Favorite local spot?

[Duckfat]

Pretend I'm coming for a visit and bringing my boat. Where are we going sailing? What are the cool spots in your area? I have an ulterior motive here- I just got a new trailer and I'm thinking about potential road trip destinations for spring.

 

[danpal]

Quissett harbor, Falmouth on Cape Cod. My parents keep their sailboat here and it's a blast sailing between all the moored boats. The only issue is that parking is very tight and you have to carry your boat to get it in the water.

 

[baseman]

Bow Lake. Strafford NH. Home of an active Lightning fleet and informal racing every Sunday in July and August. Sunfish and clones are considered half course boats and don't need to be class legal.

 

[andyatos]

Tomales Bay, California. North of San Francisco along the coast. The photo below is looking southeast with Dillon Beach at the bottom of the photo.

The coastal winds typically blow from the northwest, so that's right down the bay.

Here's Sunfish-ing video sailing there when it was light. And here's Laser-ing video when it was stronger.

Tomales has pretty much everything... including Great White sharks and the San Andreas fault running down the middle of it. What's not to like?

- Andy

 

[oldpaint]

Quissett harbor, Falmouth on Cape Cod. My parents keep their sailboat here and it's a blast sailing between all the moored boats. The only issue is that parking is very tight and you have to carry your boat to get it in the water.

I sail from West Falmouth Harbor a few miles north of Quisset on Buzzards Bay. Has a ramp, trailer parking. On the downside, there are rocks that are submerged at high tide, including one by the ramp so its a good idea to go at low tide the first time to note the locations.

There are interesting places to sail to including Cleveland Ledge Lighthouse, Old Silver Beach, and yes, Quisset to the South.

I'll get a picture posted shortly.

 

[oldpaint]

I'll get a picture posted shortly.

Low tide at West Falmouth Harbor

 

[danpal]

I sat on that very dock this past Saturday having a late lunch...

I haven't sailed in West Falmouth Harbor in over 30 years, back when I had a wooden Sunfish. Unfortunately she ended up rotting in the backyard when I went to college. The only things left from her are the spars which I still use today.

 

[Pauliemac]

We would go to Cazenovia lake which is nearby. It's big enough to sail all day, and small enough to keep visual contact. We will snorkel around, then shadow the fleet when the racing begins. Finish the day with a few cold frosty ones!

 

[tag]

Crystal Lake, Michigan

A gorgeous lake with nice sailing conditions. My wife and I sailed my Sunfish together there a few years back - my favorite sail ever:

 

[Gregory Matous]

One of the nicest places I've found so far is Sail Sand Point in Seattle. Lake Washington is a freshwater lake between Seattle and Bellevue. Its the type of place I wish I had when I was a kid. They got a bunch of different boats to rent, such as lasers, Vanguards, different hobies. They do classes for kids. The rentals are pretty cheap too.

When we went, people were sailing around in different boats. No motorboats screaming across the lake. People were jumping off the pier. My kid went fishing off the dock. After the sun set, they started up a barbeque grill. I got the feeling it was like that almost every night.

Everytime we travel, I look up the sailboat rentals, and they are few and far between for the small daysailors.

I don't have video of the sailing, but here's our kid fishing off the dock.

 

[Alan S. Glos]

I sail in the beautiful Finger Lakes region of Upstate New but I think the lakes in Michigan (Crystal and Glen Lakes in particular) are the best small boat sailing venues I have ever
encountered. I got back to Glen Lake for a family reunion last July, and the sailing was simply the best.

Alan Glos
Cazenovia, NY