Should Sailing Involve Physical Effort and some Discomfort?

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DJE

DJE

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- I flake the mainsail down onto the boom and wrap it up with an old-fashioned cover.

- I rig a removable inner forestay and set a working jib when going upwind in a bit of a blow rather than a partly rolled genoa.

- I put the spray-hood down most of the time when sailing.

- I have a boat with moderate accommodation for her length but a big rig and an easily driven hull.

- I wet sand the old antifouling every winter to stop it building up too much.

I do all these things and more when there are easier and more comfortable alternatives because I think they improve the pleasures of sailing. And after a recent thread I’m considering moving the burgee to the masthead!

Am I mad? Or just misguided? Perhaps my standards will slip as I get older and less active.
 
I do everything as you apart from the sanding. Actually that's not true, the climby and foredeck palava is handled by the considerably more agile missus. As for the masthead burgee, there are strickt rools about that: do you moor in the Beaulieu River or The Byoo--lle?, pronounce really as rarely?, wear a Wessminsteh weskit?, and most importantly can you pronounce house as 'hauusse' while bearing the look of a man who one more perfectly enunciated word might cause to spontaneously explode? If yes to all this I'll give you the bamboo :D
 
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Mad !

We have a very efficient fully battened laminate mainsail - easily and quickly hoisted and stowed from a stack pack so gets used often
We have a foam luff on the North laminate jib. Very efficient to windward, even when reefed, and again quick and easy so used a lot
Solar panels on the spray hood so never lowered - protects from wind, wet and sunshine, and easily seen through due to clear panels in good condition
We have a boat with a long waterline length for size, and big easily reefed rig - so enjoyable to sail
Have never yet needed to sand down the self eroding antifoul - and usually get somebody to paint it on as much cheaper to do this with a quick lift and hold than keep ashore long enough for me to do it
Hope to go for a sail tomorrow. Better use for weather and less work than lay up & recommission

But each to their own, it’s a free world.

PS Putting a 2m pole at the masthead to wave a flag definitely seems madness. And whilst I am a member of a club which would allow us to wave a blue thingy at the back if we put a triangular thingy somewhere like the cross trees (none of this masthead only snobbery), I am quite happy to wave a red flag at the stern (and not bother whether flying or wearing, flag or ensign, the flag signals its meaning without any words).
 
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DJE,

I'm with you; partly for efficiency, partly for reduced chance of a cockup I use hanked headsails, it's very satisfying changing headsails at sea - mind mine is a 7/8ths 22' boat - when I had a 30' with big headsails I would have liked a roller.

I don't believe in sprayhoods or dodgers; if they were solid grp people would say ' shocking motorsailer ' but apparently canvas is OK - and we're supposed to be out in the weather, with modern waterproofs sailors like Sir Alec Rose could never dream of.

It would all be much easier to sit here and do it on a simulator, or programme the autopilot and waypoints then send the boat off, drive round and meet her at the next port...:)
 
DJE said:
Should Sailing Involve Physical Effort and some Discomfort?
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Whatever floats your boat.

Virtual boats are available to control from the comfort of your lounge with a warm fire in the grate, a glass of single malt and your favorite record on the gramophone.
 
DJE said:
- I flake the mainsail down onto the boom and wrap it up with an old-fashioned cover.

- I rig a removable inner forestay and set a working jib when going upwind in a bit of a blow rather than a partly rolled genoa.

- I put the spray-hood down most of the time when sailing.

- I have a boat with moderate accommodation for her length but a big rig and an easily driven hull.

- I wet sand the old antifouling every winter to stop it building up too much.

I do all these things and more when there are easier and more comfortable alternatives because I think they improve the pleasures of sailing. And after a recent thread I’m considering moving the burgee to the masthead!

Am I mad? Or just misguided? Perhaps my standards will slip as I get older and less active.
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With you all the way, except I don't have a spray hood.

My standards have slipped - I no longer own a wooden gaff cutter. But when I did, she looked like this:



(that's not the Beaulieu River...)
 
Ever noticed the crossover between boaters and bikers? Presumably there's a certain type who will put up with the cold and the rain to avoid having a window between them and the scenery.
 
I get a good part of my pleasure in sailing from continually working out ways to do tasks in a more efficient way so less effort for everything so we can sail shorthanded for longer distances in a wider range of weather conditions.

Some things I am happy not to have but they are arbitrary choices - for example I like a stack pack main not a furler and I don't have electric winches. I have efficient but normal ways of reefing like marking halyards and using snapshackles to reduce the effort and never have to flake the sail. Bimini is up all Summer but we've never used the sprayhood because it's easier and lazier to throw body weight around the winches without it.

There is plenty of boat work to do for all the other things that stop it being uncomfortable like endless maintenance of pressure water systems, loos and showers (we don't use marina ones) and all the other electrical systems and gadgets on board.

