On the move
Our July 2nd sail from Navy Bay to Prinyer’s Cove began with less than stellar winds. As such, we decided to motor sail with just the main up and one of our two engines. With the trampoline unoccupied and no need to have another person standing by to tend to sheets when we tack, Rebecca decided to take her first attempt at working out with the TRX while underway!
A little bit of thought had to go into how we should best attach the TRX to the mast as having the mainsail up changed things a bit from how we would normally do it. A solution was quickly found though and within minutes she was hard at it.
Did the other boats on the water (and there were a lot of them) think she was crazy? No doubt. Do we care? Not in the least. 🙂 The motion of the boat definitely added a new challenging element to the workout. Now we know that when similar conditions arise, we’ll either be able to take turns at the helm while one trains, or use the auto pilot so that we can both get our workout in together.
Yesterday’s visit with family couldn’t have been better. We had clear skies and great wind. To tell the truth, with it blowing 15-20 knots, it was a bit more wind than we really would have wanted with kids on board. So being safety conscious (or scaredy cats?), we decided to reef the main as we took off for our sail. As it turns out, that was a very good idea because we still broke 9 knots while reaching through the waves. Rebecca’s brother, who himself is a sailor, was a natural at the helm. Perhaps we even swung him over to the dark (catamaran) side? I didn’t have the heart to remind him that the first time he took me sailing (in a laser) he dumped us! Good thing I didn’t go for payback yesterday. 🙂
Chillin’ after a great sail!
Just a follow up on my Because we don’t own a cargo ship post… as I noted in the blue text to the right, even though the “donate” plugin is not functioning 100%, if you sent a gift via that button we have received it and you should have received a personal thank you email back from us. Muchos Gracias. Our boat’s batteries thank you!
Oh, and last but not least, Happy July 4th to our American friends.
One needs to reef early with a Cat anyway. I’m having the Mrs take a look at one for sale in our marina today… still just a dream , but who knows…
Go Dreams!!!!
Go Rebecca! That’s awesome! As for reefing early — wise thing to do. But I am sure the kids would have LOVED it full tilt boogie with all sails going.
I’m not so sure. I think they were looking a tad pale even as it was.
Much easier to reef early rather than struggle against wind and boat! Especially in a cat! The old saying is that the time to reef is when you first think about it! Nice thing about cats, you can take everyone with you without crowding!! Not to mention the nice, level sailing that avoids dumping guests in the drink, rather than drinks in the guests! 🙂
Although we have plenty of room we did have to kick everyone out of the cockpit when we tacked or gybed. Things happen a bit too fast to be crowded when the wind is up.
Jibing is generally pretty quiet. I don’t know if you have tried this, but if you want a quiet jibe in a breeze, center the main traveler and sheet in most of the way first. Steer down wind, then hesitate for a moment as the jib is blanketed by the main and get it part way across, then finish. Pretty calm.
To tack, try setting the traveler down a good ways on the new tack and tacking through much more than 90 degrees. This will buy more time to get the jib across, without being forced back into irons. I don’t believe in backing the jib–it seems to cause more trouble than it solves.
Up to ~ 20 knots true I have learned to do these things single handed, using the auto tack feature. Its not hard. What you do is start the tack with 2 “10+” actions, and then the 90 degree auto tack. With a jibe, in light air I use the auto tack, and when it is windy I do it in 2 45 degree steps.
But yes, when making changes I give seating assignments; the guest either needs to take a simple task (ease a line on my request) or leave certain areas clear. Most guests like helping, as long as you keep the tasks simple and low-pressure; it makes them feel involved.
We will have to work on some of that stuff Drew. We were sailing downwind in 19-21 true yesterday with full sails up and things were happening pretty quick on the jibes. We do center the traveller before jibing but have not adjusted the main sheet when doing so.