[Rhodes22-list] What Should I Have Done Differently?

[Arthur H. Czerwonky]

Slim, Herb,

Great emphasis on heaving to, guys. It not only provides thinking and recovery room, on those outings with the spouse, many who are a little hesitant in boating skills, it has an awesome calming effect, not just when in extremis, but in a practice mode.  If confident that it is practiced and is so effective, they will be more confident to go out in heavier winds, which like Stan says, is alot of fun if you are on top of it.

Art

-----Original Message-----
>From: Herb Parsons <hparsons at parsonsys.com>
>Sent: Feb 19, 2008 11:02 AM
>To: The Rhodes 22 mail list <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
>Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] What Should I Have Done Differently?
>
>One thing I'd add to this - this is one of those sailing techniques 
>that's difficult to "wrap your mind around" (or at least it was to me, 
>and most of the folks I've taught it to). The real secret to it is to 
>practice it several times when you don't need to do it. After you've 
>done it half a dozen times, it'll become second nature to you.
>
>Steven Alm wrote:
>> Jack,
>>
>> Re heaving to:  It's considered one of the points of sail even though the
>> idea is to stop sailing and drift, but without dropping your sails and
>> without the chaos of luffing.  It's very easy to do and I use it all the
>> time whenever I need to use the head or go below for any reason like making
>> a snack, making a repair or just taking a break.  And in context of this
>> thread, it's a great way to make changes in your sail plan--especially if
>> your single-handing.
>>
>> Get yourself on a close reach and then plan to come about.  Come about
>> through the wind like usual but don't let the jib sheet go after you come
>> about.  Let the main tack across like usual.  Now ease the main sheet and
>> ease the jib sheet some but don't release it.  This is called "back-winding
>> the main."  So now your jib is full and very baggy and your main is luffing
>> a little for a moment then stops.  You put the helm to the lee.  In other
>> words the tiller and the boom are approximately perpendicular.  Lock the
>> tiller in place and now you are hands free.  The boat will yaw back and
>> forth some but mostly beam to the wind and slowly drifting downwind.
>> Centerboard down will slow the drift.
>>
>> To reef in the jib, you first ease out its (windward) sheet and then take in
>> the reefing line.  If you need to reef in the main, you should heave to on a
>> port tack so the boom is off to starboard.  To get going all you have to do
>> is release the windward sheet and take it in on the other side just like
>> completing your tack.  Adjust both sheets as desired and you're under way
>> immediately.
>>
>> About those four horn cleats on the boom; I always tie the inhaul line on
>> the first cleat, most forward and the outhaul line on the second cleat.
>> That way both lines are close together and I don't have to lean way out to
>> get to the out haul and have the same problem with that as Mark describes.
>> The slack tails of those two lines are easily dealt with in many ways.  Get
>> creative.
>>
>> Heaving to is also how I reroute my jib sheets to the inboard position
>> should I need to do that.  First, heave to in the way described above.  Once
>> you're hoven (hiven? heaved? Having hove?)  reroute the lee sheet (the slack
>> one.)  Now cut loose the windward sheet and get under way.  Pick up a little
>> speed and tack across and heave to on the other side and reroute the other
>> sheet.  With some practice, this double heave to is sort of like ballet or
>> skiing royal christies.
>>
>> Heaving to is also one of the tactics of storm survival but since I'm a lake
>> sailor, that'd put me up on the lee shore in no time.  Best git on home.
>>
>> Slim
>>
>>
>>
>> On Feb 18, 2008 11:49 PM, David Bradley <dwbrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>   
>>> Mark, you've probably gotten your fill of advice by now.  One thing I
>>> would add...   once I'm clear of my slip I disconnect the steering
>>> mechanism from tiller to motor while still motoring.  Does your
>>> outboard have a pin to lock it in position?  The tiller will be 300%
>>> lighter in your hand, and you can then unfurl the sails, kill the
>>> motor and be underway, raising the motor when you're ready.  I use the
>>> steering mechanism only when I'm in a tight area.
>>>
>>> Dave
>>>
>>>
>>> On Feb 18, 2008 12:55 PM,  <mputnam1 at aol.com> wrote:
>>>     
>>>> Hello everyone,
>>>>
>>>> I am hoping you can help me learn from my sailing experience today.  I
>>>>       
>>> know I must have done some things wrong, but maybe I did a few things right
>>> because I was able to get back to the harbor safely in the end.  Let me
>>> describe what happened and then ask a few questions.  And let me apologize
>>> in advance for not getting all my nautical terms right … I'll do the best I
>>> can.
>>>     
