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Having only anchored there once (five years ago), I don't consider myself qualified to give recommendations! It's a sandy bottom there of course; anchoring in anything but sand is prohibited. We anchored almost directly in front of the main fort entrance on the SW side of Garden Key. It seemed like the best protected spot, and it was nice to be so close to the ferry dock. There were very few boats there when we arrived mid morning, but more filled in later, including after dark when some fishing boats came in.

It's a GPSMAP 740s, six inch display, obsolete by several years now. I think it was replaced by the GPSMAP 743. It is its own depth finder, you only need to install a transducer.

Oh my goodness, no! We have a Raymarine ST2000 autopilot. I never want to be without one. On the return leg of this trip, I did hand steer almost all day until nearly sunset. But that was only because I wanted to be absolutely certain we had enough battery power to run the autopilot all night. It does consume a lot of power.

Steve, we took on some extra ice in Flamingo, and two gallons of gas. No food, we were stocked enough on that. Our boat has a five gallon water tank which is plumbed to the sink faucet, and we freeze a few 1/2 gallon bottles of water for our main ice supply. Those ice bottles become drinking water as they thaw. The potty has its own five gallon water tank for flushing. As for bathing, we have different methods we use, mainly depending on how cold the weather/water temp is. But we can generally get cleaned up with as little as a quart of fresh water or less if need be. It's easier than you might think. :)

@@geneneill530 Are you two still making Catalina 22 trips?

@@stevebailey1682 We try. Careers and a 14 year old dog have slowed us down in recent years, but WE ARE NOT DONE! :)

@@stevebailey1682 Yes, not as often as we used to, but hopefully more often in the near future

It's a Magma brand propane kettle grill.

Weather wise, we had good luck both nights. We took three-hour shifts at the helm, letting the autopilot steer. Sleeping was very difficult, especially on the first leg of the trip. I watched a meteorite streak down into the ocean a few degrees off the bow. It was either very large or very close, I could not tell which. There were thousands of crab-trap buoys even miles out at sea. We hit quite a few of them but they caused no trouble. In the darkness it sounded like someone bouncing a basketball along the bottom of the hull. Yes, we have a Ruddercraft kick-up rudder. They are wonderful rudders, performance wise ... but they have a well-established habit of breaking pintles. Our pintles broke on a different cruise, in fine weather, without warning. I was lucky enough to grab the rudder before it sank, and haul it into the cockpit. Ruddercraft is aware of the weakness, and THEY DO NOT CARE. They have no plans to fix the problem, ever. So while I do recommend the rudder, I also recommend you fabricate your own pintles, or at least use a lanyard to save the rudder from loss when it suddenly falls off the boat. Never trust it completely with the factory pintles.

Thank you James! We'll try to get a video up soon.

Thank you John, hopefully soon!

That's really nice of you man, thanks! I'll try!

You'll love it!! I remember when we first ventured out into salt water (we practiced in lakes first). We were so excited just reaching the 3 nautical mile line. It seemed so far. We took a picture of the chartplotter, high fived, and hauled ass back toward land. LOL

They're just zip tied to the teak trim behind them. They were there when we bought the boat. I thought it was pretty cheesy at the time, and always meant to make something more permanent. But as time went by I got comfortable with them. So I just zip tied the teak galley rail across the front of them and called it a day. :)

Thanks John!!

We have a storm jib also! It's a wonderful sail, we love it. Paired with a double reefed main, we can sail flat and relaxed in 30 knots of wind. Just not to windward. ;)

Ours came with the boat. Catalina Direct used to sell them, but I'm not sure if they still do. Catalina Yachts might still carry them. Sorry I don't have a more positive answer. Because yes, you do need one. LOL

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_flash

Navionics. :)

We like it enough we have a second one mounted on a picnic table at home. 👍

Thanks for the kind words, Tim! We hope to go on a couple cruises this fall, around Thanksgiving and Christmas. Fingers crossed!!

Did you do a cruise?

It came with the boat when we bought her. I think it was originally sold by Catalina Direct in California.

Hi, Norbert! Forgive me, I'm not sure I understand your question. Can you rephrase?

@@geneneill530 Hi Gene, I watched your videos. They are great. You both are showing, what's possible with a c22/j22. My question was: why didn't you used both motor and sail(s) by the stormy wind? I would have been my decision , I also would'nt have dropped the anchor.

The motor is a Tohatsu Sailpro 6, on a two-spring mount. No complaints.

@@geneneill530 Thank you Gene. I really appreciate it. I am new to all this.

@@benkanobe7500 Any time, man.

It's a great potty (Thetford 550P), but the hold-down bracket is garbage. By itself it WILL NOT hold the potty in place reliably. Period. Thetford has known about the problem for many years and has chosen to do nothing about it. We are officially retiring it this year, in favor of a Dometic 965. Not as elegant looking, but the hold down brackets are bullet proof. Both the 550P and the 965 are five-gallon models, which are too tall to fit under the V berth cushion-board thingy (nautical term). You'll have to go with a 2.5 gallon model to get that capability. We don't sleep in the V berth, so it's a non issue for us.

@@geneneill530 Thank you. This is really valuable information for me from someone that knows!

Tohatsu Sailpro 6, long shaft.

It was sold to me as a 180. But by my measurement it is a 170.

Thanks! She is a swing keel.

Excellent question, Eric! The Bimini mounts are on movable cars, but I've never felt the need to move them aft, even when flying the big 180 drifter. If you can believe it ... I actually installed a new Bimini this week, and I didn't change a thing.

@@geneneill530 Thanks! Any chance you could point me to where to find the appropriate movable cars? I've done some searching, but nothing I've seen yet has looked like it would work.

@@EricCarden I got them from Catalina Direct. Here you go: www.catalinadirect.com/shop-by-boat/catalina-27/canvas-covers/biminis/bimini-genoa-track-cars/

@@geneneill530 Thanks again! Unfortunately, a note on that page says that these are incompatible with the 15/16" wide track on my "early" (1981) 22. I've spent a good bit of today starting to fashion my own set of cars. Any advice on choosing a bimini? I see plenty on Amazon, but if you have any non-obvious tips, I'm all ears! Thanks.

@@geneneill530 Thanks again! Unfortunately, a note on that page says that these are incompatible with the 15/16" wide track on my "early" (1981) 22. I've spent a good bit of today starting to fashion my own set of cars. I was getting ready to order a bimini, but I'm just not sure about the width and height to get. I can take more measurements on my next sailing day, but would you be so kind as to tell me the width and height of yours (if you know) - and whether the bimini ever interferes with the boom or mainsheet? Thanks!

For us, a Raymarine autotiller is an absolute must, on long trips. Without it, yes this trip would have been miserable. We still take three hour shifts at the helm, but being free to move around the cockpit makes all the difference in the world!

@@geneneill530 Thanks ! I was going to get one this season, even more so now.