put the sail cover on, we're going to sea!

Sans Bateau

Sans Bateau

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Just watched Sunsail 4003, school boat,set off from Lymington for its night nav exercises. Before they left, the sail cover went on. Yes it went on !!!

Have I got it wrong all these years?
 
galadriel said:
Just watched Sunsail 4003, school boat,set off from Lymington for its night nav exercises. Before they left, the sail cover went on. Yes it went on !!!

Have I got it wrong all these years?
Click to expand...

Must be so they can practise taking it off again at sea. Real question is, why was it not in place while in port!

Mike.
 
Only prats with no imagination move a sailing boat on engine without the sails being handy to raise quickly, and for that matter the anchor ready to let go quickly too !

During my YM course we ended up in a large marina in the Solent where a corporate style sailing school was based.

As we walked to the pub, one of the dazed kipper students who didn't know the area saw a bunch of training boats ( looking like they'd been pushed out of a Hercules at 10,000' by the way they were left ) and commented " Oh ********* sailing school ".

I automatically blurted out " w******s ! "and was told "Oh Andy you shouldn't be so judgemental" --- Our instructor, the nicest calmest guy one could ever meet said in a very matter of fact tone of voice " No, he's right, they are w*****s ! "
 
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Seajet said:
Only prats with no imagination move a sailing boat on engine without the sails being handy to raise quickly, and for that matter the anchor ready to let go quickly too !

During my YM course we ended up in a large marina in the Solent where a corporate style sailing school was based.

As we walked to the pub, one of the dazed kipper students who didn't know the area saw a bunch of training boats ( looking like they'd been pushed out of a Hercules at 10,000' by the way they were left ) and commented " Oh ********* sailing school ".

I automatically blurted out " w******s ! "and was told "Oh Andy you shouldn't be so judgemental" --- Our instructor, the nicest calmest guy one could ever meet said in a very matter of fact tone of voice " No, he's right, they are w*****s ! "
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Everyone has to start somewhere. Not everyone is born with your extent of knowledge and expertise. And well done to that instructor :rolleyes:
 
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Many a slip 'tween cup and lip...

Comrade Red said:
Everyone has to start somewhere. Not everyone is born with your extent of knowledge and expertise. And well done to that instructor :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Thanks for thinking I was born with a tiller in my hand ! :)

In fact I did read a lot about sailing voraciously from an early age and the rest continues to be application, no sailor ever stops learning.

I was just lucky, I'd already started then my school offered good sailing courses at Cobnor in Chichester Harbour; bearing in mind 'the hard' means slipway in our neck of the woods, our lovely but possibly naive senior instructor Jenny may have made a mistake when saying to a bunch of schoolboys

" Right boys, I want you all on the hard in ten minutes " ! :)
 
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Seajet said:
Only prats with no imagination move a sailing boat on engine without the sails being handy to raise quickly, and for that matter the anchor ready to let go quickly too !
Click to expand...

The majority of yachts have furling genoas, that can be released in seconds...so by your rational they would not be "prats" :D

Always best to be prepared with the halyard on, and the sheet ready to run, but calling people prats because they don't, seems a bit strong IMHO
 
snooks said:
The majority of yachts have furling genoas, that can be released in seconds...so by your rational they would not be "prats" :D

Always best to be prepared with the halyard on, and the sheet ready to run, but calling people prats because they don't, seems a bit strong IMHO
Click to expand...

I must agree - in an emergency engine failure situation, the main sail would not be my first thought. That said, most school boats I've seen/been on have been fitted with hanked-on genoas, so the above may not apply.
 
Snooks,

a roller genoa is fine, being ready to deploy is possibly its' main attraction ! - I prefer hanked headsails, on smaller boats at least.

If someone sets out with a cover on their mainsail in all but the most extenuating circumstances, they are indeed an esteemed prat; and the mainsail will often give drive to windward which the headsail alone will not, Murphys' Law decreeing the boat will be just to windward of any hazards when the engine gives up !

