Single Handing

I think the most important part of single handing - if sailing to somewhere you don't know well, is the pilotage for the destination. It is hard to keep popping below to check the nav marks against the chart when you are approaching the destination. I tend to go as far as to plot a possible approach into the GPS, as well as putting in a few waypoints.

Doubly necessary if you are going to be approaching an unknown harbour after dark when you have been sailing for several hours, the chances if making a serious mistake under those circumstances are quite high.
 
I am thinking of going single handed in the near future but quite frankly i am bricking it!

I have been thinking about having someone onboard for the first few time but they are not allowed to do anything. (hmm i know some people like that already) They are mainly there as a back up until i can work out best methods of everything.

Not sure if you have thought or done this already but good luck and let us all know how it went!!
 
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I have been thinking about having someone onboard for the first few time but they are not allowed to do anything.

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Hmmm. Quite like the sound of that. Pity you are so far away.
 
I reckon having someone else makes it worse because it means you shouldn't really ask for help. When I'm solo I always try and get help docking if there is any question of thumping anything/one. I always ask myself 'What will the insurance company ask me'. Marinas will always have someone take your lines who is halfway competent.

Any of the soloists here involved with http://racingatpetitbateau.googlepages.com/home, the single handed little boat chaps?

I haven't been out solo yet this year and reading this thread scares me **itless. It definitely makes it sound much more intimidating than it really is. One thing that I don't think has been mentioned, I found out the hard way, is the log impeller. With some crew it only takes a moment to whip it out and clean it. Solo you have no autopilot until it's working....can get tricky. Unless that is you can remeber how to change the pilot setting to GPS without looking at the manual!
 
Eh? My tiller pilot works on a compass course - nothing to do with the log! ... Are you sure yours is connected in such a dependant manner - if so, what does it do with the log data?
 
Before I make an dick of myself yet again I have just checked. If you have a Raymarine pilot it will work without a log, just not very efficiently, cos boat speed goes into the algorithm. If you have a B&G (maybe Simrad too as they are the same company) pilot it will not work at all until you change the settings or give it a manual speed input.
 
Enjoy.

I sail single handed. Last year I sailed from Chichester to Falmouth and back single handed. Doing it again this year and returning via Alderney.

Good planning and preparation are the key. Check the weather and plan ahead. As others have said make sure everything that you may need is close to hand.

Even in the Solent, busy as it is, you will still have the time to nip below for a quick pee (don't shut the door - who is going to see you), put the kettle on, get some food out of the fridge/locker. Just look around you, assess the situation and estimate how much time you will be away from the helm.

Just don't do it outside Portsmouth Harbour in the IOW ferries area. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Judgers just go for it assuming you are a competent coastal skipper who knows his boat and local waters. Having done 350 miles single handed last summer, contrary to what others here would have you believe, I can confirm that Newton’s Laws of motion do not get suspended the moment you cast off singled handed.

I tend to clip on a more often when sailing single handed but I am not obsessive about it.

In the Solent area I feel more relaxed when away from the madding crowds which for me would mean heading down to Sandown Bay & the Nab Tower.

Time your berthing with slack tide and indicate clearly to bystanders that you like some help. Place fenders in anticipation that the boat could skew 30 degrees out of alignment when parking.

On they way out give yourself plenty of time to bring fenders and lines in before joining the traffic down at the entrance of the Hamble.
 
I spend a lot of time single handing and normally it is absolutely no problem and very relaxing. However after reading this thread I start to feel scared and nervous. The truth is that whenever I am out on my own there is always a slightly higher feeling of apprehension and that it probably healthy as complacency could be nasty.

For me the it is all about preparation. Everything that can be setup before leaving is setup. All lines lead back to the cockpit so I can raise the sails, lower the sails, reef the sails from there. I even used a downhaul on the foresail so that if the boat is head to wind and the halyard is released I can get the sail on the deck without venturing forward.

