How to start single handing

TNLI said:
I always thought the average rag and stick skipper didn't bother to pick up up anyone daft enough to fall overboard!

I suppose if you are going to sail with another person, or dog, then it might be a good idea to copy the type of overboard system I use, when I fall overboard in a marina, on a mooring or at anchor. That RNLI old boat system consisted of loopy lines, (About 1m for each loop), thru bolted at each loop turn to the rub rail, or hull in some cases. Those loops help the crew plonker, (Some of them make a plonk sound, rather than a splash when they fall in). will allow the crocodile to make its way aft to the first centre cockpit or rescue deck . That deck will have a classic WW2 style scramble net, which should be at least 4 ft wide with square sides of one foot or a bit more..
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And one supposes that, like all good skippers , you have tested all that theory, to check that it will work on a yacht doing 6 kts in a big sea ( Are we still single handed for this by the way?)
 
Concerto said:
There are times when heaving to can be useful, but generally an autopilot is used to keep a boat sailing (or motoring) on route towards a destination. Heaving to stops you sailing and prolongs sailing time.
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My last 2 boats would heave too beautifully & i never worried about loosing a bit of sailing time. In fact it was great knowing that in times of problems , all I had to do was throw in a tack with the jib sheeted in as I started that tack, ease the main & the boat would sit there making .5 kts.

On top of that the big advantage over sailing was the motion would be so much better. Instead of bashing through waves I would just bob up & down.

That gave me time to sort the problem, go below for whatever reason. It might just be to clear my mind for a minute or two.
When ready, Swop the jib round, Get moving & tack back on to the old course. Lovely. I really miss that on my Hanse & not being able to do that is really my only critisism of a great boat.
 
Little Dorrit said:
I would suggest if you don't have a windvane find yourself a copy of 'Self Steering Without A Windvane' by Lee Woas, similar books might be available.
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If you have a tiller steered boat, I would urge you to have a closer look at 'sheet to tiller' selfsteering (lots of 'how to' clips on YouTube).

My issue with all these selfsteering books is that they all want you to buy kit worth several K.

I 'discovered' sheet to tiller by accident and I'm surprised how well it works on longer stretches.
 
Koeketiene said:
If you have a tiller steered boat, I would urge you to have a closer look at 'sheet to tiller' selfsteering (lots of 'how to' clips on YouTube).

My issue with all these selfsteering books is that they all want you to buy kit worth several K.

I 'discovered' sheet to tiller by accident and I'm surprised how well it works on longer stretches.
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The book is indeed an explanation of DIY 'sheet to tiller' systems and not expensive self-steering kit.
 
Daydream believer said:
My last 2 boats would heave too beautifully & i never worried about loosing a bit of sailing time. In fact it was great knowing that in times of problems , all I had to do was throw in a tack with the jib sheeted in as I started that tack, ease the main & the boat would sit there making .5 kts.

On top of that the big advantage over sailing was the motion would be so much better. Instead of bashing through waves I would just bob up & down.

That gave me time to sort the problem, go below for whatever reason. It might just be to clear my mind for a minute or two.
When ready, Swop the jib round, Get moving & tack back on to the old course. Lovely. I really miss that on my Hanse & not being able to do that is really my only critisism of a great boat.
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So why doesn't it work on the Hanse?
What happens when you tack leaving the jib sheeted in?
Or is it just that it's a self-tacking jib?
 
My tips not necessarily in any order, these are things I’ve learnt or had people mention but I’ve never seen them in a book
learn your boat intimately all the little things she does to give you some warning, like a different rattle in the sail , a different slap of water on the hull all will tell you a lot especially give you plenty of warning.
learn how to hove to without thinking especially get used to the initial disorientation, instinctively have a good look round before you start the manoeuvre and always start from port tack. ALWAYS.
learn your col regs.
have a travel urinal handy, hot drink etc
im sure there’s loads to learn from this post, a collection of some of the most experienced sailors around.
I can still remember my first solo trips and how scared I was but by anticipation and planning I managed to end up laughing and really amazed, proud and overwhelmed at how I had survived but as long as you stay calm it is astonishing what you will be capable of, just remember all of us can be pretty scared at times.
Finally make sure your lifejacket is well serviced, fits well and you wear it
Keith
 
Concerto said:
There are times when heaving to can be useful, but generally an autopilot is used to keep a boat sailing (or motoring) on route towards a destination. Heaving to stops you sailing and prolongs sailing time. For the majority of singlehanded sailors, an autopilot has become an essential piece of equipment. The unreliable tiller pilots are those with all the electronics in the box with the ram as water can easily enter. On my autopilot, all the electronics are below deck and the only external parts are the ram and control head, so far less likely to fail. Knowing what to do if an autopilot fails (yes, it happened with my old one) is part of the preparation that any singlehanded sailor has to do.
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There was a huge difference between the reliability of the early tiller pilots and the more moderm ones. When I took my long lost Pacific Seacraft Dana 24 right around the North and South Atlantic circle, I seemed to suffer one TP failure per ocean, so had 3 fail during that cruise, Florida start, Bermuda to Azores, then Canary Islands to Brazil, Caribbean and finally Bermuda and Gran Canaria again, (No second Azores stop due good luck with weather routing. One failure was due to a compass unit going kaput, one from a failed or worn out worm gear of some type and the final one from water ingress. I did use a Navik self steering for about two thirds of the trip, and had a waterproof cover over the TP, even when in use.

When I did my first single handed circumnavigation about 3 years after finishing the Atlantic circles, there had been a huge leap forward in the Navico TP's, and although I did not use the TP very often, as the Hydrovane could keep control is much lighter conditions than the TP's. So no failures in 4 years, does indicate the new units are real good.
 
A lot of good theory on self steering can be found in old books about model boats.
But surely sailing along when the rig is balance is the easy bit, any dinghy sailor can do that while thinking about and doing a wide variety of other tasks.
Many of the tasks which demand leaving the helm imply the sails won't be balanced.

But it appeals for things like being able to use the galley while doing the easy bit of a passage in the middle of a bay for example.
 
I agree with those who recommend a Plan B for if the autopilot breaks - I too have had a tiller pilot break, on two occasions! One was on a long passage with crew, so it wasn't a big deal - annoying and tiring, but not in any way a problem. The other wasn't a failure of the tiller pilot - the screws holding the bracket to the tiller pulled out in a bit of a gust! I was able to refasten it, and later replaced the tiller. But it highlights a characteristic of the Moody 31 - the helm can load up very quickly in a gust.

However, with the possibility of longer single-handed passages in mind, I am building (very slowly!) a Hebridean wind vane. I chose it a) because its relatively inexpensive, b) because it uses a servo mechanism , so there's plenty of force to handle the loading of the helm that can happen in a gust and c) if I build it myself, I'll understand it and it's construction so I stand a chance of fixing it if it breaks!

The Hebridean seems to be very sturdy; all the parts are wood (oak) or stainless steel. The principle of operation is also easy to understand; the horizontal axis vane rotates the servo foil which is then deflected to operate the tiller lines. Slow progress because the inventor and supplier's idea of "minimal woodworking skills" exceeds my skill level, so I have to work very slowly and cautiously!
 
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