First day Out

Fire99

Fire99

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Evening All,

I had my first sail on my 'new' snapdragon 23 today. A mate came out for moral support since it's been 2 years since I last stepped on a yacht and first time every being the sole skipper.

After a few comedy moments realising how various rigging had been left and refreshing the ol memory we managed to sail down the blackwater, back up again without too much drama.

Was a great day to be out. May be a return visit tomorrow for a bit of single-handed practice while the place is nice n quiet.

cheers,

Nick
 
You lucky bloke. Yesterday I was sitting here plonking away at this keyboard wishing I was out there.

Really pleased the first adventure went withiout too much bother. Lets hope it stays that way.
 
Thanks everyone.

Well there were a few 'wally' moments while things were coming back to me but nothing dangerous. Just stuff that left the two of us laughing in our tea cups. :)

Should be back out again in a while so fingers crossed. :)
 
Well gang,

Today was single-handed day. Which proved a few interesting findings:

a) The best way to get started single-handed is just go out and do it. (and not worry too much what other people think of your sub-standard sailing)
b) It highlights how good your setup is with regards to winches, sheets, rudder etc etc.

Well it was fun. I broke the odd cardinal sin of planning to be out for a couple of hours (so dressed accordingly) then ended up being out all day and having to motor back a bit quickly before the sun set and I died if hyperthermia (ok perhaps an exaggeration but it did get darn chilly and I was under prepared/dressed)

The easiest part was getting back onto the swing which after taking it pretty steady and using the outward tide to my advantage wasn't much trouble at all.

So another good learning curve day.
 
Fire99 said:
I broke the odd cardinal sin of planning to be out for a couple of hours (so dressed accordingly) then ended up being out all day and having to motor back a bit quickly before the sun set and I died if hyperthermia (ok perhaps an exaggeration but it did get darn chilly and I was under prepared/dressed).
Click to expand...

Once you are set up that won't be a problem I expect, I always keep a few 'essentials' on board - fleece, chocolate bars etc!

With weather like we have at present it would be a shame to waste it. I am trying to take Friday off and make a long weekend on the boat :D
 
Karouise said:
Once you are set up that won't be a problem I expect, I always keep a few 'essentials' on board - fleece, chocolate bars etc!

With weather like we have at present it would be a shame to waste it. I am trying to take Friday off and make a long weekend on the boat :D
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Yeah, it 'll be fine. It's just something i've had drummed into me over the years about being prepared rather than looking like the chilly bloke when he returns to the sailing club.. :D
 
That's the way to do it.

Today was single-handed day. Which proved a few interesting findings:

a) The best way to get started single-handed is just go out and do it. (and not worry too much what other people think of your sub-standard sailing)
b) It highlights how good your setup is with regards to winches, sheets, rudder etc etc.
Click to expand...

I am also on the single handed learning curve and agree with you one hundred percent. But I discovered the other day that some bits of the curve can be harder than others. Having got confident enough to tack through the various moorings on the Crouch and Roach I have to guard against overconfidence. The wind went slack on me last week as I tacked through the Fambridge moorings with a strong tide behind me and the wind dead on the nose. Result was that I couldn't get around in one of the narrow channels and ran out of room to pass between moored craft. I ended up pressed against the square bow of a rusty barge at the upstream end of the moorings with its mooring warp between my keel and rudder. It had a rather nasty metal reel attached to its bow which scraped a number of gouges in my gelcoat before I could lift the rudder and escape. Lesson learned is not to get too cocky and to tack in plenty of time, even if it does become really hard work. On reflection I would have been better advised to lower the sails and use the engine but the latter is a stinky outboard which fills the cockpit with exhaust fumes so I only use it when absolutely necessary.

But I was not wrecked and nobody drowned so a relatively painless lesson learned. I hope your learning curve continues to be full of enjoyment and without alarms and excursions.

Michael
 
Hi Michael,

Sounds like a 'bottom clenching' moment there.
Well to be honest, all my single-handed practice is going on on a very wide stretch of the blackwater and if it goes seriously pearshaped, i've an electric-start outboard about 2 inches from my tiller hand.

Believe me i'm taking no chances to start with. That said, the auto-tiller is fairly handy. Well it will be once i've worked out how it works.
I took a random attempt on the GPS to take me directly to Stone and it did a 90 degree turn directly to Bradwell Powerstation so maybe it wanted more power. haha

The only 'gadget' that I currently pine for a little are winches that I can operate single handed. But maybe thats just me wanting luxuary.

One thing I have noticed though, which is surprising, is that I rather like the hank-on Foresails. When I did courses I had a roller furling system so was concerned i'd miss that.
To be honest, I like being able to have a selection of foresails to hand and it only takes a couple of minutes to change them over and have the new one hoisted.
So that's one gadget not on the immediate shopping list.

However waiting 2 hours to have a cup of tea then when I finally stopped realising I'd run out of water onboard was the ultimate disaster.
You could almost hear the PG teabags sobbing in their box. :)
 
Fire99 said:
Hi Michael,
One thing I have noticed though, which is surprising, is that I rather like the hank-on Foresails. When I did courses I had a roller furling system so was concerned i'd miss that.
To be honest, I like being able to have a selection of foresails to hand and it only takes a couple of minutes to change them over and have the new one hoisted.
So that's one gadget not on the immediate shopping list.
:)
Click to expand...

I used to have a belief system like that until I had to do 14 sail changes in one day, as the wind built and died on me constantly. Even when I waited half and hour between sail changes to see if the wind was set it didn't help me. As soon as I changed down to a jib the wind would die and as soon as I replaced that with a Genoa the wind picked right up. That was the day I decided to get a furler and I have never looked back. Got myself a padded luff and it will handle most conditions really well.
 
Glayva said:
I used to have a belief system like that until I had to do 14 sail changes in one day, as the wind built and died on me constantly. Even when I waited half and hour between sail changes to see if the wind was set it didn't help me. As soon as I changed down to a jib the wind would die and as soon as I replaced that with a Genoa the wind picked right up. That was the day I decided to get a furler and I have never looked back. Got myself a padded luff and it will handle most conditions really well.
Click to expand...

Only 14? :D Well It's more than possible that once I clock up more miles sailing, issues like that will arise and i'll want to do the same but I stand by Nick's law number 37. "I can change my mind at any moment" :D

But for now I can live with the hank-on sails.
 
Having rigged previous boat with roller furling after several years of hanked on sails I found it a huge bonus.

Karouise is still hanked on sails as I didn't have time to fit furling before launching but it is high on the list of jobs for this winter (its a HUGE list too!). Really don't want to be without it now.
 
Karouise said:
Having rigged previous boat with roller furling after several years of hanked on sails I found it a huge bonus.

Karouise is still hanked on sails as I didn't have time to fit furling before launching but it is high on the list of jobs for this winter (its a HUGE list too!). Really don't want to be without it now.
Click to expand...

Well it was very handy when I was on a Bavaria a couple of years ago doing some RYA courses.

However, finances are tight at the mo so my limited funds are being used getting to the boat, fuelling the motor and having fun on the water.
Oh and lots of teabags of course. :)

Big toys will have to wait for now.
 
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