Heaving to is fantastic. It seems that even on the most wild days when you are beating to windward, slamming into waves as you go then the moment you heave to everything goes calm and you can sort yourself out.

As well as heaving to then I also spend a lot of time with the stern to wind and the engine running astern at just a high number of revs to counter the downwind drift. This is great for getting sails tied down, fenders out and lines ready before entering the marina.

I also find cockpit speakers and a selection of music and podcasts to listen to helps calm the nerves sometimes.

Up until I have singlehanded without a tillerpilot and without a roller genoa. I hope to have the tiller pilot installed in the next week or so and I am interested to see how it changes the sailing.
 
One manover you need to be good at as a singlehander that crewed vessels rarely use is the ability to stop. Make sure you can hove to quickly and comfortably and sort out a light kedge that can be quickly dropped. Then if life starts getting to hecktic, you need to sort roaps & fenders, put in a reef or just check your position you can just pull up and sort it without worrying about running out of sea room. Also when not making way everyone else has to keep clear of you. Obviously you should clear shipping lanes before stopping but used sensibly it is the nautical equivelent of the hard shoulder.
 
weird!! However, I only have the tiller pilot - it is connected to the seatalk bus (did that one winter) but only so it can steer to wind ... I can't work out why the pilot would need speed in it's calculations - it is doing 1 of 3 things (depending what you have connected)
1) steering to a compass course - this is the most used/standard way (so I believe)
2) steering to wind - connection to wind instrument keeps the wind in the same place over the deck
3) steering to a waypoint - taking course from a GPS/plotter to steer you to a waypoint ......

Can't see why the unit would need log in any of those ... weird ... but probably a question for another thread.
 
What happens when you sail with one crew person?

One guy steers while the other fiddles or fights with the big flappy things.
What will the autohelm do?

As has been said before.. if you go overboard you will very prob die (autohelm wont notice you've gone) So clipped on is a good idea. A very good idea.

Stopping the boat exactly at the pontoon or mooring is the tricky part and i always have an "abort go round again" plan B in mind if at all possable.
plan C is usually drop the hook and wait for weather-tide-whatever to change.
if a rising tide, then planting her on the putty (not a lee shore) will give you half hour or so breathing space

Bear in mind that even the most overpriced corporate run marinas will send a guy down the pontoon to catch a line if you call em on the VHF
 
And don't forget to wave to us other single handers, usually obvious as we have forgotten to take in one fender and our heads pop up out of the hatch and peer around like meer cats.
 
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And don't forget to wave to us other single handers, usually obvious as we have forgotten to take in one fender and our heads pop up out of the hatch and peer around like meer cats.

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/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

so true,

as nearly all have said planning is the key, i sail SH nearly all the time. there is the smug part when you get in and know you did it. also the best thing there is no one else to blame, no confusion about is the bow line how you want it, you do it so you know it's right.
it is daunting the first few times, but one of the best thing mentioned is (imho) do not get slack after a few trips out. the first trip you will do every thing right or at least the second time you will. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif the sixth or seventh you might just miss the fact you have not done the topping lift as the boom pays you a visit. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
enjoy the sailing have a brew or two. you should fell very satisfied with even the shortest trip.

have fun and enjoy
 
Do you ever sail Victorious single-handed? Must be a bit of a handful. What rig do you think is easiest for the single-handed cruiser, gaff or bermudan?
 
Yes, I've seen Victorious sail single-handed even if her owner is too shy to admit it. Victorious is happy to have help on the pontoon, but you need to take a turn quick and hold on tight, she weighs a fair bit...

I was equally impressed to see the owner/skipper of Mikado, a 44ft 1904 Fife, set off from Portsmouth home to Northney single-handed one evening. She was quite a handful with a crew of four!

So it can be done

I'm working up the courage to try myself. So far, the congestion aspect seems the most worrying: keeping a 360 lookout can drop down the priority scale when you have everything else to do. However, like Victorious, I carry a bowsprit and a nice big chain bobstay, so other people do tend to keep clear....

Chris
 
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