My favourite tip from this forum for advanced laziness skills was the gradual move I've made in my sailing career from:
1) All fenders away in the locker after setting off (25 years) 5 minutes
2) All fenders tied to the stern after setting off (3 years) 4 minutes
3) All fenders left tied on but dumped on the side deck after setting off (5 years) 2 minutes
4) All fenders on each side with a rope connecting them all at the bottom so a single pull from the cockpit pulls them horizontal just above the toerail. (1 month so far )10 seconds

More time to set the autohelm and fiddle with the sails/eat/read
 
One of the first lessons on joining the Services is that 'any idiot can be uncomfortable'.

Soo, going out into an environment that can be wet, windy and bouncy, anything to make that easier has got to be good.

Especially if you do it for a living!

(Although living on the edge from time to time has its appeal ;))
 
Minn said:
With you all the way, except I don't have a spray hood.

My standards have slipped - I no longer own a wooden gaff cutter. But when I did, she looked like this:



(that's not the Beaulieu River...)
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I notice you have a fender hoisted on the port flag halyard
Is that in case of close encounters with trees up said river?
I'll take a bough.
 
I flake the mainsail down onto the boom and wrap it up with an old-fashioned cover.

- I rig a removable inner forestay and set a working jib when going upwind in a bit of a blow rather than a partly rolled genoa.

- I put the spray-hood down most of the time when sailing.

- I have a boat with moderate accommodation for her length but a big rig and an easily driven hull.

- I wet sand the old antifouling every winter to stop it building up too much.

I do all these things and more when there are easier and more comfortable alternatives because I think they improve the pleasures of sailing. And after a recent thread I’m considering moving the burgee to the masthead!

Am I mad? Or just misguided? Perhaps my standards will slip as I get older and less active.
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I have a full batten main with stack pack so no flaking.
I do have an inner forestay and a hank on jib but rarely tack. I am in the Windies and it is mostly beam reaching.
I love my dodger and bimini. The cat HATES getting wet and sunburned.
Despite being a wrinkly I wet sand every year. Mind you I use an articulating head on a pole so both hands are involved and no bending required.

Happy days on my 44 ft cutter, this day beam reaching up from the Tobago Cays to Bequia at 8 knots. She is a fast old lady especially with a well sanded clean bottom. Yes sometimes it is hard work but better that than sitting in front of the box in a bungalow in Bognor waiting to die.

IMG_2496.jpg
 
DJE said:
- I flake the mainsail down onto the boom and wrap it up with an old-fashioned cover.

- I rig a removable inner forestay and set a working jib when going upwind in a bit of a blow rather than a partly rolled genoa.

- I put the spray-hood down most of the time when sailing.

- I have a boat with moderate accommodation for her length but a big rig and an easily driven hull.

- I wet sand the old antifouling every winter to stop it building up too much.

I do all these things and more when there are easier and more comfortable alternatives because I think they improve the pleasures of sailing. And after a recent thread I’m considering moving the burgee to the masthead!

Am I mad? Or just misguided? Perhaps my standards will slip as I get older and less active.
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You don't give your age - although your last sentence indicates that it is probably young. Come to think of it, most of the sailing community seems relatively young to me these days! I suspect that your perspective will change with age - assuming that you continue sailing into later life. I started out as a dinghy sailor - everything was very manual and uncomfortable. We didn't start sailing cruisers until well into middle age, and our first boats were pretty basic - more or less as you describe. We have gradually become more and more bourgeois in our choice of boats - partly through laziness, but also through necessity. With our most recent purchase, we have given in and specified in-mast furling. Quite simply, we were finding that we rarely raised the sails on our previous boat because we were finding them almost impossible to stow away.
 
Biggles Wader said:
I notice you have a fender hoisted on the port flag halyard
Is that in case of close encounters with trees up said river?
I'll take a bough.
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It's the radar reflector. As well you know! :)

The blue sausage up the port shrouds is the jackyard topsail, in its sail bag, and the blue sail cover on the foredeck is over the staysail on its boom. The rolled jibs are stowed below leaving the Wykeham Martin furling gear in place.
 
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I certainly enjoy the physical effort part - I kid myself I am still a hot shot racer and even do the occasional race single-handed in the evening white sail class. I have the notion that I should be able to carry out every task on the boat (though letting the crew do it all is very nice) and I still can play at foredeck for spinnaker runs, sometimes even single-handing with the thing. I suppose I'm afraid that if I stop exerting myself then that will be the beginning of the end.

As for discomfort, Contessas are wet boats and the west coast has been known to have rain. Any weakness in oilies is very obvious and uncomfortable. Other than that she seems to fit and treat me well but then I don't regard scatter cushions as essentials.
 
I believe in comfort and minimizing physical effort. This means you can continue sailing longer and imho more safely. Of course I am talking about cruising and not racing.

I keep up harking back to Amel but that is their philosophy as well.
 
Sybarite said:
I believe in comfort and minimizing physical effort. This means you can continue sailing longer and imho more safely. Of course I am talking about cruising and not racing.

I keep up harking back to Amel but that is their philosophy as well.
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+1

It is also important to maintain a degree of fitness and health. When considering old boats like pilot cutters, people may like to consider that in their time they were built to be efficient and worked with a small crew.

I also don't think any of the OPs activities should be considered as strenuous and uncomfortable for any normal person of average health and fitness.
 
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