This is my first post so please forgive any mistakes. I own a 1982 catalina 27. This my first boat and despite numerous learning experiences with it (i.e. mistakes), it has been a good sailor and great fun. However, I am 58 years old with arthritic knees with a spouse who is a reluctant and anxious sailor. She hates it when I go forward to raise the main leaving her in the cockpit alone, and although I am still fairly limber, my knees get worse each year. For reasons of domestic tranquillity, health and safety, I would like to be able to raise the main from the cockpit. My boat has midboom sheeting, with a curved traveller which rests on teak blocks at either end of the companionway. The companionway is wide and there is a raised cabin top with teek handrails down either side of the cabintop. As a result there is little space to run lines down the sides of the cabintop, and the lines have to go through the teek risers. I also have a 150 genoa with roller furling. I would love your advice on how to set up the boat in a way that will be efficient and cost effective. I also do want a system that sounds good but makes things worse. I would consider doing some diy if feasible. I see 4 options in ascending order of expense and difficulty. 1. I do nothing and just live with what I have. When my knees really do get bad, I just buy another boat or sail with a young crew or sail with the genoa only. If it anin't broke... 2. I just run the halyard back next to the mainsheet and put a hole in the riser to get the line to the starboard winch (the only winch on the cabin top). The obvious problem is that this would leave the reef lines at the mast. I would note that I have owned the boat for 3 seasons and have never had occasion to reef the sail. I assume that that would not last forever, although all of my sailing is in the mid chesapeake and mostly in the summer. 3. I could run the halyard back and then set up single line reefing. That would allow me to bring just 2 reef lines back to the cockpit, probably on the port side. However, would I need to install a second winch on that side? I know that many people do not like single line reefing, but it seeems to work for others. 4. I could run the halyard and 4 reef lines back. This would probably require me to get rid of the teek risers and put the traveller on metal risers (Garhauer offers such a system.) This might be the best solution, but probably the most expensive. I have purchased a rigid boom vang although I have not installed it as yet so I am not worried about bringing the topping lift back. I do not have a cunningham. I would appreciate any advice that any of you can give me. I woud be delighted to entertain any additional options.
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Reefing
Steve, I have a Cat27, but with end-boom sheeting. All my lines (main, jib & spin halyards, 2 single-line reefs, main & jib downhauls) come aft to the cockpit. I don't have photos to post or direct you to that would show what I did 12 years ago when I re-rigged it all, but it all works very well. I have a stainless plate under the mast that all the turning blocks for all lines coming down the mast attach to. The lines then go horizontally outboard to turning blocks that turn them aft to sheetstoppers on the cabintop just forward of the cockpit. The main & jib halyards both come down the portside to the one winch I have on cabintop. The reeflines come down the stbd side - no winches, as they aren't necessary in most cases. If they are, I run the reef lines back to the primary jib winches and haul in. The downhauls are small 3/16" line, used only to corral the sails on the deck when I drop them. (They attach to the halyard shackles and run down the luff of the sail. They also prevent losing a halyard up the mast if a headboard shackle comes adrift.) The downhauls bring the sails down, and keep them on the deck (jib) or boom (main), in concert with the lazyjacks on the main. Once we leave the dock, there is almost never any need to go forward until we return to the dock. (Going fwd would be a pain, as I have a dodger to climb over.) As I said, there is really almost never any reason to use a winch on the single-line reef lines. If there is, use the cockpit winches. Oh, and since there are so many 90 degree turns in this setup, be sure to reduce friction as much as possible, like using blocks seized to the cringles as the 180-degree turning point in the luff for the main's reefpoints. I spent about a month sitting in my "thinking chair" on the dock, and drawing pictures before I dropped the mast and did this and the re-wiring in '93. Wish I had some photos and a webpage to show you.
Steve, I have a Cat27, but with end-boom sheeting. All my lines (main, jib & spin halyards, 2 single-line reefs, main & jib downhauls) come aft to the cockpit. I don't have photos to post or direct you to that would show what I did 12 years ago when I re-rigged it all, but it all works very well. I have a stainless plate under the mast that all the turning blocks for all lines coming down the mast attach to. The lines then go horizontally outboard to turning blocks that turn them aft to sheetstoppers on the cabintop just forward of the cockpit. The main & jib halyards both come down the portside to the one winch I have on cabintop. The reeflines come down the stbd side - no winches, as they aren't necessary in most cases. If they are, I run the reef lines back to the primary jib winches and haul in. The downhauls are small 3/16" line, used only to corral the sails on the deck when I drop them. (They attach to the halyard shackles and run down the luff of the sail. They also prevent losing a halyard up the mast if a headboard shackle comes adrift.) The downhauls bring the sails down, and keep them on the deck (jib) or boom (main), in concert with the lazyjacks on the main. Once we leave the dock, there is almost never any need to go forward until we return to the dock. (Going fwd would be a pain, as I have a dodger to climb over.) As I said, there is really almost never any reason to use a winch on the single-line reef lines. If there is, use the cockpit winches. Oh, and since there are so many 90 degree turns in this setup, be sure to reduce friction as much as possible, like using blocks seized to the cringles as the 180-degree turning point in the luff for the main's reefpoints. I spent about a month sitting in my "thinking chair" on the dock, and drawing pictures before I dropped the mast and did this and the re-wiring in '93. Wish I had some photos and a webpage to show you.
