Heave to....

[Kunzig]

Yesterday, coming out of the inlet the winds were 5mph more than forecasted. And from the Northeast that meant reaching to the Northwest, to nowhere and back to be comfortable.

To the east of the inlet there is Lewes Beach, that is delightful to follow with your eyes and continuing in that direction for another 5 miles around the point is the ocean. The preferred direction to sail.

I had read about Heaving to and had done it once so I showed it to my wife - I told her many do this for the peace of cooking below without worrying about a gust or whatever. It gave us time to think, we were luffing or heeling to excess otherwise.

Then I thought, "Rob you just rigged all the reef lines - Use Them!" so I released the halyard and stood on the two bunks and reached up and pulled the main down to the second reef. I tied off the reefs - the first, most forward of which, should be aft of the boom kicker mount which would have taken a vertical kink out of the now small main. It wasn't very pretty but was delightful. I also furled about a foot of the foresail and off we went for the next 3.5 hours, just like it was blowing 6 to 12 mph when in fact it was 15 to 22! Pointing was bliss and my guesstamate is we were making 4 to 5 knots.

Question, what knot would you use to tie off the reefs at the bottom of the boom? I was working on a square but with all the movement and only one eye it was tough so I ended up with two half hitches and then did a figure eight at the bottom so the hitches wouldn't slide off.

Fun and games. It is nice not to be too limited by the weather!
Rob

 

[NewportNewsMike]

Question, what knot would you use to tie off the reefs at the bottom of the boom? I was working on a square.........

I think you were on the right track. I have always used a square knot for this purpose. Actually, another name for the "square" knot is the "reef" knot.

Another thing to keep in mind when tying off all that extra sail with square knots: I was always taught that the gathering up / rolling the extra reefed sail and tying to the boom was to "neaten up" or get it out of the way. Those two pieces of line around the boom are not supposed to be taking any strain from the sail, but are there simply to hold the sail in place.

Others may be along later with other thoughts, which I think is great, because this is how I learn from the great collected knowledge of this group.

 

[Curt]

Hey Rob,

I don't know what the "correct" method is but for years I have used a simple bow tie, just like you would for your shoes. My reasoning is that it is a simple knot to tie, stays tied under the load and simple to release with one hand.

I have seen reef lines installed with a fixed loop on one side of the sail and line just hanging down the opposite side. I would think this option would allow you to quickly tie off the reef as you secure your sail with a sail tie.

Sailing on Lake Erie can change from a lazy cruise on flat water to a crazy big wind / big wave ride in the span of a couple of hours time. Reefing is an essential skill on our shallow great lake.

Cheers,
Curt

 

[Rightbrainer]

I reef all the time and use what the knot books would call a 'double-slippery reef knot' or shoe-tying knot. I had a second reef installed on my main and some reinforcing patches put on my RF jib so I could reef that as well. Just waiting for the right day to try it all out.

To make my life easy, I have marked the halyard with a sharpie at the spots where I need to lower it to hook the respective reefing tack cringle on the rams horns. After I re-tension the halyard,I tighten the appropriate reef out-haul and sail away. After we get things settled down, I tidy up the bottom of the main with the reef points. Newport News Mike is right that all the forces should be on the reefing tack and out-haul. The reef points are just to keep her looking pretty and not necessary at all.

I have pretty lousy luck trying to get my boat to behave when I heave to. The bow blows around and I wind up with a crash gybe, which is sort of antithetical to the whole idea of heaving to. Any suggestions out there?

 

[Kunzig]

With the jib crossed over the mast, I just let my boom out to a reach setting (end of boom just over the gunwale) and let go of the tiller. Outside of the sideslip movement, in a 1.5 foot chop she handled well. A great way to take a break and get things below and what not, when single handling.

 

[sinnettc]

First reef I tend to use ball bungies. Second reef hasn't been tried yet. but I'd use a reef/square knot.

 

[NewportNewsMike]

Another thought on reefing.....

Another thing to keep in mind when we are talking reefing in a Capri 22 is the different rig sizes.

When you folks with a tall rig reef for the first time, you are getting down to about the main sail size that I start out with (non-reefed) on my standard rig.

After I reef my standard rig, I have never had the feeling that I needed a second set of reef points for additional reefing (not yet anyway).
My thinking is that with a tall rig I would definitely want that second set of reef points to be able to get to less main sail area.

Do all you tall rig folks have the second set of reef points?

 

[Kunzig]

Yes, I went to my second, higher, set. Can't speak for the rest but it would make sense?? Rob

 

[sinnettc]

I had to have the second set of reef points put in the racing main this spring. Pretty sure the factory main only has one set too. The only reason I keep it is because it gives me a spare if something happens to the good main. Otherwise it would be getting turned into landsailer sails.

 

[Rightbrainer]

Yes, I just had a second set installed on my TR main over the past winter. Bungie cords on the first reef points sounds like a good idea. That tall rig is really tender.

 

[Chris Capri 22]

I have one reef on my tall rig but my main is a custom hybrid between a std and TR. I had this done to get my boom up and out of the cockpit. I think it's important to note that the condition of the mainsail also plays a role in how many reef points may be necessary. A nice new crisp main can be flattened to the point where reefing will not be required over an older more worn sail with a lot of camber that cannot be removed. If you have a sail like this even a double reef may not be enough in really high winds and could be a false sense of security.