I liked to take her out in rought weather (Force 6 - 8) and surf her on top of
large swells/rollers available off Marina Del Rey (MDR), after storms passed.
She saved my life more than once when caught in Santa Ana conditions or
Northeasters. Quite a few times she put up with 25' seas, breaking rollers
and 70MPH winds. She was pooped 6 times and knocked down twice during a storm
returning from Catalina. She shook herself free and just kept on going. At the
time I did not feel unsafe. On entering harbor at Marina Del Rey the Coast
Guard yelled at me. "We forbid you to go outside the harbor" ,"If you go out
there we will not go out to get you..." I smiled and yelled back: "Just
returning from Catalina" and they replied " Oh... Yeah...." not believing...
This is something that I would not attempt ever again now that I am older and
more aware of how tenuous our grasp on life is...
Many times when Avalon and the Isthmus were packed we would sail around to
Little Harbor on the west side of the island. Little harbor is a really nice
public campground with a nice beach facing the ocean and protected from all
winds except a direct west to east blast. Always, the ranger would tell us it
was packed and there was no space. It would take some convincing or ignoring
to get to stay there. We would walk around till dark and then tell him he
could not send us out in the dark of night into that ocean. He would relent
and we would 99 times out of 100 be the only people at the campground. The
campground had restrooms and showers. In the morning wild goats would walk
around and after a while bisons would come and grace. It was quite a trip for
the girls we took there as they loved the animals walking around. Be sure to
take plenty of water, beer, food and firewood if you ever go there. When we
motored over in the 15' Boston Whaler (when the col 22 was being serviced) we
would just drag it out on the beach and anchor it there. On the Col 22 we
would use a 3 man inflatable raft to get ashore.
I sailed/motored her from Marina Del Rey to Catalina (Avalon) island
regularly, Long Beach, Naples, and San Diego often. In January, 1984 I sailed
her south past San Diego to Mexico and thru big canal across to Texas,
Louisiana, Alabama arriving in Florida direct from Alabama Sept 1984. She was
an excellent offshore sailboat. Dealing with problems in Mexico, Panama and
Transiting big canal soured me on sailing to other countries. She was sold
for $6,000.00 in Florida and shipped by truck back to California by her new
owner who knew her and flew to Florida to buy her...
There are a few Col 22's in my neighborhood but most are trashed... If I did
not have problems with my right hand and shoulder I would buy another one and
rebuild her.
I currently own a WWPotter 19' (P19) which is not quite as fast or roomy...
But immensely comfortable for 2 persons. The P19 mast weights 35lbs versus the
Col 22's 100lbs. This makes it easy to trail anywhere and to keep her at my
dock when not on trailer. It also uses a regular motorboat trailer whereas the
Col 22 required a specialized trailer...
The swing keel model of the Col 22 did not meet with much success, for some
reason it was not as stable or fast... It had a habit of growing oysters in
the centerboard trunk and jamming it.
Best,
Solar Fry
P19 #1028, "Elusive Margin"
S13 #13239, "Solar Fry"
Pompano Beach, FL
BTW:
There are 6 pages to the brochure I am sending you. The files are in Graphics
format JPEG (JPG). If you want all of them you will have to download the
different messages as I can only send one per message. File col22d.jpg is same
as col22e.jpg therefore you will not get both only one or the other...
In a message dated 99-01-18 16:58:03 EST, MHayes1913@aol.com writes:
<< Subj: Columbia 22
From: MHayes1913@aol.com
To: Solarfry@aol.com
Hello:
I recently purchased a Columbia 22 1970 hull, and have been looking for
infomation about the boat. I have been in touch with White Cap 1 and that is
how I came to you. He mentioned you might have printed infomation about the
boat and that you make it availible.
Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
>>