Tough question
I also have a "spouse who is a reluctant and anxious sailor". She wrote the cheque for roller furling to get me off the foredeck. I'm in my 50's too and not as spry as I once was. I've lead lines aft on small boats like the 27 (for customers) and I'm not a big fan of the practice. It can me made to work, but it adds a huge amount of line to the cockpit. Things to think about; What controls the sail when you drop it? Lazy jacks? How do let the lazy jacks off to hoist from the cockpit? In the space on each side of the hatch how are you going to find room for Halyard, reef lines, vang, lazy jacks or topping lift? How many rope clutches will you need 3? 5? Extra winch or winches? Room to swing a winch handle? Blocks at the mast butt? Trips up the mast to install lazy jacks? One solution I've seen is to mount a winch on the hatch and rope clutches on the sea hood. The side of the hatch gets drilled for locating pins to lock it in position so you can stand in the companionway to work the winch and reach the clutches. This allows the lines from the mast to lead straight back eliminating the need for turning blocks on the deck. I'd look at making trips to the mast easier/safer before I'd buy all the hardware to lead everything aft. I always wear a PFD with safety harness. A short tether and a pad eye on the mast keeps me secure when I'm out of the cockpit. A line from the shroud aft to the life-line stanchion at the forward end of the cockpit just below boom level would provide a nice handhold for trips to the mast. Have you and your wife taking a sailing/cruising course? Maybe she would be less anxious if she had more knowledge. She might turn into a good deck hand.
I also have a "spouse who is a reluctant and anxious sailor". She wrote the cheque for roller furling to get me off the foredeck. I'm in my 50's too and not as spry as I once was. I've lead lines aft on small boats like the 27 (for customers) and I'm not a big fan of the practice. It can me made to work, but it adds a huge amount of line to the cockpit. Things to think about; What controls the sail when you drop it? Lazy jacks? How do let the lazy jacks off to hoist from the cockpit? In the space on each side of the hatch how are you going to find room for Halyard, reef lines, vang, lazy jacks or topping lift? How many rope clutches will you need 3? 5? Extra winch or winches? Room to swing a winch handle? Blocks at the mast butt? Trips up the mast to install lazy jacks? One solution I've seen is to mount a winch on the hatch and rope clutches on the sea hood. The side of the hatch gets drilled for locating pins to lock it in position so you can stand in the companionway to work the winch and reach the clutches. This allows the lines from the mast to lead straight back eliminating the need for turning blocks on the deck. I'd look at making trips to the mast easier/safer before I'd buy all the hardware to lead everything aft. I always wear a PFD with safety harness. A short tether and a pad eye on the mast keeps me secure when I'm out of the cockpit. A line from the shroud aft to the life-line stanchion at the forward end of the cockpit just below boom level would provide a nice handhold for trips to the mast. Have you and your wife taking a sailing/cruising course? Maybe she would be less anxious if she had more knowledge. She might turn into a good deck hand.
thnaks
Thank you both for your comments and for taking the time to respond. My wife has attended sailing classes and has simply decided that it is not somehting she particularly enjoys. Fortunately, she is very supportive of my doing it. Moody, does taking the lines across the cabintop work well? I would have thought that it was not sturdy enough, particularly if you put a winch on it. On the other hand it would solve the problem of excessive friction. I agree that bringing lines back creates a lot of clutter in the cockpit if one is not careful, and I like your ideas about making the trip forward safer. Peter, did you remove the teek risers or the handrail? If not, how could you fit all of the fittings between the handrail and the cabintop and get them through the risers? Finally, I think that I will find myself a thinking chair by the dock and spend the winter thinking about things.
Thank you both for your comments and for taking the time to respond. My wife has attended sailing classes and has simply decided that it is not somehting she particularly enjoys. Fortunately, she is very supportive of my doing it. Moody, does taking the lines across the cabintop work well? I would have thought that it was not sturdy enough, particularly if you put a winch on it. On the other hand it would solve the problem of excessive friction. I agree that bringing lines back creates a lot of clutter in the cockpit if one is not careful, and I like your ideas about making the trip forward safer. Peter, did you remove the teek risers or the handrail? If not, how could you fit all of the fittings between the handrail and the cabintop and get them through the risers? Finally, I think that I will find myself a thinking chair by the dock and spend the winter thinking about things.
Risers and Handrail
Quick comment - I was looking at a picture of my previous boat - a 1986 C27, and it was pretty clear that the lines (in this case, two on each side) ran parallel to the handrail, and between the handrail and the teak riser. The clutches - two on port for twin jib halyards, and one on starboard for the main halyard (mainsheet on starboard side was not on a clutch) set ahead of the riser. Tim Brogan April IV C350 #68 (ex Imamorata C27 #6111) Seattle
Quick comment - I was looking at a picture of my previous boat - a 1986 C27, and it was pretty clear that the lines (in this case, two on each side) ran parallel to the handrail, and between the handrail and the teak riser. The clutches - two on port for twin jib halyards, and one on starboard for the main halyard (mainsheet on starboard side was not on a clutch) set ahead of the riser. Tim Brogan April IV C350 #68 (ex Imamorata C27 #6111) Seattle
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