[Rhodes22-list] First Time Out

[John Shulick]

Hi Mike,

    Glad to see you made it back in one piece. Sailing is a hobby where the
Boy Scouts motto "be prepared" is  definitely  applicable. A bucket of ropes
and bungies (shock cord) in various lengths can be a big plus in the event
something decides to malfunction. Murphy (of Muphys' law) was probably a
sailor and O'Toole (who has made comments on Murphys' law) skippered the
boat. The 175 Genoa is a very versatile sail but in winds over 10 mph should
probably be partially furled in especially for a newbie. this will move the
center of effort to the stern and give you more weather helm and in high
winds the sails should be set as tight and flat as possible. This should
reduce heeling and impart more drive to the boat. If I may be so bold I
would recommend "Sails and Rig Tuning" by Ivar Dedekam and the DVD "Sailing
with confidence" both available by West Marine. Also check out U-Tube do a
search using "sailing lessons" and you will find many small videos on how to
sail. This is my first year sailing too and I have found these publications
very helpful in imparting confidence and knowledge.

       Good Luck and have fun
       John Shulick
       Pgh Pa. 71 Rhodes Continental "Delilah"
       

MichaelT wrote:
> 
> Hello All,
> 
> After working on the boat for the past several weeks and taking down the
> mast for the 1st time to add a new pop-top slider, windex and pre-wiring
> for a vhf I was finally set to go. Replaced my first impeller on the 20
> year old yamaha 8hp, hiking stick w/ coaming box, all the wiring/lights
> tested and operable as the former owner never had a battery installed. And
> a solar panel from GB to boot.
> 
> So I went out for the first time for the season yesterday this being my
> first boat, first season. Everything was going swell. Wind was 5-10 mph. 2
> hours later the wind picked up a notch and still all was well. When it was
> time to go home, we lost our bearing and realized we were downwind and
> started to beat the wind. The boat started to heel and heel a lot. So much
> we the jib started touching the water and scooping water from the gunnels. 
> 
> The wind picked up even more and this when the problem started. I decided
> that it would be best to take down the sails and just motor in. We tried
> to head the boat into the wind and couldn't. Boat still heeling. We let
> out the sheets to steady the boat. Tried to furl the jib in. Furling jib
> is stuck.What to do? While the boat was heeling, wind is now 20+, I go
> forward to check the furling unit and noticed that there was hardly any
> line in the spool. I had to hand wind the sail itself and was able to roll
> in about 2/3's of the jib. The 3rd still flapping. I grabbed the boom,
> lifted the topping lift, released the outhaul which just flew away and
> pulled hard on the main sail furling line and thank goodness the main sail
> furled in. Motor down, motor started and we now were heading into the wind
> motoring, the jib still flapping. I noticed that my mast stay turnbuckles
> on the starboard side was being turned loose from the flapping jib.
> Turnbuckles was reinstalled w/o cotter pins by our marina guy. Which way
> to tighen? Counter clockwise ok. Settled down the jib on the mast stays.
> Swells were building up and we would hear the motor wining when it caught
> air.
> 
> As we started heading into our channel at Cedar Creek, our point of sail
> was now a beam reach and the 1/3 of our jib sail started to heel us over
> and now the motor was all air wining. Placed the motor in neutral while we
> sailed and instructed my partner to throttle the motor when the boat
> flattened. We finally made it into our marina, in our slip without fanfare
> as the marina was sheltered form the winds in the Barnegat. It started
> raining cats and dogs the moment we were gathering our things to pack up.
> Secured the dock lines, lifted the motor and rudder off the water. We just
> left the boat amd went home.
> 
> What do I do now? I might have broken the furling jib when I physicaly
> hand wound the whole unit. Where do I even start to figure out why there
> wasn't any line in the spool. Is it possible when the mast was taken down
> that it may have gotten unwound? How do i get the furling jib back in
> order? Other questions linger...Why couldn't we head into the wind? Center
> board was down. We're we just having fun heeling and seeing the jib touch
> water or were we already in danger?
> 
> Thanks for listening and appreciate your input...
> 
> Michael
> Rhodes 87', Silverside
> 
> 

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