Second time out in the Osprey. Not terrible, not great either...

[Seajet]

Dan,

I meant to mention, there are off-the-shelf chocks available, from caravan shops.

However I've always got by with scrounging wedge shaped stones off the beach; inflatable trolley tyres make life easier too when rolling, but can be a pain initially when they float the trolley and require forcing under the boat.

 

[dunedin]

Re the bits about using smaller sails and single handing - have you yet tried capsizing it and righting it single handed in a decent breeze (with rescue boat beside just in case)? If not please organise and do this before going out without cover.

Big boats with small sails are not necessarily a good answer, as the hull weight is heavy - particularly older boats which can often fill the tanks partially when capsized.

 

[Searush]

Glue or pop rivet a ribbon to the mast for an indestructible permanent burgee.

Wool tell tales about 3 ins behind the jib luff, just take an 18" bit of bright wool & use a darning needle to loop thro the sail, leaving 8-9" either side to mark the wind flow. Do similar on the very leech of the main with a 6" single thread flying off the edge of the sail. You want 3-4 of these to cover the height of the sail & they will tell you when the sail is set right, then you can teach SWMBO to watch the tell tales & get then flying horizontally backwards.

 

[mrming]

I used to sail my Topper in reverse. Deliberately, I mean. I even reckoned she went better that way in light airs. But I can't easily picture how to ease the Osprey backwards off the beach, sailing against the wind...it may be possible, but not at my tender stage of knowhow!

Surely you and SWMBO need to get in over the side / transom rather than the bow in any case?

In any case the solution is to turn the boat around once you have launched and SWMBO has kindly got the trolley out from under it. I can't think of of situation where you would have to sail backwards after launching a dinghy unless you were launching on a ridiculously narrow slip.

 

[lw395]

I agree with the shockcord pulling the rudder blade down, line to pull it up; a tube cleat on the tiller is handy for the latter.

.....

This is many years out of date.
Most racing (and even cruising) dinghies now have deeper rudders than in the 60's.
Shock cord will not keep a deep rudder down at any speed.
The normal thing is a rope downhaul, which may be cleated in a special clamcleat that releases on impact, or some other cleat that will give.
Some have a destructible shearpin.
The rudder blade should be a good enough fit in the stock that it will stay up on its own, unless it is a very heavy wooden job. A rope uphaul can still be useful though.

 

[TSB240]

Dan


Ref Burgee

Why not Bolt your burgee or wind indicator clip to the headboard of your Mainsail

Eliminates the extra string and complication involved with a burgee haliard.

No need to roll the boat on its side to straighten it out when you have inevitably explored the depth of the water with your mast.

Dont fight it try it and see how easy it is to recover from partial to full inversion. Important to have this experience under controlled and safety boat suppported conditions with both yourself and crew. If you are confident you can recover in calm conditions you then need to master it when the wind is stronger. Dont wait until the inevitable happens in stronger winds.

 

[Cuan]

My dad had an Osprey; i wanted him to get a 505 but he thought an Osprey a better bet. I can't remember exactly but IIRC the sail no was 220 or there about s. she was called Sirocco, and he bought her from Mounts Bay which i think had a big fleet in those days.
Anyway, I remember planing on a broad reach with the spinnaker up up and 3 crew, one on the wire, what a fabulous boat. In fact my dad remembered the joy of sailing his Osprey right up to the end of his life (last August).
On a more practical level, I remember having a cleated main, but this could always be dumped in a gust. Our Osprey involved a lot less swimming that than the preceding Enterprise, which in those days (60s) could be a bit harder to predict.
Bit of a ramble but there it is.

 

[Lakesailor]

Re the bits about using smaller sails and single handing - have you yet tried capsizing it and righting it single handed in a decent breeze (with rescue boat beside just in case)? If not please organise and do this before going out without cover.

Big boats with small sails are not necessarily a good answer, as the hull weight is heavy - particularly older boats which can often fill the tanks partially when capsized.

See posts #19 and 20.

 

[Greenheart]

Thanks to all. Happy memories, Cuan.

We haven't yet deliberately capsized this boat. I reckoned that would be like deliberately falling off a trotting horse...I know it's good to feel ready and aware of how to react - but the sheer shock of rolling the boat (I believe it floats very high) and fumbling to right it, would certainly have removed SWMBO from all future involvement. SWMBO doesn't have a wetsuit yet, and the water's not exactly bath-warm. I know capsize needs testing though, before I find out involuntarily.

Silly of me...I forgot TSB240's smart recent advice about clipping the flag to the head of the sail. Sensible solution, thanks.

Searush: you're right thanks, I know telltales are invaluable. And I need some - my sails aren't new, but their previous owner appears to have had a hell of a sense for wind direction - no telltales and no evidence of any flag. I'll attach a few wool strands and explain their purpose to SWMBO - she's likely to smile at their aesthetic appeal, and may even listen long enough to learn what they indicate.

