Thurs night my son and I went out on the bay for after work ride. W I nds had been sy up on Wed but supposed to be less on Thurs. I expected to find dropping CV winds during the evening . While getting ready to launch,I thought briefly about reefing but then decided against it, son is less concerned about windy conditions than the Admiral,thought we would have fun in high winds. Well, shorten the long story, headed to Annapolis at O dark thirty tomorrow to drop the main in North Sails Dropbox to get 4 new plastic slugs installed to replace ones broken in less than 10 minutes of flogging in heavy wind while fighting with gusts.
Lesson learned the hard way
- Thread starter DAVA390
- Start date
Winds on the East coast have been blustery lately. Our anemometer showed as much as 34 knots out racing on Wednesday evening. We were glad to have reefed the main before the start, but were still overpowered a good bit of the time. Nothing I know of got broken, but this weekend looks like more of the same. We may want to bend on a smaller jib and keep the decks drier. 10 knots downwind with just a genoa and reefed main is fun, though.
Got to sail every day of the week this past week. Typical was 15 to 20 with gust to 30 on BB. Great challenge but did require reefing, even if we thought we could get away with full sails during lulls. Lulls were just that, lulls between stronger gusts.
So instead of sending the sails off, why not do a little research and learn how to replace them yourself. Admittedly, I have not had to do it yet, but I certainly would learn this skill, just like I learned to splice lines. It would be nice to know and save you both time and $$.
Sorry to be blunt on a Friday evening I've had too many margaritas, and like to do my own work.
Either way I'm sure it was a lot of fun and the wind always makes things interesting.
Fair winds,
Sorry to be blunt on a Friday evening I've had too many margaritas, and like to do my own work.
Either way I'm sure it was a lot of fun and the wind always makes things interesting.
Fair winds,
No need for apologies. I do a lot,( if not most) of my own work but don't have time for this one.Working full time and me and my wife dealing with family and elderly parents place limits on our water time. Delt with North before,quick turnaround is a certainty. Also, a chance to get the Admiral out to a breakfast stop in Annapolis before we split up for most of the day to deal with our parents!
Hate those plastic slugs. The sun here in Fl. is murder on them. Always have to carry spares as I never know when one, or more, is going to snap. Thankfully, they're easy to replace.
Yeah, I learned to carry spares at the very same moment I learned not to attempt reefing on a run. 
LOL
LOL
jssailem
SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
- Oct 22, 2014
- 24,539
That is reason enough. Visited Annapolis in February. Great eating. Mike's Crab shack was still in business. Had some tasty eats.
I used a couple of sail lofts geared to cruising sailor vs racing and got great results in a reasonable time and fair price. In the loft it looked good. Now that the mast is up after restoration will be trying out the sails in a couple weeks.
does Harken make a Batt Car that will fit your mast? they are a lot more durable than the Harken slugs...
The plastic slugs break easily. I have 2 that need to be replaced now. My spares are stronger so the plastic slugs are gradually being replaced. I've been re-using the webbing without any problems.
Plastic sail slugs - A good reason to always reef early. We were out in those conditions and with a first reef in the main and the Genoa rolled to 110 we were passing the white knuckle sailors dragging their rudder sideways and heeled to 45 deg!
one consolation is, you have learned well.... because the most thorough way to learn something and remember it, is the by learning it the hard way... it usually explains the problem and everything associated with it very quickly and efficiently, albeit more expensively than if one learned thru others mistakes and anecdotes.
so dont feel too bad, cuz the "hard way" seems to be the normal learning process for most people to get a grasp of the urgency to do whats needed, when its needed.... and 4 sail slugs is comparatively cheap, to a ripped out sail or worse..
and remember, with a smile... if you dont learn something everyday, it was a wasted day....
so dont feel too bad, cuz the "hard way" seems to be the normal learning process for most people to get a grasp of the urgency to do whats needed, when its needed.... and 4 sail slugs is comparatively cheap, to a ripped out sail or worse..
and remember, with a smile... if you dont learn something everyday, it was a wasted day
....