[Rhodes22-list] Pandion's First Sail!

[Slim]

Congratulations Captain Lock!

Your leach line should only be used in very light wind but it shouldn't
cause the belly of your sail to be bigger.  Maybe the sail is old and "blown
out."  Make sure your out haul is as tight as you can get it.  But in light
wind, you want it baggy.

I've had that happen with my jib furling line too.  Now I tie it off on the
stainless steel hand hold on the bulkhead just below the cleat.  I'm not
sure if you have that but if so, that works.

Slim

On 4/9/07 12:26 PM, "John Lock" <jlock at relevantarts.com> wrote:

> Hi folks,
> 
> Yesterday was the day!  Temps warmed up to 60 with bright sun and NW
> winds.  That's a good wind direction for me, because it crosses the
> lake (rather than coming straight up or down channel).  So, no tacking!
> 
> We raised the main around 2:30pm and started off nicely on a close
> reach at around 3 knots.  The wind speed was pretty variable,
> anything from 0 to 15 or so.  So we sort of "lurched" up the lake
> while I got a feel for how she handled.
> 
> After about 30 minutes I had enough confidence to pull out the jib
> and got some more speed up and felt like we had things pretty much
> under control.  The wind was still being gusty, so it was hard to
> figure out how much sail to put up.  But rather than constantly
> fiddling with it, I just rode out the dead spots let the sails luff
> for a minute or two until the wind came back.
> 
> We had one moment of excitement.  We were zipping along around 4
> knots when a much bigger gust than usual hit us, probably 20+ if I
> were to guess.  The furling line popped out of its jam cleat and the
> wind peeled off about 3/4 of that big genoa in a flash.  Needless to
> say, we had a "situation" on our hands :-)  The boat heeled over hard
> and then headed up into the wind.  I had to let go of the tiller (my
> passengers being paralyzed at this point) and pull the furling line
> back in to get the jib under control.  The gust was past and we got
> turned around and headed back on course without further complication.  Whew!
> 
> After about an hour or so, I reversed course and headed back
> home.  The wind was not as favorable going back, being lighter and
> more on the bow.  So it was a more leisurely cruise.  But I liked it
> just fine anyway because the sun felt warmer.  Just outside my cove I
> dropped the sails and motored back to the dock, first voyage complete
> and all hands accounted for!
> 
> Based on my initial experience, I've got three questions -
> 
> 1) I was never able to get the main very flat.  It always had a
> pretty good belly in it.  The main halyard and main sheet were tight,
> the topping lift was released, the outhaul was tight, and the
> whatchamacallit line that runs up the leach of the main was tightened
> also.  What am I missing?
> 
> 2) I developed an immediate dislike of jam cleats ;-)  Are cam cleats
> better at holding?
> 
> 3) How do you keep battens in their pockets?  After a few good flaps,
> all but one of them flung out of the sail and over the side.
> 
> Cheers!
> 
> John Lock
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> s/v Pandion - '79 Rhodes 22
> Lake Sinclair, GA
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> 
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