Another boat!

[w00dy]

We found a deal that was too good to pass up. An older gentleman moved away to a retirement home of some sort and his family was selling his 2001 West Wight Potter 15. In great shape, well outfitted, and easily trailer able. With the high cost of moorage around here, storing a boat in the yard feels pretty nice.

We've had it out sailing twice now, once on Sequim Bay and just this past weekend, an overnight on Lake Crescent.

I've got to get to work soon so I'll just post a few photos for now but I'll try to post more info when I can.

[Tim]

Great little boats, you will have fun.

[s/v Faith]

Wow, congratulations!  I bet he was happy to find a great home for her.  Have you shared a picture of your enjoying it with him?

[Jim_ME]

Yes, congrats! :)

Great photos...please DO share more.

[w00dy]

Wow, congratulations!  I bet he was happy to find a great home for her.  Have you shared a picture of your enjoying it with him?

No but this is an excellent idea.

[w00dy]

Overall it's a great little boat. Easily trailerable and managed. I love having a shallow draft, beachable boat again and I think it's versatile for its size.

Some criticisms or things to work on:
-cabin space is tight! Can't even sit up inside, but there isn't much to do about this. We slept aboard and were pretty comfortable. The underside of the deck did get very moist from our breathing overnight but perhaps we can ventilate more in the future. Also, I struggled to secure the CB to keep it from banging all night but in a quiet anchorage it wasn't too bad.
- the boat is set up with some nice rigging gear, such as a roller furler, traveler, all lines are led through blocks to cockpit. This seems like it could be helpful, but honestly I think it's more complicated than it needs to be for a 15 ft boat. I'd prefer fewer lines and less complex rigging and I think it would still be easy to handle.
- roller furler sail is a strange cut. I think it's called a "lapper" which seems to be a sort of high cut genoa. Decent sail off the wind or in light air. When the wind picked up on the lake we reefed the main but the headsail was too much in anything above 15-20 kts. We were unable to sail to windward with a reefed main and no headsail in 20+ kts, but I think a smaller jib with a better cut would have allowed us to soldier on.
-the boat is stable and capable for its size. Still it's basically a dinghy and should be treated like one. In higher wind speeds the mainsheet shouldn't leave your hands.
-the boat is set up with an electrical system, chartplotter, depthsounder, even running and anchor lights. It even came with a (dead) 50 ah battery! Again, seems a bit overkill for our intended use of the boat, but then again would be nice to have if cruising longer distances.
-5hp motor is much larger than needed for the boat and affects the trim. A smaller OB (or none at all :0 ) would be nice and could also eliminate the big gas tank taking up space in the footwell. Then again, we were happy to have it last weekend when the wind gusts picked up to 25-30 and we couldn't make any windward progress. We also used it to rescue a rental rowboat that had blown downwind and was making a beeline for the far shore of the lake. We towed them upwind 3 miles back to the dock. So, I guess we won't ditch the OB just yet.

Anyway, very pleased with our little boat so far. Looking forward to exploring other lakes and bays nearby.

[Frank]

Such an easily trailered boat!
Light and easy to haul to ???
Enjoy all its benefits