Here's the Dan-plan to prevent rudder damage: (I'm bracing myself against imminent scorn...)

...my tiller is hollow aluminium tube, open-ended. So, if I can wedge a hardwood batten in the back of the open tube, I can rig a block to the end of the batten...one end of a lanyard will be attached to the back of the rudder blade, the lanyard will run up (backwards from the rudder) through the block on the batten-end, then forward to the front of the tiller where a clam cleat will hold it fast. There's already one clam cleat there, doing the opposite - holding the blade down during sailing.

Hope it works, I can't yet see why it won't. If I add some shock-cord in the mix, catastrophic unforeseen impacts can be prevented...I hope. My only doubt will be when I drill a 5mm hole straight through perfectly good GRP, just above the waterline on the trailing edge.

Mrming, I'm sorry I can't remember what you asked before you edited it! The launching difficulty only arises because the wind is usually onshore, so the only way to keep the head to windward is by one of us holding the boat pointing approximately offshore...easiest from the bow, but it's deep out there...and meanwhile the rudder is in the shallowest water, hence the danger of impact and damage.

Done quickly and slickly, it'll be no problem...but so far, there's always been some last-minute matter to keep us from jumping in and going.

 

[Kelpie]

Launching with onshore winds, I would always row out to a buoy and rig there. Oh yeah, you don't have rowlocks yet, sorry...

 

[Kukri]

I cautiously suggest that a wetsuit for your better half should be a very high priority. "Boat" should not mean "cold wet and miserable..."

Oh and DO have an experimental capsize - the one thing you can be sure of is that the boat won't float as you have been expecting, either capsized or righted and still full of water, and its best to minimise the surprises.

The advice given earlier about the suspect integrity of built-in bouyancy tanks in an old boat is very good. Don't ask me how I know that.

 

[TSB240]

Launching with onshore winds, I would always row out to a buoy and rig there. Oh yeah, you don't have rowlocks yet, sorry...

On an incoming tide

Dig your little folding grapnel anchor into the sand

Then pull yourself out against the wind once the tide has come in.

Some clubs I have sailed at used to provide the equivalent of a lazy line. It was specially helpful if you were launching into a head wind or with little or no wind and a big surf. They were usually laid to help the rescue boat get out safely...

 

[Greenheart]

Dig your little folding grapnel anchor into the sand...

After all the rude things I've said about grapnels in the past...it probably won't surprise anyone that I was looking at their sizes/prices last night. It's very irritating - I've got a nice little danforth in France, but apparently it's too threatening to carry back as hand-baggage.

The advice given earlier about the suspect integrity of built-in bouyancy tanks in an old boat is very good. Don't ask me how I know that.

Thanks, I had put that to the back of my mind in the light winds encountered so far. Thinking back to the spring, I bored the forum pretty thoroughly with my worries about cracks, seals, poor repairs, leaks, and the amount of water that this old, significantly-modified Osprey might come upright with...

...the rear-deck compartment, roughly 3' long, 4'6" wide and 16" height, had been a sealed section - how much buoyancy is that, 2000 Newtons? But the whole rear cockpit bulkhead has been cut away to allow water to slide out through clumsily-cut transom holes...

...I've heard that all the rear buoyancy could make the standard Mk2 Osprey float too high in the water for comfort, but that won't be an issue on mine...though the consequence of the modification may be the opposite.

Wanna laugh? SWMBO bought a big "exercise ball" which never got any use. I adopted it to spread the weight of the boat when it's ashore...now I stick it under the rear deck and inflate it so it's wedged under there while we're sailing. It's got to be 18" dia...what's that, 450 Newtons?

Oh yeah, you don't have rowlocks yet, sorry...

Ahem, I certainly have rowlocks...just not attached yet. Last evening I even bought the machine screws and 17mm bit for the sockets...I expect there'll be a three-chapter thread, just on the subject of drilling the holes (with an antique hand-drill) through 30mm of fibreglass & wood core...

...but thanks for the rowing idea, if you were sincere...it'd be my preference, but it seems to be regarded as irrelevant in dinghies, where we're expected to hoist & go.

 

[Searush]

When launching into wind do not fit the rudder until ready to go. No need or benefit to have it on as you launch. You really need something or someone holding the bow while you get everything set up, rudder fitted & SWMBO aboard.

Aldi are selling summer weight shorty wetsuits for 20 squid at the mo, they will fit under shorts or hiking trousers & waterproof jacket, they also add much needed buoyancy & warmth when righting from in the water.

 

[Greenheart]

You really need something or someone holding the bow while you get everything set up, rudder fitted & SWMBO aboard.

Thank you Searush, that's what I meant in an earlier post. Trouble is, SWMBO is the person available to hold the bow...but it's deep, twenty feet from the beach at HW!

Aldi are selling summer weight shorty wetsuits for 20 squid at the mo, they will fit under shorts or hiking trousers & waterproof jacket...

