'Blue Dolphin'

Ironically, our second practice cruising sailboat (after Menehune and before Blew Bayou) was a 1974 Irwin 25'. After reading all that we did on Irwins, this was a good opportunity to see if the critics were right.

Our first overnight trip was a cold weekend in March 2008 - crossing Galveston Bay to Double Bayou. Our plan to leave early Saturday was thrwarted by a day's worth of unforseen boat repairs. We didn't end up leaving until about 16:30- but, oh, what a beautiful evening it was. This was what we had signed up for!

The sky was clear, the breeze was brisk - and several other boats were sharing the evening sail with us. We fired out across the waters, everybody jubilent with ideas of what we would do in the bayou the next morning - and how many more of these beautiful experiences our near future might hold.

That evening the wind picked up, and we anchored in the open Bay outside of the main channel - as I was worried about navigating the shallow and (to me) unknown approach at night. The growing waves and  howling kept me up all night checking the gps and making certain that the anchor line was not chaffing through. This was much more weather then I had expected in our little bay. As waves  lifted and dropped Blue Dolphin, she struggled against her anchore rode - and the battle reverberated throughout, as her hull 'oil canned' intensly. Every negative thing that I read about Irwins began haunting my tired mind: flimsy hulls, weak hull to deck joint, poor fittings. We'd sailed through rough spring weather in the Islander, but it never shook or vibrated like this...had I ended our dream before it started?

Throughout the tense and turbulent night I stressed to the point of nauseau, while the rest of my crew somehow managed to sleep. At the break of dawn, I climbed out of the cabin and started the outboard and pushed forward so that I could pull the anchor.

The waves were still about 3-4' (bigger then I'd really seen in the bay), but the wind had fallen to about 15-20 knots and the sun was out. I managed to pull the anchor and motored into the quiet waters of double bayou. A few miles up the bayou we pulled against the shore and enjoyed the remainder of the cold, gusty morning.

We made our first, rough, overnight passage - and (all in all) it went fairly well. Although it was nothing compared to what we would face on open water, it was an experience. The boat held up, and so did we .
It was a learning experience, for sure. Next time I would plan arrival time better, have emergency supplies, bring chaffing gear for my anchor line (which was so worn it would now need replacement), and pack warmer clothes!

Although on this boat I decided Irwins weren't worth the risk: oil canning hull, broken lifeline, poor downwind tracking in heavy wind - our next Irwin (two years older) has none of these problems....so my opinion on Irwins seems more dependent on the specific boat then the make.