"motor sailing" what's that all about?

[Ariadne]

Lots of willy waving going on here. Us full time/liveaboard cruisers know how it works in reality though, we use our engine as we like to get to places in daylight or in a reasonable time to catch locks, sand bars, etc, rather than sit around bobbing going nowhere, as the engine doesn't work/start due to lack of use & maintenance, or your mate will tell off for using it when you could have sailed in!.

W/E & Solent sailors know SFA about about passage making; well,OK, passage making for over a full (6hr) tide or two in any case; otherwise they wouldn't willy waving about how great a purist sailor they are!!!

 

[Seajet]

Ariadne,

please don't put all Solent sailors under the same title.

Even with my renowned supersonic Anderson 22 I motor-sail in light winds for passage making, and chums with Seal 28's etc do the same.

 

[onesea]

Ariadne,

please don't put all Solent sailors under the same title.

Even with my renowned supersonic Anderson 22 I motor-sail in light winds for passage making, and chums with Seal 28's etc do the same.

Simple answer if I had to motor-sail 28 hours single handed I would wonder what the hell I had to done to deserve such torture (unless some one was paying me for it).

For me its not about the ports, the time it takes or the distances traveled, its about the passage...

 

[john_morris_uk]

All I see on this thread is that after a plea for no more willy waving...














We get more willy waving.




And dubiously derogatory remarks about how people ought to learn to sail.

We are about to cruise for the next few weeks. The wind for the next few days is decidedly poor to non existent. As we would quite like to get further than the local familiar waters, I expect we will burn some diesel. We may even motor sail. So what?

 

[Zagato]

Apart from berthing the second biggest PITA is having to reef whilst in a chop - no good for me as I just start chucking up, which is why I have only attempted it once, in those situations if I havn't reefed in before I have set off (e.g too windy to do it even on the mooring or marina) I have to motor sail with just the stay sail, pretty frustrating, luckily only had to do it twice.

I REALLY miss my MIZZEN and would fit one to my Crabber if I wasn't going to sell it.

 

[[70521]]

Thoughts?

No off button?

 

[dslittle]

Simple answer if I had to motor-sail 28 hours single handed I would wonder what the hell I had to done to deserve such torture (unless some one was paying me for it).

For me its not about the ports, the time it takes or the distances traveled, its about the passage...

So just how quickly can you cross the Atlantic and get a favouarable weather window to passage plan?

 

[SamanthaTabs]

Gran Canaria to St.Lucia, left end November and arrived 16 days later. No engine hours at all.

 

[Tintin]

Simple answer if I had to motor-sail 28 hours single handed I would wonder what the hell I had to done to deserve such torture (unless some one was paying me for it).

For me its not about the ports, the time it takes or the distances traveled, its about the passage...

Torture? Not at all. You must be doing it all wrong. There is just as much challenge in trying to work out the best wind / wave / tide angle, the best way to set the sails and tweak them, the same sea life (a great pod that sat with me for an hour), the added "fun" of avoiding prop fouling banks of seaweed, the same nav and pilotage challenges ("that light should be to port..errr...is that a rock?"), and the pleasure of knowing i have got my boat to brittany for my kids holidays with me.

Even with my less than stressful work commitments it can be hard to find perfect conditions to sail a passage of more than 12 hours, and i prefer sailing and motor sailing to dreaming and wishing for the perfect conditions.

I think the "torture" comment is a key indicator for you. Change your mindset on it and you will find your sailing horizons open up hugely.

 

[Nicholas123]

Ha ha. It does. Often. But in this case motorsailing was the diff between 28 hrs at 4knots and many more at miles and lower speed, missing the tidal gate etc. Which i suppose is ok for you solent chaps but not so good when very shorthanded. Btw when did you last sail onto your marina berth?

Sounds to me like you are too ambitious if you have to motor 28 hours none stop.Ar'nt there any interesting places that you can break the passage with & stop along the way?
I don't have a marina berth,I have a swinging mooring from which I have sailed from & too on numerous occasions single handedly without using the engine at all.
That dos'nt mean that I don't ever use the engine of coarse.

