Looking for some advice/experience

prv said:
If you barely know how to sail at all, the difference between gaff and bermudan is not that significant compared to the basic skills of steering, sheeting the sails correctly, etc. After all, young kids learn to sail in sprit-sailed Optimists, and we're not training them for Thames barges.

Pete
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Pete - you have my what I was tryign to suggest exactly... for learning the basics a dinghy course is excellent, no matter what type of rig you have.... the OP's point is valid though - it makes no difference as the RYA basic courses are way too expensive....

I would go the club route and see if any of those dinghy sailors fancy trying something different.... they might like it so much you end up with a permanent crew.. :)
 
Thanks for the advice I had considered a horse at present I have one block on the boom and one either side on the stern attached to chain plates I guess there wouldn't be much involved reversing it all and just putting a rope between the chain plates.

My plan was to motor out to the half mile mark then try the sails I am fine if I go out there in my row boat which I use as a tender I am feeling a little more inspired reading your advice.


Dave
 
bbdave said:
My plan was to motor out to the half mile mark then try the sails I am fine if I go out there in my row boat which I use as a tender I am feeling a little more inspired reading your advice.
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Sounds like a plan. We will look out for you next time we venture out.
 
I have just sent a message to http://www.tcyc.org.uk/ to see what they could do for me I do avoid clubs they get terribly political and clique, but it may be worth a try I have previously been to some Old gaffers ass. meetings but no advice was forthcoming so I left a little let down.

But as I say the words of encouragement here are helping


Dave
 
bbdave said:
I have just sent a message to http://www.tcyc.org.uk/ to see what they could do for me I do avoid clubs they get terribly political and clique, but it may be worth a try I have previously been to some Old gaffers ass. meetings but no advice was forthcoming so I left a little let down.

But as I say the words of encouragement here are helping

Dave
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bbdave,

there's a certain amount of truth in your comment about club politics and cliques, but I have found keeping my head down and avoiding committee stuff generally lets me get on with my own sailing affairs !

I suspect my volunteers only club is lucky not to have too many members like lawyers etc.

There's ceertainly a huge amount more help and friendship / company than at some sterile marina.
 
Seajet said:
There's certainly a huge amount more help and friendship / company than at some sterile marina.
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Where do you get this rubbish? My boat is in a marina and all my neighbours are friendly - it usually takes me a lot longer than planned to get to my boat as I stop and chat to people. If I need help people help me, if they need help I help them. The staff are also friendly, I have sailed with quite a lot of them, and they couldn't be more helpful.
I have also visited a lot of other marinas and guess what? The same facts apply - friendly and helpful. Just a few weeks ago I attended a free bbq provided by a marina(not mine) and had a great time.
I don't understand why so many people on these forums keep digging at marinas.
 
PeteCooper said:
Where do you get this rubbish? My boat is in a marina and all my neighbours are friendly - it usually takes me a lot longer than planned to get to my boat as I stop and chat to people. If I need help people help me, if they need help I help them. The staff are also friendly, I have sailed with quite a lot of them, and they couldn't be more helpful.
I have also visited a lot of other marinas and guess what? The same facts apply - friendly and helpful. Just a few weeks ago I attended a free bbq provided by a marina(not mine) and had a great time.
I don't understand why so many people on these forums keep digging at marinas.
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Not been my experiance. "Got your Credit Card, then you can breath". Saying that it was not Scotland.
 
She is a Sou'wester 18 built originally at Penryn boatyard by Barry Chisham then by Salterns boatbuilders I bought the hull from the latter for home completion and we built it in the front garden. Salterns still produce the hull though only for a motor launch.

Dave
 
I think you should get her in the water more often..this way you can actually detect what are the faults with her...
 
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PeteCooper said:
Where do you get this rubbish? My boat is in a marina and all my neighbours are friendly - it usually takes me a lot longer than planned to get to my boat as I stop and chat to people. If I need help people help me, if they need help I help them. The staff are also friendly, I have sailed with quite a lot of them, and they couldn't be more helpful.
I have also visited a lot of other marinas and guess what? The same facts apply - friendly and helpful. Just a few weeks ago I attended a free bbq provided by a marina(not mine) and had a great time.
I don't understand why so many people on these forums keep digging at marinas.
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PeteCooper,

it's great that you find helpful people at your marina.

