location:    

 Yasawa Islands, Fiji,

Captain's Log:   

 OUR BOAT SOLARA


What is the best available ocean sailing yacht? What sailboat provides the absolute best sailing performance for long distance blue water cruising? For me, an avid sailor, and my wife Janet, a reluctant sailing partner, both over 40, the Cabo Rico 42 cannot be beaten as a best choice.

Before selecting our Cabo Rico, I seriously considered hundreds of different types of boats. I read thousands of descriptions of boats in stacks and stacks of sailing magazines and books. I drove from Toronto to Annapolis, Maryland, a major sailing center, and climbed over dozens of perfect boats. I visited boat shows in Toronto, Vancouver and Miami and climbed over several dozen more perfect boats. I talked to numerous boat brokers all over Canada and the US. I looked at both used and new boats, varying in length from 37 feet to over 50 feet, some with fin keels, others with full or modified keels. I learned about sloops, ketches, yawls, and cutters, variously made from wood, steel, aluminum and fibre glass. The selection process took me about two years from the time of Janet's blessing of our adventure until the time I signed the purchase order.

Our final decision was our Cabo Rico 42. It has proven to be a wonderful and rewarding decision.

SOLARA took a year to build. We placed our order with Cabo Rico in February, 2000, and then we began our boat building experience and learned about the boat building industry. The folks at Cabo Rico were extremely helpful, but the final decisions about the layouts of the cabins and deck were ours. We had to make quick decisions about hundreds of pieces of mechanical gear and electronic devices so that we could give the builder final instructions about connections and wiring. The building phase of a new boat purchase is an exciting and demanding process and requires patience, time, and considerable knowledge about boats and boat equipment. The thrill of visiting the Cabo Rico factory in Cost Rico in November and actually seeing the fabrication of the cabin inside the hull increased our excitement and confirmed our decision. Ultimately, we carted boxes and boxes of gear and belongings from Toronto to the Cabo Rico delivery dock in Fort Lauderdale and began our exhausting daily excursions to the marine shops. As we loaded the boat with our worldly effects, marine equipment, and safety gear, cans of food and other provisions, we spent hours with the Cabo Rico staff who freely shared with us their considerable skills and experience.

We took final delivery of SOLARA in Fort Lauderdale in February 2001, and we have since sailed it around the Caribbean and across the Pacific Ocean. It safely and comfortably carried us in our first few months to Cuba, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the French West Indies, Grenada and Trinidad. We then sailed along the fantastic and haunting coasts of Venezuela, Colombia and Panama. In February 2002, we crossed the Panama Canal and then sailed to the enchanting Galapagos, the famous Marquesas, the remote Tuomotos and the Society Islands, including Tahiti and Bora Bora. We had the rare experience of anchoring in the lagoon of Suwarrow. We also visited the incredible Western Samoan and Tonga Islands, and are now enjoying wonderful Fiji. I plan to sail from Fiji to New Zealand in a couple of weeks.

I cannot give enough praise to the designers who improved upon the venerable Cabo Rico 38. Chuck Payne is given credit for heading the design team.

The Cabo Rico 42 is 42 feet long on deck, but, it is actually more than 46 feet long because of its four foot bow sprit. It is a cutter with a modified full keel. It therefore has a single mast with a main sail and two head sails, a large genoa and an inner staysail.

The main sail is large. Although it is in fact too heavy for me to raise it by hand winch from the cockpit, I can winch it up by hand at the mast or use an electrically powered winch in the cockpit. Guess which I use.

We often sail with at least one reef in the main sail, especially at night. Yet the large sail gives us good directional stability and control and is a real boon for light downwind sailing, with or without a first reef.

The cutter rig gives us our two head sails, both with roller furling. So we have numerous sail combinations to suit the myriad wind combinations that we encounter in open seas. We can quickly roll up the genoa and use the stay sail alone in squalls and gales and other high wind conditions. We sometimes use a cruising spinnaker in steady light winds although I occasionally extend a whisker pole and pole out a head sail when sailing on a straight downwind run.

The heavy long keel gives the boat stability and sea kindliness. It is made of heavy lead encapsulated in fibre glass. Heavy seas and winds don't knock us about easily. We ride safely in high waves and swells, even in gale force winds.

The Cabo Rico 42 is stretched out with ample deck locker space and a roomy lazarette. The extra length contributes to steadier sailing in heavy weather.

The boat has an auxiliary engine, a 56 horsepower Yanmar diesel engine. We turn on the engine daily to charge our batteries, but we rarely use the engine for propulsion, relying on wind almost all the time. In calm winds, we sit and relax. Essentially, we only use the engine in anchorages or crowded harbours. Similarly, we have an electronic autopilot, but rarely use it. Instead, we use a mechanical wind vane steering system bolted to the stern of the boat and connected to the wheel by adjustable lines.
The interior lay out is comfortable with forward and aft cabins and a main saloon and galley. We sleep in the saloon with fastened lee cloths when sailing on passages, but all the berths are comfortable. The galley has a large refrigerator, a double sink with fresh and salt water pumps, and a propane/butane stove and oven. It also has a microwave, but, again, we rarely use it.

The workmanship on the boat is superb. The builder used highly skilled Cost Rican craftsmen and the highest quality materials. The rigging and deck fittings are all top quality.

We have been very pleased with the support provided by Cabo Rico, Dave Macy in particular. He has quickly given me answers to many technical questions which I have posed to him on emergency or urgent basis by e-mail or by long distance telephone calls from pay-phones in remote places. All of our equipment problems have been minor. We have not suffered any of the horrible breakdowns and predicaments suffered by some of our fellow cruisers.

Our Cabo Rico 42 has been the perfect boat for our sail around the world. I spent a considerable amount of time researching and shopping for the perfect boat for us, and I know that we have it. Now it makes our adventure both safer and more comfortable and fun.