We are Jesse and Corrie. We’re from Nebraska (both moved here when we were young) but didn’t meet until an internship after college at the railroad. We got our start sailing at Lake Manawa in Council Bluffs, Iowa in 2018. While it may be surprising to hear of sailing in the Midwest, the Lake Manawa Sailing Association is a hidden gem, with a great bunch of enthusiastic and friendly sailors with a lot of activities including sailing school, racing, and social activities. We got a late start in sailing since neither of us sailed as kids. Jesse’s first exposure to sailing was while camping at a marina along the Erie Canal as part of a cross country bicycle trip after college. After peddling the gear on the bike across the country, meeting sailors who had everything they needed for long distance cruising seemed like a wonderful way to travel. Jesse later went sailing with his friend Milt, who he met through work while traveling for business, on his boat in Tampa. We got to take our daughter Maddie out for a sail on Milt’s boat a couple of times. Maddie tragically passed away at the age of 8 from brain cancer in 2015. When Jesse took a sailing class at Lake Manawa in 2018, it was the most positive and enjoyable activity after a very difficult period following Maddie’s death. We raised funds for pediatric brain cancer research in memory of Maddie through The Cure Starts Now, which is a great way to make a difference.
Jesse loves all kinds of sailing, from dinghy racing to passage making on larger boats. Corrie started sailing in 2019 and prefers cruising on bigger boats, where you can take your home with you as you travel. There is no more gratifying way to travel then to arrive somewhere by boat.
Boats
Our first Zephyr, a Rhodes 22
It all started with our first boat, a Rhodes 22. Jesse read many books about trailer sailor / pocket cruisers and narrowed it down to a few options to show Corrie, who picked the Rhodes 22. There are not a lot of Rhodes 22’s in the midwest, so we ended up getting one in Florida and had it towed back to Nebraska. It turned out to be a great boat for us. The manufacturer, General Boats, made this single model for over 50 years and it constantly evolved with improvements over that time. The Rhodes 22 has a loyal, helpful, and very knowledgeable owners group with an active email list.
Corrie picked the name Zephyr for our boat. We used our R22 a lot at Lake Manawa, where we were fortunate to get a slip. Jesse also took the R22 on some trips to larger lakes in the midwest for mini-cruising trips.
With the R22, Jesse discovered that he liked to work on boats, which is an important aspect for a long term sailor and boat owner since there is always something on a boat that needs to be fixed. A number of local sailors rent a portion of a warehouse in an industrial area north of downtown, where we could plug away on in the off season. We call the shop Boat Menders and it has been a refuge during the off season. Jesse can never really leave something alone and kept optimizing the R22 until it was his version of the ultimate pocket cruiser.
Jesse bought Zephyr from a guy named Ted and sold it to another Ted. It’s great to see the boat being enjoyed by Ted’s family now.
You can find more photos and details of our Rhodes 22 at this blog post.
Path to the next Zephyr
In February of 2020, Jesse took the American Sailing Association classes in Kemah, Texas to be able to charter a bigger boat. Of course, the pandemic started right afterwards. We found that bareboat chartering (where you rent the boat and are responsible for operating it) turned out to be a perfect vacation during the pandemic because you’re already isolated on the boat and you can load it up with all the provisions you need to be self sufficient. It’s also a great way to explore new places. We ended up chartering and/or taking classes in Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, San Francisco, San Diego, San Juan Islands, Maine, the Chesapeake, and Florida Keys. We chartered a variety of boats, including an Island Packet in the San Juan Islands. We liked the steady, sturdy, and comfortable design of the Island Packet.
Our Second Zephyr – Island Packet 380
We decided to take the plunge and get our long term boat. The Island Packet we chartered was a 440, which is an awesome boat, but it is also a lot of boat for the two of us. As a boat gets bigger, everything can rapidly rise in magnitude including weights, forces, costs, etc. A bigger boat can also be a handful when you need to dock it. This put Island Packets on our short list for our long term cruising boat.
We looked at a few boats around the 40′ size including an Amel Sharki and a Stephens 40 (similar to a Hylas). Then an Island Packet 380 came on the market, and it’s name was already Zephyr (like our current boat at the time, the Rhodes 22). The Island Packets feel like a big boat for their length and pack in quite a bit of living space and storage, so the 380 feels pretty big for it’s overall length of 39.5′.
The Island Packet’s aren’t known for pointing high into the wind or for their maneuverability / speed. However, they have a comfortable motion underway, are easy to sail, have a shallow draft which opens up anchorage options, have a safe and comfortable cockpit and a comfortable interior as well. After dodging crab and lobster pots up and down the east coast on trips in various other boats, we gained an appreciation for the protection offered by the cutaway full keel. Here is a review of the model from Yachting Monthly and another brief review from yacht designer Bob Perry. All boats are compromises and the 380 is a good fit for us.
Another benefit of the Island Packet is the strong owners group. Making the jump to owning a cruising boat means that you’re suddenly in charge of many different systems including engine, electrical, plumbing, etc. Sailing is the easy part. Being able to post a message on the Facebook page for the owners group and rapidly get answers is very helpful. Also, it’s inspiring to read about the adventures of the other sailors in the group. There are enough of these boats out cruising that it’s common to arrive in an anchorage and see another Island Packet so it’s like having instant friends.
Our boat is hull #119 built in 2001. We’re in the process of refitting the boat since many of the systems were nearing the end of their useful life. Fortunately, the most fundamental aspects are in good shape, the sails are fairly new and in good condition, and the engine has low hours.
Where is Zephyr?
For now, Zephyr is docked in Little Creek in Norfolk, Virginia. When getting our cruising boat, we considered options for west coast, east coast, gulf coast and great lakes. In the end, we settled on the southern Chesapeake for the following reasons:
- Cruising area at the mouth of the Chesapeake. We can easily go north up the bay, north or south in the Atlantic, or south down the Intracoastal Waterway.
- Availability and affordability of slips
- Relatively well protected from weather and lower risk hurricane area compared to further south (as reflected in insurance rates)
- Access and convenience of airport
- Walking distance to grocery store, restaurant, coffee shop, chandlery
- Fairly mild climate, no need to haul the boat for the winter
- Marine services available locally
Little Creek in Norfolk seemed like a logical choice based on the factors mentioned above, but it turns out that we like it even better than we could have hoped. The sailing community is friendly and it feels like a second home.
Racing
This section is from the perspective of Jesse:
The first sailing class that I took was learning how to sail on a Sunfish. The second class I took was later the same summer, and focused on learning to race. Racing really helps build sailing skills since you’re working towards specific goals in a variety of conditions. I started racing Lasers and crewing on a Snipe. A couple of years later, I bought my own Snipe and served as captain of our local Snipe fleet for a couple years. Fortunately, being captain didn’t mean you had to be the best, but just needed to be least be willing to organize the events and help recruit new Snipe sailors. I enjoy our local races, as well as the larger regional regattas.
More about Snipe sailing:
Here are a few photos, but there’s more on the blog post about Racing in the Midwest.
In addition to racing Snipes, for a couple of years I raced in our match league where two Santana 20’s race against each other. The crew rotates position and it’s a great way to learn keelboat racing. When our club started a cruiser racing fleet, I started crewing as the bowman on a Capri 22. I like the excitement of running the foredeck. Now that I’m spending time in Norfolk, I crew on a C&C 37 when I’m in town. I want to crew on some across the bay races.
SAILING ISLAND ZEPHYR 