Old Newbie with questions

[KITTIEanME]

Hello all: I am Tom and I sail the Chesapeake Bay mostly Mobjack Bay. I have owned a larger ketch since 1990 but I have found the need for a smaller boat to singlehand during my ageing process. I was looking for a CD22 or CD25 but ran across a 1970 Kittiwake 23 for sale for little money,so I bought her and a trailer. She now sits in my driveway. The first question is wether I should restore her to her original specs or upgrade the interior to my singlehanding ambitions. I intend to use this boat to snuggle into different creeks for a few days at a time. Second is that I don't care for the large square outboard well on her portside stern. I,am leaning toward covering the well over. I would have no problems if the well was centered on the stern but I have never sailed a Kittiwake before. What are the pros & cons of this well? By the way I,am going to keep the Ketch for my familys enjoyment. I,ll try to post pictures. TOM

[Clint]

HI Tom, Welcome to the forum!
I see you live in Mathews! It is a wonderful small town isnt it? I have a Catalina 27 and we will probably meet on the bay at sometime.
To your question, I would rig the boat to make you feel comfortable and safe while single handing. I have single handed quite a few times and every trip I can think of something that I would like to do different to make it easier on me being by myself.

[Tim]

I believe you should feel free to make the boat what you want her to be, but be very careful about letting your aspirations outrun your time, inspiration, and ability.

[Ric in Richmond]

Welcome to the group!

I sail out of the severn river on the mobjack. Great place to sail.

I'd do a sailing restoration and change tings as you find they don't work.

I had lots of ideas about my alberg and found that most of them really didn't matter to how I was using the boat!

[bcooke]

It is much MUCH easier to start with a boat that meets your needs. Buying a boat at a good price and then having to modify it to your needs is rarely the cheapest or fastest way to go. Better to spend more up front and start with what you need.

The first question is wether I should restore her to her original specs or upgrade the interior to my singlehanding ambitions.

What is the difference? Is a stock Kittwake difficult to singlehand? What does the interior have to do with singlehanding? Does the boat need restoration? I am confused.

If you cover the motor well does that mean you plan to cruise sans engine? The offset motor well was probably a compromise that the designers were forced into. You will have to be prepared to deal with whatever the designers decided to do was too difficult/expensive/time consuming to deal with.

[LazyGuy]

Tom,

Welcome - I used to own a Sea Sprite 23 that is very similar to the Kittiwake. Do yourself a favor and give the motorwell at try for a year. If current is not an issue where you are, you can go with a 2-3 HP engine and pull it out of the well when you are not using it. Also understand that you need to keep the lid raised when the engine is running otherwise the motor tends to choke itself out with its own exhaust. Our big complaint with the a 2 stroke engine in the well was coming up the Mystic River with the breeze behind us so we were traveling in our own cloud of exhaust. I liked the well because aesthetically it was better than the big ol' hunk of iron hanging off the back. It also helps the boat trim out better. After a down wind trip up the river one of our marina mates jokingly said; "Oh it was you, I thought it was a fog bank."

A suggestion is to do what you need to do to safely single hand and sail it for a year or two, then decide. Sitting in the cockpit in a beautiful gunk hole is a great place to start a list of changes.

[KITTIEanME]

Wow! Thanks for all your replys. I am going to take everyones advice. I'll restore the Interior to my needs, downhauls with covers & bags are essential for the rig. I,ll try the big square hole in the stern but the previous owner had a hand pump next to the outboard well so if it takes on water I may still go with the engine bracket the PO installed. LazyGuy: I like the pug picture, I have owned pug dogs for a long while. Ric in Richmond: We are closer than you think. I sail the larger boat out of the Severn River Marina also. I have read your adventures on your website and have stories to tell you about your previous Marina. Oh by the way I think I am getting a handle on posting pictures and reducing them in size is my next learning curve toward being computor literate so please bare with me as I am fairly new to the ways of the internet. I,ll try to send more at a later date. I plan to discuss with everyone the modifications to the Kittiwake to include pictures. TOM