Excellent, I'll encourage SWMBO to take a look, thanks. It's her birthday next week...I wonder if it would be regarded as buying myself a present, to get her a wetsuit?

 

[Kelpie]

...but thanks for the rowing idea, if you were sincere...it'd be my preference, but it seems to be regarded as irrelevant in dinghies, where we're expected to hoist & go.

Yes, hoist and go seems to be the way with people who are accustomed to little lasers etc. After all, what harm in getting wet to the waist when you'll likely be sitting in a puddle the whole time anyway?
But for those of us who like to remain warm and dry it's daft to get soaked before you've even set off. And the bigger the boat, the further out you'll have to wade before clambering aboard. So treat it like a proper boat and keep your socks dry.

People who learn on little dinghies often seem to have a very different approach to things. They rig boats on the slipway, and return under full sail to a flappy keel-scraping stop. I learned the ropes on larger boats and will usually row to an empty buoy to set up and again to pack away the sails at the end of the day. It probably takes longer overall but everything is much more under control and it means I keep my feet dry

 

[Greenheart]

Rob, your words are my thoughts exactly. Those who mainly race, often snort at my ideas of adding oars/anchors, and treating a dinghy like a yacht - too much fuss and irrelevant complexity for their singleminded pursuit of speed, I suppose...

...but as soon as a big enough dinghy is so-equipped that she feels more like a yacht, I enjoy being aboard, much more. All the same, when my 'yacht' capsizes, I'll be glad I wear a wetsuit.

Can't wait to hear the howls when I show photos of my Osprey wearing lazyjacks, here...like putting an autobox in a Formula 1 car.

 

[FairweatherDave]

My tuppence worth
On the subject of burgee/windex and a cheap imperfect solution.... tieing a bit of wool or strand of cassette tape to each shroud at eye level saves a stiff neck and is very effective and completely safe from inversions......
Keep it going, and don't stress your wife if you want a successful outcome. My less public learning curve has ended with the excitement of a Centaur for her, and she still hides below when we heel a bit too far. Ideally get competent again before she comes with you. You can't put her off if she isn't there. I appreciate courses cost and you don't need one but the range of advice here is difficult to absorb, maybe an e bay basic short dinghy textbook would pay off.
Personally I am anti wetsuits and pro warm weather ...... a splash proof top and quick drying shorts is all you need except if you expect to capsize. Sitting in wetsuits for any length of time is not comfy if you remain dry.
Just please don't change boat unless you get another one first..... you are on the water. Stay on

 

[Iain C]

Rob, your words are my thoughts exactly. Those who mainly race, often snort at my ideas of adding oars/anchors, and treating a dinghy like a yacht - too much fuss and irrelevant complexity for their singleminded pursuit of speed, I suppose...

...but as soon as a big enough dinghy is so-equipped that she feels more like a yacht, I enjoy being aboard, much more. All the same, when my 'yacht' capsizes, I'll be glad I wear a wetsuit.

Can't wait to hear the howls when I show photos of my Osprey wearing lazyjacks, here...like putting an autobox in a Formula 1 car.

Dan

I'm one of the racing crowd so my ideas are probably very different to yours. As for lee shores...try launching or recovering an 18' skiff with a fixed rudder and no halyards (yes, the main is "hoisted" with the boat on it's side with a wing removed) that soon teaches you how to do it!

Anyway, I'm kinda going to duck out of the conversation now, however before I do that I will plead with you not to put lazy jacks on. From a safety point of view in an unballasted trapeze boat that is an unthinkable nightmare. When SWMBO gets trapezing, and you get it wrong, and capsize, you do not want her landing on your mainsail's spiders web of string and slowly getting pulled under by her trapeze hook as the boat inverts. Similarly to windward, getting out from under that string would be utterly terrifying. The 18 fleet have lost 2 guys in recent years due to similar issues...and we don't have lazy jacks. Someone at my club just got helicoptered to hospital after an entrapment incident in the last month or so after putting a slower boat than yours upside down, and with respect both helm and crew were properly dressed and significantly more experienced.

Please, stop worrying about minutiae, get her a wetsuit, and some knives, and go and do a capsize drill, because at the moment the word "statistic" is starting to appear. Sorry to be blunt old chap, but conscience is telling me to write this.

Oh, and nothing wrong with anchors and a secondary means of propulsion...some big coastal regattas insist on those in the rules.

Out.

 

[Lakesailor]

Please, stop worrying about minutiae, get her a wetsuit, and some knives, and go and do a capsize drill, .

Are you reading, Dan? When I did my capsize drill I thought I was being pessimistic and had read all about procedure. Not being a dyed-in-the-wool dinghy sailor I wasn't used to being in close touch with the water.
I'm really glad I did try it out.
Putting theory into practice is much more difficult than I had thought it would be. I used the experience to alter some of my preparation (the righting line for instance).

The first time I went out for a sail I capsized twice. Completely without notice and not really having done anything wrong. Just learning (slowly) the balance of the boat.