What do you do before sailing ?

[alec]

It seems to take me about an hour before I leave for a sail

And it's getting longer.

Would be interested to know what other people do before sailing and how long it takes to get moving.


Regards,

 

[oldharry]

I find the more sailing I do the longer it takes to get anything done. I think its called creeping old age! /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[kcrane]

Taking the start of the timer being from when I turn off the car engine, then an hour sounds about right to me.

When we first got the boat we thought that it was just that we weren't familiar with everything.

Each time we arrived we would always need a trolley. We didn't have the same things each time, but there was always too much to carry. If we need a trolley, we need to get whatever we'd brought aboard, unpacked, fitted, stowed, set up or whatever. Then we needed a cup of tea.

Then we sorted out lines, did our checks (cursory in our case), fired up VHF and plotter, started engines, checked exhaust, removed sail cover, attached halyard, untied mainsheet, removed shorepower, decided what technique to get off the pontoon, re-visited method in light of last time's cock-up, and lo' an hour has gone by.

Oh, and if Moby Dick is listening, the extra 5 mins while we remove that extra bow line I didn't notice was still attached while I swore that the engines had lost power since I last used them /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[jonathankent]

I usually spend 20 minutes or so....
- prepare mooring bridles onto port side
- remove solar panels
- connect fuel for outboard, and leave to tickover for a couple of minutes
- switch on gps, vhf & echo/log
- tie tender to mooring
- secure everything in cabin
- put on lifejacket and put out life ring
- remove sail cover and tie ready for hoisting
then its off I go /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

OTOH, it takes at least 45 minutes to put everything back again upon returning /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[SnaxMuppet]

Arrive at boat
- mount outboard on pushpit if taking it with us
- open companionway hatch, stow hatch door
- SWMBO does below decks... I do above

Below Decks
- stow gear
- switch on battery switches and checks battery state
- run bilge pump
- ensure all loose bits are stowed ready for sailing
- ensure all seacocks closed (engine will be opened with engine checks)
- ensure windows/hatches closed
- close cupboard doors
- get relevent charts out
- check Reeds for tides etc
- get drinks/refreshments out and ready
- get lifejackets/gloves/hats/foulies etc out ready to wear
- switch on instruments, radio etc (GPS takes ages to get its position fix!)
- open engine seacock, check engine oil/coolant/belts
- check water tank level, request above deck to fill if low and needed (generally not needed on day sails)
- pass up winch handles above deck

Above Decks
- Disconnect shorepower
- Ready sails for use... attach main halyard etc but sail-tie in place, unzip lazy bag
- Quick general inspection walkaround deck, inspect running and standing rigging for obvious damage
- assess wind/weather/tide ready for departure
- remove instrument/compass covers and pass below to stow
- if requested from below... fill water tank
- ensure as much as I can visually that cockpit instruments are working
- check fuel level and check for water in filter and drain water if necessary (never has been yet!)
- if on passage complete log for journey with tide times, weather, route etc, note engine hours, fuel and water levels

When both ready to go...
- I check below and SWMBO checks above to cross check and to make sure we haven't missed anything (which one or both often do!!!)
- start engine and allow to warm up
- check engine in forward and reverse briefly
- unlock wheel and check full rudder each way
- turn on RADAR but leave in standby
- put on foulies/lifejackets
- have departure briefing so we know what the departure plan is and who will do what... we talk about wind/tide/traffic/who will take what warps, how we will spring if needed etc
- DEPART!

All this takes us about 30 mins from arriving at the boat and again 20-30 mins to put her to bed on our return.

It looks like we have a checklist and are highly organised but it isn't like that really... it is just that when you write it down it can look like that! (I may have even forgotten stuff in the list!!! SWMBO isn't here to check /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif ). We just know what each of us needs to do and we get on with it... the sequence isn't always the same either and that doesn't matter as long as I don't start the engine before I have the OK from below that the engine checks are done (I did it once and the seacock was closed... I have never panicked so much but no damage was done).

It is wierd when you write it down... there seems so much but it doesn't take long.

 

[Lakesailor]

Put on me deck boots (or Crocs in the summer), get the rowlocks and oars from the garage.

Walk across the road and across the field. Launch tender,

row out to boat (20 strokes on a calm day) climb on board. Make tender fast to buoy. Start motor (or hoist sails if the wind is Southerly-ish) and cast off. Probably about 10 minutes.