 

[Tintin]

Sounds to me like you are too ambitious if you have to motor 28 hours none stop.Ar'nt there any interesting places that you can break the passage with & stop along the way?
I don't have a marina berth,I have a swinging mooring from which I have sailed from & too on numerous occasions single handedly without using the engine at all.
That dos'nt mean that I don't ever use the engine of coarse.

I read your post. Then re read it. I am not sure what charts you use but last time i checked there was no handy mid channel harbour. Bless you.

 

[SamanthaTabs]

6 years ago in December we motored pretty much all the way from Mallorca to Vilamoura. Don't even get me started on motoring across Biscay...

 

[onesea]

So just how quickly can you cross the Atlantic and get a favouarable weather window to passage plan?

To be frank its a stupid question and I do not really care, its kind of like asking a F1 team how there car will perform in the Paris Dakar Rally. If I ever want to cross the Atlantic I will consider an appropriate boat. Although I would really want to be paid to cross the Atlantic under motor.

Torture? Not at all. You must be doing it all wrong.<SNIP>

I think the "torture" comment is a key indicator for you. Change your mindset on it and you will find your sailing horizons open up hugely.

I am not telling anyone not to motor sail, I have just stated I really don't like doing it. Its not that I am doing it wrong, I made some positive decisions about sailing. I bought a boat that will sail faster than it will motor in all but the lightest conditions (Below about 6 knots of wind). The engine has little sound insulation and is in middle of cabin so its loud. Yes I could change boats/ re-design the boat, then she would lose some what she it to me...

Haveing cruised motor sailors, done various styles of racing inshore and offshore. I did not buy a boat to motor sail, I bought a boat to sail and maximize the pleasure I can have sailing with realistic time and money available to me...

I am glad you enjoyed your channel crossing and the challenges it involved for you.

This is becoming worse than a MOBO v's Yachty thread, we all go to the sea for different reasons accept it...

 

[Searush]

Gran Canaria to St.Lucia, left end November and arrived 16 days later. No engine hours at all.

So how many tide gates did you need to meet & are those drying harbours? Of course not! Different forms of sailing require different techniques. Engines don't help much on an ocean passage, but can make a huge difference when coastal cruising with limited free time available.

Your experience may have been wonderful, but it is actually irrelevant to the thread, thank you.

 

[SamanthaTabs]

So just how quickly can you cross the Atlantic and get a favouarable weather window to passage plan?

Merely answered a direct question, appreciate that it has nowt to do with motor sailing but the question was poised. Thank you

 

[Brightwork]

If it's that unusual (I happen to think that for coastal sailing it's essential) - then why do the Colreg's alude to 'Motorsailing Cones' and why did Dag Pike write a book about it?

I reckon (if done properly) it's worth about 20% on fuel / speed (i.e. 6 knots for 5 ish) - the experience of the OP was clearly not 'Motorsailing' - it was motoring with a sail up - quite different.

Motorsailing is an art as well as a science just like other aspects of sailing - if you don't get it. then you don't get it.

 

[dslittle]

Merely answered a direct question, appreciate that it has nowt to do with motor sailing but the question was poised. Thank you

I am with you. Question was not directed at your post. I have sailed long passages with and without using the engine. I have had to make tidal gates and missed them ocassionally. I do not like using my engine but accept that it is necessary sometimes. My point was that different situations require different techniques and that it is silly to 'tell' anyone how best to 'sail' their boat.

 

[grumpy_o_g]

I'm very confused by all this. Surely the idea of owning a boat is to enjoy it. If you derive enjoyment from it you're using it properly, if you don't you aren't. It's not complicated.

 

[Nicholas123]

I read your post. Then re read it. I am not sure what charts you use but last time i checked there was no handy mid channel harbour. Bless you.

Well I did about nine hours motoring between Dunkirk & Dover last year & that was quite enough for me.The English Channel dos'nt seem to be the type of place you'd want to slop about in tired,I can only assume that you are a masochist.

 

[Tintin]

Well I did about nine hours motoring between Dunkirk & Dover last year & that was quite enough for me.The English Channel dos'nt seem to be the type of place you'd want to slop about in tired,I can only assume that you are a masochist.

So an unpleasant 9 hours "motoring" is the sum total of your experience of "motor sailing", and why you have waded into a thread to give us the benefit of your extensive experience? Really?

Check your dictionary pal - this ain't masochism

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