your rudder blades. This ran counter to everything I thought I knew about rudders. So I asked. The Intercoastal Waterway is so full of jellyfish along that stretch, you hit one every couple of minutes. If your blades aren't locked down, they'll keep kicking up.
I never would've found that out if I hadn't asked people who had been there and done that. It was sound advice.
Tom[/quote]
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