Nervous about singlehanding

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[32511]

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At the age of 68, having had only two hours crewing, I was hooked and went and bought my first boat, a 19 ft. Caprice. Over the winter she got a lot of fettling, including a roller-furling headsail, all lines routed back to the cockpit, etc, and I got my day-skipper theory. I've now just got my day-skipper practical, and have got a few hours sailing in, with various pals as crew. However, I'm still a bit nervous about taking her out single-handed. Any advice on my next moves gratefully received by an ancient newbie!
 
By all means take a pal out with you but try "single handing" by doing it all yourself. Let him just open the beers. In my experience the most difficult thing is comming alongside or picking up a buoy. I use a tiller tamer or an autohelm when I reef the main or have to go to the foredeck, but otherwise it just requires a bit of careful foresight.

BTW you're not much older than I am
 
Hi Phil,

There's a similar thread or two on the forum recently. I'm about to embark on my first solo sail and there are some useful words of encouragement and simple bits of advice for handling the boat when coming in to a berth. Might be worth a look.

The original thread was called 'Han Solo' in the PBO forum and then there was a follow up in the liveaboard forum called 'Hans Solo 2' or something.

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=207527

Good luck!
 
Just do it!

I was real nervous... and still am about coming into the pontoon... but as long as you think things through in advance, and dont rush things... then it should be no problem. I only started going out by myself last year... and its 31feet.... you sort of just have to go for it!


Beer.jpg



Anchored in Cawsand during my first solo....
 
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I sail singlehanded most of the time(35ft long keeler). Best idea is to take somebody along purely to observe on a ''hands off,lip zipped'' basis,so if things go pearshaped(which they do!) help is there to ask for.You'll soon wonder what the fuss was about, and be on here telling us how!!!
 
Do it when the wind is pleasant for you, and make sure you have some kind of "tillerpilot" so you can let her steer herself while you attend to other things.
When coming back in, drop the sails and sort out all your lines and fenders before you enter the harbour thereby giving yourself room to drift, that way you can concentrate on the docking manoever itself.
Good luck, nothing more pleasing than a pleasant sail and a job well done!
 
sailorman

Think the old fella was referring to my whereabouts---he's a bit imprecisein his thinking these days(also in his navigation). ROGER! CLEAR YOUR BOX OUT!!!
Sorry for thread hijack!!
 
As I thought...he's on Lake Huron............(well thats the only Tobermory i've ever been to)

And there is a story by Saki called Tobermory...about a cat that can talk..very sinister.

I spose there might be one in Scotland...or is that Balamory???

As to going Solo, just choose a nice pleasant calm day with a fairly light breeze, and take it steady. The thinking about it is far worse than the actual doing. If there is another boat who'd go with you its sometime helpful just to have them somewhere near.

Go for it!

Tim
 
solo is not about heavy physical stuff, it's about working WITH systems and gadgets.

I'd write out a check list of all the tasks you need to achieve in a day's sailing, from switching on the battery when you board, to cleaning the bilges when you leave.

Turn them into a project, and make up the critical path to identify any important skill or procedure which you don't have buttoned down. I bet that you will have 80% of them ticked off and with a high confidence level. The rest can be sorted by sailing with a "ghostcrew" as has been suggested. Try "solo-ing" for an hour, then next time increase it by 30 minutes, and so on.

The fascination of sailing is that you never stop learning, and there is always something new to keep you on your toes - even for us co-eval pensioners.
 
JFDI. You'll learn pretty quickly.

Just don't pick a spicy day; choose a day where the wind's fairly light and blowing you onto your pontoon, that way coming back is much easier.

Also, make sure everything's rigged before you leave; sail cover off, halyard attached, auto-pilot ready (if you have one), handheld radio in cockpit, etc. If you're going on a short there-and-back, leave the fenders attached but flick them over the guard rails.

A tip to coming back in: have a line attached mid-ships which you use on the pontoon. If you've not got a cleat, wrap it around a shroud. When you come alongside, just flip the line over a cleat on the pontoon and keep it tight. The boat will then be firmly attached so you can leisurely climb off and sort out the bow and stern lines.

Just remember, when manoeuvring in port, you can't go too slowly.

And if you make a cods of it, don't worry. We all do. Particularly when others are watching:-)
 
good choice of boat

excellent

as for single handed

just choose a lovely sunny day and go for it

what is the worst that can happen

start down wind with just the jib rolled out - then get braver later

a tiller tamer is a great idea - although I just use a bungee clipped to either side of the boat and stretched around the tiller just in front of the tiller extension

works a treat

dylan

http://www.youtube.com/user/dylanwinter1
 
Thanks, guys, I'd better go for it! At least I'm on a swinging mooring, and I know I can pick that up single handed.
 
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