However I doubt it extends to the practical level of a friendly club where hoisting boats, mast raising & lowering, keel and engine work etc is shared with knowledgable people.

This is not ' rubbish ' and you do yourself no favours coming out with comments like that.
 
Seajet said:
..... This is not ' rubbish ' and you do yourself no favours coming out with comments like that.
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To me it looks like the way you present your opinions as black and white, such as claiming marinas are "sterile", is what makes people react to them with words like "rubbish". It could be equally applied that "you do yourself no favours" by taking positions which could be considered entrenched. Just to back up the marina position that PeteCooper takes, a company at Largs Yacht Haven, DDZ, has lent me battery chargers/engine starters and given me FOC Pop rivets; another Largs based Company, North West Automarine, donated 5 liters of ATF for my BorgWarner gearbox FOC. Sure, these are small things, public relations exercises perhaps, but it is still helpful behaviour in a Marina. My neighbours will always appear to help with lines if they are around and stop for a chat, despite the fact that I am a bit of a scruff and not outwardly yachty material but all my neighbours are very much so.

Best Regards,

BlowingOldBoots
 
Seajet said:
PeteCooper,

it's great that you find helpful people at your marina.

However I doubt it extends to the practical level of a friendly club where hoisting boats, mast raising & lowering, keel and engine work etc is shared with knowledgable people.

This is not ' rubbish ' and you do yourself no favours coming out with comments like that.
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So let me get this right...
My experience covers several marinas in this area and also covers both staff and boat owners. So this indicates that what you are saying is wrong - i.e. rubbish and easily proved as such.
As for doing myself no favours I'm simply stating facts - not phrases that begin with 'I doubt...'
 
Both Yacht Clubs and marinas are entirely dependant on the individuals concerned as to how friendly they are. You would find help in our yacht club regarding learning to sail it. (and formal lessons as well in exchange for money)
Of course you need to get to know people a bit but I (and my wife) have found many good friends in our local yacht club.

Regarding this new boat. One of the joys of sailing is that you can learn by your own mistakes ie the hard way. It is Ok. There is no such thing as proper sailing. If you get home again that is a successful voyage.
So set the boat up with the motor to get you home. Or always sail into the wind first so you can run or drift home again. Then just get out there hoist the sails and try it.
As said one trick is backing the jib. As it turns inside out when head to wind it will provide sideways push (turning of the boat) even when you are stopped in the water. This can help you to complete a tack. It is almost essential in catamarans.
Just get sailing then slowly you can refine the set up and your own skills. enjoy the learning but be careful to choose good weather. good luck olewill
 
My 2p worth...

There are suggestions here about changing the layout of systems, gaffer specific tacking techniques, CLR, etc etc etc.

Erm, but the OP doesn't know how to sail...

OP, you've spent all this money on a lovely boat, a mooring, a rig that you are gong to skip, and no doubt lots of time and money putting it all together. Add the future fuel costs of every trip you'll ever make (shhh...the wind is free...but keep quiet before someone taxes it). Oh, and sailing boats without rigs are generally quite unpleasant...all skittish and wobbly as they've suddenly lost the damping effect of the weight/inertia of the rig aloft.

So sell a kidney, eBay a siblling, get a credit card, but go and do a course. I'm no fan of the RYA machine, but there's no doubt that as a "learn the basics" method it's a very effective route indeed. You will do it in a dinghy, and learn more about the forces going on in your own boat and how to control them and use them to your advantage than just messing around barking up the wrong trees in your boat. When you are able to sail a dinghy to a specific point in the water and stop dead, the outboard on your own boat will seem like a waste of space and you'll hardly ever use it. And keep this bit quiet too, but you will end up as a much better, safer sailor than these people who learnt in yachts only too (top tip to RTIR competitors, when big breeze is approaching, uncleat the main, eh, stops those really embarrassing potential spin out T-bone moments...)

With respect, unless you can sail, you won't know what is right and wrong with the setup of your own boat, you probably won't be safe, and you won't be able to get home should your engine fail. Remember those Daily Wail "Boat Captain On Rocks as he had no Sailing Licence" carp headlines last year? Just saying'...

Get some lessons, do it right, realise your potential and the potential of your boat, enjoy it, make friends on the course, job done. It really will be a small investment compared to what's been spent on the boat, and you will get so much more use out of her!
 
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