[Rhodes22-list] Detached Furlers and Other Such Calamaties

[mputnam1 at aol.com]

Ok, in all seriousness, as a newbie, (and at the risk of embarassing myself by admitting this) this is the sort of story that scares the bejesus out of me, because if this were to all happen to me the next time I'm out on the water, I wouldn't have the foggiest idea of how to solve the problem.  Especially since I am mostly sailing single-handed while I get to know the boat and get comfortable with how it handles.  I'm not going to risk the safety of my non-sailing friends (I really don't know anyone who sails) until I feel more confident in my abilities on the R-22.
 
Is this the sort of thing that eventually happens to most R-22 owners?  For instance, what can one do ahead of time to learn more about exactly how the roller furler is held together so that I can attempt to put it back together again on the water if something like this happens?  Should I be taking it apart and putting it back together again (not exactly something I want to do -- I'd probably screw it all up) Or does one just learn how to handle such things as events unfold on the water?
 
Sorry for the open-ended question that is most likely answered with "well, you'll figure it out because you have to" ... but this sort of malfunction is what I am most nervous about as a relatively new and pretty inexperienced sailor ... 
 
- Mark P.
 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: iweb86 at aol.com
To: rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org
Sent: Wed, 5 Jul 2006 21:25:59 -0400
Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Wow this is a boring night


Wow, you should ask just as I had the most fun in a long time on my boat Sunday
 
My wife (of almost three years and came after I got the boat) and I went out on 
my ‘72 Rhodes Continental, Pleiades last Sunday. Now mind you it may have been 
blowing a little too hard. Actually they did say there were SCW. (Small Craft 
Warnings) To me that means the there is a bit of so me wind for a sailboat. Kind 
of like a bigger engine.
 
Well we were about 15 minutes out and my wife. Mind you know she is not much of 
a sailor and actually likes it when I keep it flat and not tacking, well she 
comments how it is a beautiful day, even though it is blowing about 15 knots.
 
Then after a bit of a gibe I look and the bottom of the roller furler has come 
loose. Oh what a bummer. That dang this is now flying in the air and I basically 
don’t have any steerage. Oh not that it has come off before so this is a new 
experience. Best part was my wife did not know that there was a problem but 
trust me when she figured it out, Boy was it a problem.
 
Well first I thought I would go forward and see if I could get it reconnected 
and roll in the jib but after almost going in myself I was forced to retreat to 
the cockpit. First tying a quick knot in the furling line so as to keep the 
bottom of the furler from completely flying all over the place.
 
I then tried to start the Honda 9.9 (Oh Michael that baby is doing great most of 
the time. You know once I got it home from down south. That in itself was an 
adventure. Flying to CT and then not being able to get on the plane and having 
to fly back to Maine, driving 10 hours with a car that had a blown head gasket. 
Got rid of that car very shortly after that adventure. Next time you get board I 
can tell you about my adventure with the hood popping up on us two weeks ago.)
 
Well I think that since we were rocking so much I could not get it started and 
by this time Susan, That would be my wife who was all calm and sitting on the 
float cushion 5 minutes earlier is pressing for me to call someone. Like her 
mother....
 
At this point I got to the mic for the radio and called for the CG. No response. 
I look up and the antenna to the radio, which usually sits happily on the top of 
the mast, is bending north and not straight up north. I find out later that if 
you want to call the CG on a cell phone that you can dial *CG and it will get 
you to them. (Disclaimer: I understand today that this is at least for the first 
district which is up here in the northeastern US. I do not know if this for all 
regions)
 
Well I started to look for my handheld which I could not find right away. Susan, 
had found her cell phone and requested me to call someone, One of her 
suggestions remember was her mother. 
 
I finally found my handheld and was able to call the CG. One of there first 
pieces of advice was to drop an anchor. Oh what a novel idea. Once I did that 
most of the excitement went away.
 
Well kind of. Turned out that since there was not any pressure on the mast cap 
that it came out of the mast and this allowed both the jib and back stays to 
come down. Now I have the jib and roller furler in the water. Yet help is on the 
way. I tried to start hauling the jib out of the water yet you would not budge. 
I found out a bit latter this was due to one of the jib lines had a figure eight 
in the end of the line to prevent it from coming out of the block. Therefore 
preventing me from pulling it from under the boat. This in turned helped to bend 
the reefing tube under the boat the boat as well. Now I have a 25 foot curved 
roller furler. 
 
For those that may be a little new to the list and this vintage of Stan and 
Phillip Rhodes design. This model had a roller furler design that has a long, 
about 25’ 11/8 inch aluminum tube with a flat round plate on the bottom. The 
sail is cut with a sleeve and the tube is put into. On mine I then have it 
attached with screws at the top and the bottom. 
 
Thanks to Stan I have started to try and figure out what I am going to do to 
repair the furler. I am trying to find a place that maybe able to straighten it 
but I think I am going to have to build one from scratch. Any ideas on 
straightening the furler would be welcomed.
 
Long story short, we were towed to our mooring and then I was able to get the 
boat to the dock, by this time the motor was starting again on one pull, and 
demast the boat for now. As we did this my loving wife commented how my beloved 
boat now was a MB (motor boat). Oh it may be a while before I let her on the 
boat again. 
 
Well for the most important point no one got hurt and Pleiades is still 
floating. 
 
As for that, when this first started to happen we were healing at one point 
almost with water coming in the cockpit. (Actually I have been on the boat when 
we had water coming. For the person on the helm was not letting go of the tiller 
as we took on a great header. No neither myself nor my wife were at the helm at 
the time.) at least 35 to 40 degrees and the boat just came down on its own. I 
personally felt comfortable that it was not going to go over. 
 
First thing is to have a surveyor look at the boat and work out with the 
Insurance Company a claim. Then get it repaired so I can get on with the season. 
Up here in the north they are short. 
 
Well, that was my excitement. I may not be a regular on the list here but I have 
always enjoyed the posting and knew I had to tell my story. Especially since 
Michael thought it was little boring around here? Not to mention there are 
repairs needing to be made.
 
I wish you all the best and I hope you are having a better season.
 
Scott and Susan
SV Pleiades

-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Meltzer <mjm at michaelmeltzer.com>
To: 'The Rhodes 22 mail list' <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
Sent: Tue, 4 Jul 2006 21:28:12 -0400
Subject: [Rhodes22-list] Wow this is a boring night


Everyone is out sailing?

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