J/32 COURAGE- the passage was cool!

(Sakonnet River, Rhode Island, United States of America)-  Bob Kowalski- proud owner of the J/32 COURAGE provided us a quick synopsis of his “courageous” passage down to the islands (Caribbean) in the fall of 2017.  Here is Bob’s commentary:

“So, I soloed COURAGE, my lovely J/32, from Sakonnet Point (the east side of Aquidneck Island/ Newport, RI) to Brewers Bay, St Thomas, US Virgin Islands through two storms; yeah, two of them!

One was real fun, and I did over 200 miles in a day going 10+ knots for a good amount of time until a lower started to fray. Amazing boat, yup, she’s ‘just a cruiser’, says your Uncle Rod. Not! She flies!

The other storm, not so fun!  Heaved-to for over 24 hours.  I call it “the magic storm”.  With every wave, a thousand bucks disappeared off the deck!!  OMFG, it was crazy.  Never seen ‘nuthin like it!

But, I’m thinking that I am feeling pretty good about myself, almost beating my chest. Pulled into Nanny Cay to do the repairs next to a J/35 called SUNDAY.  Very nice Dutch couple.  They have sailed around the world on SUNDAY; done two Atlantic crossings and their boat survived Hurricane Irma. But, she looks PERFECT!  I’m humbled. Can learn a lot from this Dutch couple on their J/35, so cool!

Oh, BTW, I did the trip- 1,500+ nautical miles- in 10 days. I’m wondering, do I get a “throw-out” for the 24 hours when I heaved-to?  Can I subtract that and call it 9 days for my passage?  Haha!

Thought you guys would like to hear about it.  Amazing boat!  Awesome cruiser!  Thank you Al and Rod, keep up the great work!” Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Best Practices- Boat Maintenance

For All J/Boats from J/22 to J/65
(Newport, RI)- The recent tragedy involving four British sailors lost in the Atlantic and their boat (the 40 foot sloop Cheeky Rafiki) that was found adrift without a keel, is a chilling reminder of the potential hazards of undertaking an offshore sailing passage.  One can never be too careful when it comes to preparing for such a voyage.

We’d like to stress to all J owners the ongoing need to be vigilant in the routine inspection and maintenance of boats in the field.   Boats should be inspected annually, surveyed every 5 years, and key components should be specifically checked and replaced well before their expected life-spans are reached.

J/Boats first published a Best Practices Boat Inspection article in 2008 which has since been circulated several times via dealer bulletin, J/News, and on J websites, including the Technical Bulletin section of all boat models on jowners.org.   The document is also included in new Owner Manuals.   Last year, we additionally circulated a Best Practices Corrosion bulletin for models equipped with sail-drives.

Please refresh your memory by reading these important documents and sharing this information with your boat service providers.
-  Best Practices- Boat Inspection
-  Best Practices- Corrosion