 

[Cutter]

encourage peeps to use heads ashore!

 

[Evadne]

About three quarters of an hour, twenty minutes of which is getting the dinghy out of the rack and puttering down the creek against the tide. Then it's mains'l cover off, foresails hanked on and lashed to the rail, bags and bedding stuffed into the forepeak, seacocks open, fuel tank drain opened (to let the water out), engine started and we're off. Slightly longer if I need to put a reef in first. SWMBO hoists the sails as soon as the wind is free, or I do it if we're out of the creek and into the main channel.

 

[Gordonmc]

From stopping the car to moving the boat takes less time now I'm on a mooring than it did when I was on a pontoon.
Probably because now if I have forgotten something I have to do without. Previously I would spend time going back ashore to the chandlers, or the heads, or having a blether with neighbours etc. etc.
Now its a case of chucking a kitbag below, opening the engine strainer sea-cock, starting up and off we go. Faffing about making sure the tins of beans are in the right cupboards and getting the sail cover off can be done underway.
"Daylight's burning".

 

[Kilter]

Is that a stealth tender then?

 

[Robin]

We reckon on almost an hour from the car to departing the berth. Pass all the gear on board and trolley needs taking back, lifebuoys & lifesling to rig, all the other locks to come off including the liferaft, wheel cover off, instrument covers off. Then there is the cockpit plotter to mount, the electrics to go on, fridge to load, food and clothes to stow, shorepower lead to come off, offside spring line to remove, fender sheet to come off. SWMBO makes filtered coffee into a pump flask and two thermos mugs which sit in a holder at the wheel. Then sailcover off, lazyjacks raised from along the boom, halyard attached and readied to hoist, winch handles out and ready.

It takes about the same plus 20% lethargic factor to put to bed then another 100% chat to friends factor before the earliest we can leave.

 

[Helina]

It takes appr. 1 hour but SWMBO says it's stricktly private ! /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[LadyInBed]

An hour from boat yard to cast off sounds about right to me.
Launching dingy and trip down the river is about 20 - 30 mins.

 

[Lakesailor]

What tender?
I started by using a green cover, but the caravan park nearby has a rule about using green covers for gardern furniture, barbecues etc, (even the vans have to be green) and my covers kept going missing when I was at that end of the landings field.
I moved on to blue, but could only get either 7ft ones which were too short or 12 ft ones which I had to double and were a nightmare when it was windy. I found this on the internet and it is the perfect size, with the added bonus of being camouflaged. I have actually missed seeing the tender on occasions. It was only about £7.

 

[benjenbav]

You lot are all strictly amateurs! I was doing a bit of boat fixing a few weeks ago and was privileged to see how it should be done by the experts. I will try to describe the process in a step by step guide which will, I hope be helpful:

1 Skipper runs down pontoon

2 Jumps aboard throwing bag of gear into cockpit

3 Starts engine

4 Crew now arrive; undo lines and jump aboard

5 Skipper puts engine in reverse and gives it max revs

6 Boat moves 2 metres and stops

7 One crew member unties the one line overlooked at step 4 whilst second fends off neighbouring boat (into which they have swung); skipper reduces revs

8 Skipper guns engine

9 Boat rockets into fairway. Skipper throws the gear into forward

10 and they're off

I would say 1 minute from start to finish. Would have been less if all lines had been released at the first attempt.

 

[iangrant]

pour beer, and whiskey chaser, turn on engine, cast off
'bout 5 mins i guess.

 

[Boathook]

About an hour from arriving on board. Can be quicker if the crew know where it all goes, as everything is stored below -including the dinghy !

 

[TiggerToo]

What's the hurry? I am rushing around all day all week: the laid back part of sailing starts when I set sight on my pride'n'joy...

 

[Moonshining]

About 12 hours or so. Drive down Friday night, put stuff on boat, go to pub, return, drink rum while sitting in cockpit, go to bed, wake up, get boat ready to go Saturday morning.

 

[joe17]

My best is 30 mins from office desk to motoring out of the marina. Work and boat are less than a mile apart and with the long light summer nights evening sailing is always an option and not much preparation is needed.

Mostly its storing the washboards, taking off the sail covers, connecting the halyards, dropping and starting the outboard, putting on the lifejacket and off we go.

If I havent used the boat for a week or so then it takes longer as I check around a bit more.

Joe.