>>>> My R-22 is kept at the Washington Sailing Marina on the Potomac River,
>>>>       
>>> just across the river from DC.  The weather this morning was unseasonably
>>> warm with winds in the 15-20 knot range with gusts up to 29, according to
>>> the coast guard weather report.  I knew a cold front was approaching and
>>> that it would get windier as the day went on, but it was around 11am and
>>> while I was a little uncertain about going out, it was one of those rare
>>> weekdays when my lack of work intersected with wind on the water.  So I
>>> decided to try and see if I could handle it and learn something at the same
>>> time.  I had thought I'd read enough on this group about how to handle the
>>> boat in windier conditions – I wanted to put some of that knowledge to the
>>> test.
>>>     
>>>> I was single-handing the boat and motored out of the marina and down the
>>>>       
>>> Potomac to where I usually head for the center of the river before killing
>>> the engine, hauling it up and unfurling the main.  Before I killed the
>>> engine, I noted that the water was choppy, but there were no white caps.  I
>>> resolved to myself that if I began to see white caps, I'd head home.  I
>>> pointed into the wind, killed the engine, hauled the engine up and only let
>>> out a little less than half of the main (having read so many posts on this
>>> group about being conservative in windier weather) and it almost immediately
>>> got out of my control.
>>>     
>>>>
>>>> The boat swerved into a beam reach and began tipping over, so I let out
>>>>       
>>> the main sheet to try and keep the mainsail from tipping me over.  Right
>>> then I noticed that white caps had appeared (great timing on my part).  The
>>> clew and the foot of the main sail was thrashing around, with a good amount
>>> of airspace between the clew and the boom.
>>>     
>>>>
>>>> As an aside, I've never quite understood what is supposed to keep the
>>>>       
>>> foot of the sail close to the boom besides just securing the sheet.  In
>>> these stronger winds, the main was actively pulling away from the boom.  Am
>>> I perhaps missing some key component to keep the bottom/foot of the main
>>> sail in tighter proximity to the boom?
>>>     
>>>>
>>>> Because I had let out the main sheet to try and control the heeling, I
>>>>       
>>> could not reach the line to furl the mainsail back into the mast.  The line
>>> was out over the water.  So I was having to try and pull the boom back into
>>> the cockpit to get a grip on the furling sheet … which, of course, led to
>>> more heeling.  And when I pulled on the line to furl the main, it wouldn't
>>> furl.
>>>     
>>>>
>>>> And, most disturbingly, with so much wind filling the small amount of
>>>>       
>>> the main that was out, I just couldn't furl the sail.  It wouldn't budge.  I
>>> also noticed that more of the main seemed to be inching out.  I thought I
>>> had secured the main so it wouldn't further unfurl, but I don't remember if
>>> I had and I don't remember checking it in all the hullabaloo.  It never
>>> fully unfurled, thank goodness, so maybe I had secured it to some degree.
>>>     
>>>>
>>>> Anyway, every time I tried to point the boat into the wind, it didn't
>>>>       
>>> help give me more slack to furl the main.  It was noisy as hell, of course,
>>> which I expected.  But I didn't get the slackness necessary to furl the
>>> main.  And the boat didn't want to stay pointed into the wind, which I found
>>> a little surprising.  I thought sailboats, when pointed into the wind,
>>> stayed there.  But I guess I learned otherwise today!
>>>     
>>>>
>>>> I eventually put the motor back in the water, cranked it up and powered
>>>>       
>>> into the wind.  The swells had increased to the point that the engine was
>>> coming up out of the water on every swell, but at least I was seeming to
>>> make progress.  I then somehow pulled hard enough on the furling line to be
>>> able to furl the main.  I don't know how I did it, but I did.  At this
>>> point, I noticed that my tiller to engine linkage was not working.  The 8hp
>>> Mercury motor I have only has one latch to hold the cowling onto the engine
>>> and it was failing with the severe pressure on the cowling, and the cowling
>>> was being ripped off the engine.  I had to use the engine tiller to point
>>> the motor.  I tried to disengage the linkage, but in the frenzy of the
>>> moment, I wasn't able to do that.  So I just continued steering by using
>>> both the boat's tiller and the engine's tiller.
>>>     
>>>>
>>>> I eventually made it closer to the shore where the wind wasn't as
>>>>       
>>> severe, and was able to disengage the tiller linkage and made it back to the
>>> dock.
>>>     
>>>>
>>>> So here are my questions:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> 1) First, the most basic question -- whenever I go out on 5 knot days, I
>>>>       
>>> make little progress on the water.  And if 15-20 knot days are too much, it
>>> seems a narrow window indeed that I am able to sail in.  Is this the case?
