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Forums / General / New member  
   
The discussions for this thread include the following:


Posted: 24 Mar 2013 at 2:59pm
Hi,
I'm a new member looking for a good boat to singlehand regularly on the lower Columbia and possibly trailer to the San Jauns for one or two weeks in the summer.
How well does the Dolphin fit?

I had an ODay 25 shoal keel center boarder several years ago and it was very tender. In shifting winds it would layover rather dramatically.
Next was a Cape Dory 30. Very seakindly. Heel a little then calm down.
Ater that a Islander Freeport 36B. Cruising Cadilac for two.

Now getting older downsizing.
Anyone willing to offer an opinion on the Dolphine?

Thanks for any thoughts.

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cutterdad


Posted: 24 Mar 2013 at 5:50pm
Hi
Type in Oregon in the search button on the website and you will get a list of Dolphin 24s in Oregon, most I think on the Columbia. #208 is for sale.

Regarding performance go to the Technical Section - "Sails and Performance" for some info on Dolphin performance

I think you'll like the Dolphin. I downsized too

Ron, webmaster
Marionette, #12


Posted: 26 Mar 2013 at 11:54pm
Hi. I sail Yanqui, Yankee Dolphin #197, on the Columbia in Portland, mostly single or short handed (10 year olds don't count). She is a wonderful boat. I've sailed this part of the river on an O'Day 19, a Montgomery 17 and this boat. I'd recommend her for it if you want a larger boat but don't want to deal with the deeper draft, cost, manhandling, etc. She has the look and feel of a bigger boat, but much easier to handle. With the board up she'll get into some reasonably shallow water, and make longer down current tacks possible (up river I think she needs the board down). And her rudder is protected. Down below she has a fair amount of room and a head in a separate compartment from the galley (chicks dig it). A little more tender than modern designs with lots of beam, but with her finer entry she handles chop and ship traffic wakes much more elegantly. We have a North Sails 135% genoa on a furler and I don't bother with a spinnaker. I've found that most days are 10 mph out of the west and I can go upriver wing and wing faster than most boats on the river. There's some scrambling to get the whisker pole down once I get to Gov't Isl, but much less than a chute.

On the other hand... Her shoal keel means she can't be beached at places like Government Island, sticking you with occasional groundings and a dinghy to get ashore. That long keel also means that when she's broadside to the wicked Spring current, she goes with the flow. Combine that with an outboard well aft of the rudder and too small to allow much motor swivel: she handles horrendously under power in strong current. My current slip is just angled off the channel, so no problem. Before I had her at McCuddy's on 33/Marine and getting in you had one shot to get it right, due to the multiple turns in that tight marina and the current. The M17 could be parallel parked under the same conditions.

Regarding trailering, I towed it for the first time this last Fall. It's a big boat, in part because she sits higher than other boats I've trailered. We have a Ford Explorer V8 that tows her just fine, though it would help to have a gas pump attached. We would like to do the San Juan's but know there will be many gas stops along the way. So far we've launched and recovered at yards with lifts. I know people ramp launch them all the time, but it's always seemed worth the extra money for the lift.

I hope some of this is helpful. If you're interested in more Portland specific stuff about the boat, let me know. I'd offer to let you look around Yanqui, but she's hibernating for the winter. If you get me in a few months, she should be in the water. I've done a lot of single handing changes on her and would be happy to show them.

I try to go by the wisdom of having the smallest boat that can do everything I need it to. With a third kid on the way, the Dolphin is the right boat for us. If it was just the wife and I on this river, I'd still have the M17.

Joe
Yanqui, Yankee #197


Posted: 06 Apr 2013 at 2:34pm
Ron & Joe,
Thank you for your help. I think it would have fun to be a member of the Dolphin's group. I was interested in the one in Brookings OR.
Turns out it was sort of already promised. In the mean time I found a Bombay 31 pilothouse which is now at my dock. I plan on re-christening her "Still Crazy".
I think that explains it all.
Thanks again.
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~~_ /) ~~ ~
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cutterdad


Posted: 07 Apr 2013 at 7:04am
Good Luck
Check in on us once in a while
Ron


 
   
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