CURRENTS | REGATTA | FLEETS | AHOY | CAPTAIN'S LOG Boats for Sale | Regatta Calendar | Regatta Results | Reference | Pictures | Public Forum |   Yahoo Group

Highlander Cruising; Family Style
by Eric Jacobson

                  Starting clockwise with the young person on port bench, that’s Eric’s daughter Melanie, then wife Chris, then son Leif,
                             and daughter Lisa on the starboard berth.

     Our family cruised Highlander #46 for several years. Cruises lasted up to two weeks and covered the Chesapeake Bay (10 cruises) and Georgian Bay of Lake Huron (3 cruises). The photo shows us at anchor one morning in a creek off Chesapeake Bay. Here is how we made a simple, lightweight, cruising kit.
     Sandy Douglass said, "The Highlander is over-canvassed and not safe for the Chesapeake," so we had Greg Fisher make a 30 foot storm jib and we sewed reef points into it (1 row,) and into the mainsail (3 rows). Outboard jib leads allow a dodger (photo) which is 18" high and 36" fore and aft. It keeps us and our gear drier on beats.
     We stored clothing and bedding in duffle bags suspended from hooks in the sheer stringers; plastic dishpans under the seats held food, cooking kit, anchor rode and other gear. The anchor was chocked on the keel, aft.
     We installed 4 lightweight sleeping platforms: one under the bow, two (of 1/4" plywood) extending the side seats outward and a wood-framed canvas berth under the stern. These aren't in the way while sailing. Our third child slept in the stern (in the photo he's in the skipper's berth; it looks like he bumped his head coming out of his own).
     We tried and rejected a boom tent: boom and tent wiggle too much in waves and let in mosquitoes. Instead, we bought a 72" wide Bimini top which we lengthened forward and aft to make a "baby buggy cover" so that the entire cockpit could be sheltered. We sewed Velcro tape so that netting or rain curtains could be suspended from the edges. The cover collapses aft and stows under a laminated, S-shaped tiller. The commode and "potty skirt" are still staples of family lore.

CURRENTS | REGATTA | FLEETS | AHOY | CAPTAIN'S LOG Boats for Sale | Regatta Calendar | Regatta Results | Reference | Pictures | Public Forum  Yahoo Group