Joys of Single Handed Sailing

[biorapper]

I single-hand alot...a public boat ramp and a broke

motor can test ones sailing skills. Esp. when powerboaters come flying in front of ya at the last second! Boat momentum and ability to get sails at a 180 to the wind is the key. I try to get just enough boat momentum, let the sails fly loose, then hop off and bring her to a stop gently with the hand rails, or, if I have a bit too much momentum cleat off the aft end with some bumpers up front, and me if i can get there, to assuage the front end swinging to the dock (having a low weight boat helps in this whole process!) Being patient for low traffic and wind condition helps. There's nothing like a broke motor to get your sailing skills sharp! I've been sailing my 26s, until recently, with a broke motor for about a year...I almost feel like I am cheating now when I fire up some combustion.

 

[tom]

Not Much Trouble Finding home

When we were on Dog River I sometimes had a little trouble finding the entrance to the channel...it was a mile or more from shore. If all else failed it was in the GPS. Actually had several waypoints in the GPS as the channel has a couple of turns and lights on shore made the markers hard to spot at night. In Panama city and now at wheeler the landmarks are good and finding the marinas no problem.  My problem is wind and sometimes a current at PC. A tailwind is particularly difficult as I have a lot of starboard propwalk in reverse. A boat is beside me and it's a tight slip. In light or no wind conditions the propwalk can actually help in docking. But in a tight slip with the wind on the port rear quarter using reverse to keep the bow off of the dock causes the stern to swing into the boat beside me. With a crew member I can have them cleat off the port side springline and hand me a sternline and use the lines to keep my boat off of the dock and other boat. Fortunately the wind usually dies near dark on Wheeler lake and the last three or four times I singlehanded docking was without wind.

 

[Tom Monroe]

Everyone always wants to go sailing ...

... until you call them. Reason enough to be good at single handing.Tom

 

[Sailing Cop]

Great Idea for SAILING ALONE

I NEVER sailed before .......But After reading what YOU typed ....Made so much sense ...I printed out for a friend who Does Sail..... and I also laughed a bit ....

 

[Rich]

what is a good bare bones.......GPS hand held

Isail alone most of the time Ive realy only taken the boat MAC26D out three times but have already had some close calls****** I just go out the jeety and out a feww miles and then back to the dock. no big sails in my futcher but aGPS hand held system would be safer .Does any body know what is a good one to start with.??????

 

[Brian D]

Rich...

I use a Garmin GPS12. It is an older model, bare bones, gives me the info that I want and is still supported by Garmin with software updates. My handheld is wired into the boats 12v system and tied into my Simrad WP32 with NMEA data. The handheld sits on my pedestal mount and I keep batteries in it so I can take it below if I have to.Where in Oceanside? I live in O'side and will be there about this time next year with my Lancer 27. I sit at the harbor every Sunday between 10:30 and noon just watching the boats go out. Near the fishing pier, north side.

 

[Ross]

Rich, Garmin 72 works for me. Etrex is good but I

don't know about the waterproof. Those are about as minimum as you can get. Remember a GPS can help you find the entrance to your harbor but only your seamanship will get you in there.