On my YM course the instructors would regularly put the engine into neutral simulating a failure, when entering harbour etc and I'd already learned not to trust engines & props the hard way; so I cringe when I see people blatting along with sail covers on.
 
Seajet said:
and the mainsail will often give drive to windward which the headsail alone will not..
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I've never yet come across a boat that will not sail to windward on headsail alone. Perhaps your wonderful Anderson that you seem to think is so marvellous is less capable than you make out if it is one of the boats that won't.
 
Seajet said:
If someone sets out with a cover on their mainsail in all but the most extenuating circumstances, they are indeed an esteemed prat...<more pomposity removed>...
Click to expand...

So is someone who goes out in a single engined motor boat also an esteemed prat, as they are relying on a single means of propulsion? That would include a good proportion of all boats that go to sea, quite a large chunk of fishermen, and lots of the merchant navy too. Any more wide ranging insults you want to make while you are at it?
 
I used to religiously leave the cover off until tied up, till I realised that in the event of engine failure in the river (and yes, it's happened more than once), hoisting the mainsail would form no part whatsoever of my plans. Anchor, yes, staysail, yes, warp and fender, perhaps, but there just isn't space for hoisting the mainsail to be a good idea. So now I sometimes use the time to cover up and it's one less job to do on arrival, and I fart in Seajet's general direction :)

What nobody seems to have addressed is why Sunsail were putting on the cover before leaving. Leaving it on is simple laziness or possibly poor seamanship, but why take the deliberate act of putting it on if it wasn't before?

Pete
 
AngusMcDoon said:
So is someone who goes out in a single engined motor boat also an esteemed prat, as they are relying on a single means of propulsion? That would include a good proportion of all boats that go to sea, quite a large chunk of fishermen, and lots of the merchant navy too. Any more wide ranging insults you want to make while you are at it?
Click to expand...

Large ships are a different proposition, though they do still come to grief through engine failure.

Otherwise you have just about covered it yourself, and sensible single engined mobos usually manage at least a small outboard as Plan B...:)
 
prv said:
I fart in Seajet's general direction :)

What nobody seems to have addressed is why Sunsail were putting on the cover before leaving. Leaving it on is simple laziness or possibly poor seamanship, but why take the deliberate act of putting it on if it wasn't before?

Pete
Click to expand...

Pete,

I'm a fan of Monty Python & The Holy Grail too ! Have no fear the compliment is returned, just keep over to the side as a proper boat goes past...:)

The only reason I can think of for putting a cover on at that point is maybe a general instruction from the bean counters to avoid U/V exposure ?
 
jtwebb said:
I thought that was an instant Yachtmaster failure?
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On my yachtmaster prep weekend which I did with an YM instructor who was also a work colleague/friend he warned me that if a candidate did that it was standard practice for the examiner to switch off the engine and state that "your engine has failed - what are you going to do now".

If the candidate is quick enough and gets say the genoa out and sails the boat out of any problems then its probably still a pass but a black mark.

The other poor practice I have noticed on school boats is when singling up a long mooring line to cast off they do not swap them over so that the short length is on top and let go/retrieved.

On two ocassions I have witnessed ropes snag on the berth cleat and finally let go from the boat leaving some 40' of rope in the water. I have retreived the rope , coiled it and then thrown it on board when they return for a close "pass"!
 
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Seajet said:
If someone sets out with a cover on their mainsail in all but the most extenuating circumstances, they are indeed an esteemed prat; and the mainsail will often give drive to windward which the headsail alone will not, Murphys' Law decreeing the boat will be just to windward of any hazards when the engine gives up !
Click to expand...
I'm an esteemed prat then ...
Wow - never knew that - thanks for enlightening me ...

I've done many a trip with the main packed away - perhaps I have a little more confidence in my boat maintenance than you in yours?

Perhaps you should consider that it isn't always best to raise the main .. like if there is sod all wind ... or even too much - when an uncovered main could catch the wind and start causing issues ....

Anyway - how long does it take to get the main uncovered and halyard on? Especially if you've got a stackpack system - unzip and go!
 
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