[Rhodes22-list] Detached Furlers and Other Such Calamaties

Thu Jul 6 10:32:09 EDT 2006

Mark P.,
You have undoubtedly heard the quote, "A ship is safe in harbor, but that
is not what ships are built for".  Don't let these stories scare you to the
point of not going out.  Marinas are chock full of boats that never leave
the dock because their captains are afraid of what "might" happen.  There
are really very few things that can happen out there that will kill you.
Especially on the unsinkable Rhodes.  The main thing is to not panic when
something bad happens and don't fall into the trap following a bad decision
with another bad decision.  Most major mishaps are usually the result of a
series of smaller incidents.  The more experience that you acquire, the
more confidence you will gain and the less you are likely to panic and make
bad decisions when something happens.  Scott was actually lucky that it
didn't turn out worse for him.  In what sounded like rough weather, he
probably should not have gone up to the bow with a flailing furler.  What
if he had been knocked overboard?  It doesn't sound like his wife could
have returned to get him.  He made a good decision by not pressing a bad
hand and got back into the cockpit and accepted the loss of his furler.

In my personal experience, it is always the fear of the unknown that scares
me.  But then again, it is the unknown that makes sailing so exciting.  You
are on the right track to know how all of your equipment works, but I think
taking everything apart may be overkill.  More importantly, you should feel
comfortable that all your equipment is working and in good condition.
Minimize the probability (risk) of equipment failure.  If something does go
wrong, try not to panic.  Take a deep breath and start figuring out what to
do.  Start with making sure the crew is safe.  Then secure and stabilize
the boat.  As Scott said, things got much calmer when he simply put out an
anchor and stopped the boat.  Then look at what you need to do to fix the
problem.

Now get out there and sail!

Bill Wickman

             mputnam1 at aol.com                                              
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             07/05/2006 11:41                                      Subject 
             PM                        Re: [Rhodes22-list] Detached        
                                       Furlers and Other Such Calamaties   

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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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