[quote=texastuma][quote=jonnyquist]Hi!
I have recently purchased and restored a 1970(ish) Hobie 16. I’m in Austin TX and would love to get it to open water aka the gulf - ideally looking near Corpus/Port Aransas or thereabouts.
Since my experience is limited with open water sailing (my wife) thought i should ask somebody before i just pulled up to the beach and dragged the boat in the water. But I haven’t run into anyone who has sailed open water yet. My experience is this: The couple of days i’ve had a Hobie 16 in the surf were in Daytona Beach and Costa Rica, both relatively calm days with winds 15 mph or less. Pretty sure the oodles of Hobie Wave sailing i’ve done in Playa del Carmen probably shouldn’t count for much - as they shut down the sailing when winds start getting reasonable. Either way i grew up sailing on a mountain lake in the Sierra’s and have been sailing the H16 around Austin lakes for 3 years now..
Can anyone give some advice on sailing open water on the coast near Corpus Christi?[/quote]
Welcome to catamaran sailing in Texas.
I understand the appeal of Gulf sailing in the Corpus area. Finding a beach launch area in Corpus area can be difficult. I would recommend Port Aransas. The challenge with beach launching on the South Padre/Mustang Island areas is the surf can get steep. The swells in the Gulf are typically are closer together; which makes it feel like a wet dirt road in a sports car at 60 mph. I would suggest coming down and do some sailing in the Bay areas first, get with some people and maybe crew a few times to get the hang of it. I would also suggest coming down for one of the events/regattas to watch how some of the best do it. The best piece of advice I can say is watch for rip tides and time the wave sets. I have seen even the best get smacked by a bad set of waves and cause big damage.
Tim gives some great advice to watch for.
We would love to see you at Redfish Reach, but keep an eye out for BYC's Rig Run. It starts and finishes on Crystal Beach (Bolivar Peninsula). Maybe I'll see you at Wurstfest?[/quote]
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