>>>  Is the R-22 a boat that should only go out in 10-12 knot winds in order to
>>> best enjoy it?
>>>     
>>>>
>>>> 2) What should I have done differently when the half unfurled main
>>>>       
>>> immediately got out of my control?  Should I have steered the boat DOWNwind?
>>>  Would it have been easier to furl the main if I had done that?  Or is
>>> steering the boat INTO the wind and the chop the right thing to do?
>>>     
>>>>
>>>> 3) Is there something I should be doing differently so that the clew of
>>>>       
>>> the mainsail doesn't get pulled so far away from the boom in windy weather?
>>>  It seemed very loose and uncontrollable.  This was one of the two most
>>> disconcerting parts of the experience (the other being the inability to furl
>>> the main).
>>>     
>>>>
>>>> 4) In a worst case scenario where I can't furl the main (especially if
>>>>       
>>> it's fully unfurled) in strong winds, should I just try to motor to shore
>>> with the main flapping away and catching wind?  I didn't know in the
>>> situation I was in if the imperative is to a) try and furl the main first or
>>> b) to just get myself out of the windy area of the river even if it means
>>> motoring with the main unfurled.  I was afraid that if I tried to do option
>>> b, that the boat could tip over if I was going in a direction that was
>>> putting the main into a position to be able to tip the boat.  In retrospect,
>>> I'm now thinking that it's possible to motor with the main unfurled, as long
>>> as the main sheet is fully out and allowing the main to go wherever it wants
>>> to go.
>>>     
>>>>
>>>> 5) Has anyone else with the tiller/engine linkage had a similar problem
>>>>       
>>> in strong wind situations?  The cowling only has the one latch on the back
>>> of the engine (furthest astern) and this one latch was clearly a weak point
>>> in situations of stress on the linkage.  If I'm going to be relying on this
>>> linkage in bad weather conditions, do any of you have any advice on where
>>> and how I can get more latches put on my cowling?  OR should I not attempt
>>> to use the linkage in stronger winds?
>>>     
>>>>
>>>> 6) What should be the role of the motor in these situations?  Is it the
>>>>       
>>> first thing to engage to get the boat pointed in a particular direction?  Or
>>> is it the last thing to resort to?  Should I be able to furl the main
>>> without using the engine?
>>>     
>>>>
>>>> I have to tell you, it was very disconcerting to have trouble furling
>>>>       
>>> the mainsail.  I have loved the innermast furling main up until this point …
>>> but pulling with all my might on the line was doing nothing.  It just
>>> refused to budge.  I still don't know quite how I was able to get it finally
>>> furled.  It must have had something to do with engaging the motor in the
>>> process, but I don't know for sure.
>>>     
>>>>
>>>> For anyone out there who is reading this and considering purchasing the
>>>>       
>>> R-22, please know that I think this is a marvelous boat.  The inner-furling
>>> mast is something that I've been very happy with up until today and perhaps
>>> it's all a function of this being too much wind for the boat.  Or too much
>>> wind for me, a relatively inexperienced sailor.
>>>     
>>>>
>>>> I don't know for sure the best way to learn how to sail in weather like
>>>>       
>>> this … especially if I feel I have to go back to the dock as soon as there
>>> are white caps.  Maybe there is someone out there who is experienced in this
>>> sort of weather AND knows the R-22 who can tutor me on-board in just this
>>> sort of weather, but finding that person would not be easy.  But I am ready
>>> for any and all suggestions.
>>>     
>>>>
>>>> Thanks for reading this very long email and I look forward to any and
>>>>       
>>> all advice … including "stay the hell out of 20 knot wind weather."  Maybe
>>> that's the root of the problem, but it seems easy to imagine that going out
>>> in a 10 knot day could easily turn into a 20 knot day with gusts in no time
>>> at all.
>>>     
>>>>
>>>> Thanks everyone,
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> - Mark P.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ________________________________________________________________________
>>>> More new features than ever.  Check out the new AOL Mail ! -
>>>>       
>>> http://webmail.aol.com
>>>     
>>>> __________________________________________________
>>>> Use Rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list
>>>>       
>>>
>>> --
>>> David Bradley
>>> +1.206.234.3977
>>> dwbrad at gmail.com
>>> __________________________________________________
>>> Use Rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list
>>>
>>>     
>> __________________________________________________
>> Use Rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list
>>
>>
>>
>>   
>
>-- 
>Herb Parsons
>S/V O'Jure - O'Day 25
>S/V Reve de Pappa - Coronado 35
>
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