R21 in Catalina

[jroyle]

I was a little surprised to see a fairly new R21 in Two Harbors at Catalina Island. The San Pedro channel can be a very challenging ride for even our R29 so kudos to whomever made the voyage and I'm sure they had to endure many "cute" little tug comments 🙂

 

[REO6205]

I gave up being upset when somebody calls my 2005 R-21 cute. And it's not even cute per se, just a little work boat not a Bristol kept yacht at all. It ain't ugly and it's well kept mechanically but it works for a living and it shows.
I put an old Folgers coffee can in the cabin and every time somebody refers to "that cute little boat" I throw a dollar bill in the can. We're out just about every day, especially on weekends, and the money is adding up pretty fast. :lol:

As far as crossing open water goes, I keep the boat on Humboldt Bay and routinely take it down to Cape Mendocino or up to Crescent City. It takes some careful weather planning and a couple of spare fuel tanks along with extra groceries but open water travel with a 21 is doable. An auto pilot helps, too.

 

[Capt’nKarl]

The first few months as owners of our 21EC hearing our boat called "cute" was endearing. The next few months hearing "what a cute little boat" it started to become annoying. Now after a couple of years in our 21 EC and having hundreds of other boaters, pedestrians, drivers, helicopter tourists and total strangers taking photos of her, I just grin and reply, "yeah she's a cutie AND she only burns a quart of diesel an hour. That usually changes the focus from being cute to "can I come aboard and look"? WE STILL LOVE OUR CUTE BOAT!!

Cheers!!

Karl and Sara
Maneo

 

[rt11002003]

"Cute" gets tiresome after six years. But, that's the correct term; it looks cute. I'd never claim it's an open water boat. Even with a good weather picture, I'd never attempt a trip to Catalina, or a similar trip offshore, without a life raft on board and a float plan filed. It's a great small boat with great performance, but it is small with size limitations.