[Rhodes22-list] sailing

[John Lock]

At 08:38 AM 4/15/2007 -0700, Jay Bulfer wrote:
>I think I'm ready for the maiden voyage. I have a few things I'm not 
>sure of. You may laugh but these are real questions I should know 
>the answers to before I launch.

Just went thru many of these issues myself.  Here's some advice from 
my beginner's experience -

>Do I need to plug any of the thruholes before I put in? I'm thinking 
>the one in the cockpit that you can see the ground thru needs to be plugged.

Don't plug anything.  Those are drains.  If any water gets into the 
cockpit, it runs out there.  You'll see water down in there when you 
launch, but it's OK.

>I'm not sure where the bilge is. I think I should be checking for 
>water in the bilge after I put in to see if I have any leaks. Where 
>would I look for water in the bilge & if there is, How do you get it 
>out. I don't see a bilge pump on my electrical panel.

On my boat there is an access panel on the cabin floor where you can 
see the bilge pump.  You should be able to either lift the floor 
board or locate an access hatch near the center of the cabin.  Flip 
each switch on the panel, one at a time.  You should be able to hear 
the whine of the bilge pump if it's working.  If there's any water in 
there, you'll see/hear it coming out the side.

It's also possible your bilge pump is hard-wired to a float 
switch.  That means it is essentially on standby all the time.  If 
enough water accumulates to activate the float switch, the bilge pump 
will come on automatically.

>The bolt that secures the mast to the boat has a wing nut. How tight 
>should this be? A wing nut indicates to me it doesn't need to be that tight.

Personally, I wouldn't trust a wing nut.  I'd replace that with one 
of those "keeper" nuts that has a plastic insert to keep it from 
backing off.  Tighten it snug, but not tight enough to distort anything.

>When you motor, do you lock the outboard straight & steer with the 
>tiller or do you use the motor to turn?

I've been leaving the motor straight and steering with the 
tiller.  Backing up is the trickiest.  Don't get going too fast 
backward and then push the tiller over hard.  The water pressure will 
grab the rudder and do bad things.  Take it slow and easy.  Also, I 
found it very awkward to try to lean over and operate the motor 
tiller for steering.  It's much easier to see clearly and make 
positive movements with the tiller.

>Is there anything else I should check or do before I launch?

Make sure you have the required gear onboard for safety (life vests, 
throwable, air horn, etc.).  Take along a cellphone.  If you can 
arrange it, have somebody with a powerboat standing by in case you 
get stranded for some reason.  They can tow you back.

Check the weather report before you go.  If it looks like there will 
be a lot of wind, prepare to reef the main once or twice.  It may 
also be helpful to plan your first route base on the wind 
direction.  It's easier to be on a steady reach or run while learning 
the boat and getting used to how it feels.  You can add tacking 
later, once you are more familiar with the controls.

Good luck (hope you won't need it) and have a blast!

John Lock
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s/v Pandion - '79 Rhodes 22
Lake Sinclair, GA
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