Commander #155 'Mephisto Cat'

[Rico]

That is so kool!

It is a TON of fun. It really gets going too!

C38 - I opted for the inflatable because of convenience. The little inflatable fits in a nice bag that is easily stored below when we need to take it on the boat. It is small & light (<35lbs) - It is just big enough for two people - and maybe a dog. I only have it with me when needed.

It does not row very well (no inflatable does...) but I only use it to get from a occasional mooring buoy to shore or a dock while overnighting somewhere. It does this job sufficiently well enough and I think it is the right choice for this purpose.

On one occasion, I forgot the pump - and after thinking it was a horrible, horrible, trip-ruining mistake as we were on a mooring, but I actually blew it up by mouth in less than 15 minutes - breaks included... - it was not that hard to do!

The hard dinghy, I'd have to tow behind the boat as it is too large (8' LOA). A sailing dinghy is definitely the best use for it. This must have been its design intent as it has a nifty retractable keel - which I quickly learned to REMEMBER to lower after going DDW since sailing without a keel is quite difficult!

The little hard dinghy can still be used as a dinghy without any effort; All I do is pull the mast out (It is held in the tube by gravity and secured with a small line in case of a capsize), pull the rudder (secured by a clip), retract the keel, and detach the mainsheet. And Viola, is is now a plain dinghy again...




2010 Sailing Highlights:

Picture 1
A bit of Sailing with the pooch... She is quite good on the boat shifting to the low side on her own. Still I believe she is a bit large for the boat - and the paws also tend to slip a bit much. She is fine in light weather, and just snoozes in the sun, but I don't imagine she'd enjoy a typical SF Bay sail in the Summer.

Picture 2
Ahhh - Spending the night on the Mephisto Cat... One of the great joys of having a little boat. Sausalito is one of our favourite destinations.

Picture 3
Some more spectacular sailing weather in SF Bay. We have some of the fastest fog around! (Obviously not apparent in the still picture!) We had planned a meeting up with some other boats on Angel Island. This boat turned out NOT to be my friend's blue boat. I did get lots of pictures of it though!

Picture 4
The Mephisto Cat at the entrance of Racoon staits on a calm day

Picture 5
Running south under the asymetrical on the 2010 Baja-ha-ha. (San Diego to Cabo Rally). Here we are some 500 Miles south of San Diego some 80 miles offshore. (Right... I did not do this on C-155!)