S/V June Bug, Catalina 27 Sailboat

I sailed "June Bug" for a number of years on the Columbia River, and found her to be an excellent boat for day sailing and also for cruising on the Columbia. I took her westward past Astoria, to Ilwaco, and partly over the Columbia Bar, and eastward through the locks at Bonneville Dam and The Dallas Dam to the Maryhill area, thus encompassing several hundred miles of the Columbia River. I also took her gunkholing in the poorly-charted sloughs of the southern estuary of the lower Columbia.

June Bug is now owned and captained by my good friend, Leslie Sawyer.

June Bug is a 1985 Catalina 27 sailboat, hull #5818.

Her specifications are approximately:

7,000 lb. displacement, 2,700 lb. fin keel (external lead ballast), spade rudder
26' 10" overall length, 21' 9" water-line, 8' 10" beam
4' draft per original specs., but about 4' 2" for actual June Bug draft
37' mast, 40.5' total vertical clearance
340 sq. ft. sail area with standard jib
6.25 knot, 7.2 mph hull speed
Tankage: 20 gal. diesel, 20 gal. water, 15 gal. holding
Universal M-18 diesel, 14 hp, auxiliary power

June Bug I feel is an excellent boat for the Columbia River. She'll take a handful of people day-sailing, accommodate 2-3 people overnight, feels airy below with her huge companionway/hatch, "gunkholes" well with her four foot draft, and can handle the strong winds that sometimes come up on the river.

June Bug has plenty of work for her crew as she hanks on her headsails – a 110 as her standard jib, a 150 with a cut-back/raised foot, and a smaller headsail for stronger conditions. For reaching in light air she has an older, lightweight nylon gennaker/drifter with a snuffer. For downwind sailing in light air she has a huge asymmetric spinnaker (It came off my Crealock 34) with a snuffer. It adds excitement in light air, but you need to drop it quickly when the winds get much above 10 and the death rolls start. It is so big for the boat it almost always ends up in the water when dousing it.

Her new, full-batten mainsail noticeably improves her up-wind performance. With two deep reef points, she's ready for high winds. Retractable lazy jacks facilitate quickly dropping the mainsail, but otherwise stay out of the way.

June Bug's amenities include rear perch seats, with sunbrella fabric covers, that I custom built and sewed. Enjoy the view from these seats when motoring or sailing in light conditions, but sit somewhere else when heeled over in strong winds.

Her electronics and instrumentation include a depthsounder, knotmeter, compass, AM/FM radio, VHF marine-band two-way radio, handheld GPS/chartplotter, engine instruments, diesel/water/holding tank gauges, and an autotiller (used mainly in light conditions and when motoring).

June Bug carries no explosive fuels. Her engine uses diesel fuel and her cooking stove uses stove alcohol.

For ground tackle June Bug carries a 22 lb. Lewmar Claw (Bruce copy) as a primary, and a Danforth as a secondary, both on mixed chain/nylon rodes.

I named June Bug in honor of my mother, June Imig Stipak.