Dog gone it, I hate when that happens.
Me and my regular sailing buddies were out for our regular Wednesday evening sail. Low 80s, wind blowing from the SW 15 gusting to low 20s. Single reef, 100 on the forestay. Shoreline with lots of trees running North to South less than half a mile to the west. My favorite area to sail; no waves and the trees blocking the wind. Need more wind just sail out, too much then move closer to shore. There was a storm line out to the west heading NE. Shouldn't bother us.
Anyhow, we were on a close reach headed South. Boat's gurgling along, light weather helm, air's soft and the beer's cold. Jerry and I look at each other. Yep, another cheatin' night- that's when everything is going so sweet and feels so good that you're almost feeling guilty, kind of like you're cheating on your wife. There's a shallow area ahead so we go down to a broad reach and do a slow gibe and start to head back north for another run.
Another gust but this one's different. It ain't letting up. In fact, it just keeps on building. Next thing we know we're broadside to the wind, on our ear, can't get the bow to windward. Must of been easily blowing 40. We get the jib down and off of the deck, and start on the main when the to 5 sail slides snap off.
Main's no good now. Fire up the Merc and head for home.
Better here than out on the Lake.
The point of this being that I've replaced and checked just about everything on this old boat. I didn't mention that this is the original main and it looked pretty good. Not blown out even though it was pretty soft. From what I found on this boat, I don't think the previous owners used it or stressed it out too much. Inland lake, probably spent a lot of time at the dock and on the hook, bimini top, not much in the way of sail controls, no compass, no radio. Heck, there's three double 110 outlets in the cabin, for crying out loud.
But I didn't look at the sail slides. Half of them I can now see had been replaced and the ones that broke that night were the originals and lighter in construction than the newer ones.
Check everything. I never had one break before. Then again, I've never had a boat this old before.
Luckily, this is a slow time for the sailmakers and you can get some good discounts on new sails. Should have the main back by Tuesday morning with new slides and a new metal headboard. The old one was plastic and all but shattered when the slides gave way. O'day factory sails.
You know, the boat didn't point that well, but I figured that it was just the boat. Now I'm thinking that the main wasn't up to snuff, being old and all. If I can get a good enough discount I might just have me a new main in a week or two. I usually don't put my boat away 'til late October anyhow, and shoot, I got all winter to pay it off.
Rich
Me and my regular sailing buddies were out for our regular Wednesday evening sail. Low 80s, wind blowing from the SW 15 gusting to low 20s. Single reef, 100 on the forestay. Shoreline with lots of trees running North to South less than half a mile to the west. My favorite area to sail; no waves and the trees blocking the wind. Need more wind just sail out, too much then move closer to shore. There was a storm line out to the west heading NE. Shouldn't bother us.
Anyhow, we were on a close reach headed South. Boat's gurgling along, light weather helm, air's soft and the beer's cold. Jerry and I look at each other. Yep, another cheatin' night- that's when everything is going so sweet and feels so good that you're almost feeling guilty, kind of like you're cheating on your wife. There's a shallow area ahead so we go down to a broad reach and do a slow gibe and start to head back north for another run.
Another gust but this one's different. It ain't letting up. In fact, it just keeps on building. Next thing we know we're broadside to the wind, on our ear, can't get the bow to windward. Must of been easily blowing 40. We get the jib down and off of the deck, and start on the main when the to 5 sail slides snap off.
Main's no good now. Fire up the Merc and head for home.
Better here than out on the Lake.
The point of this being that I've replaced and checked just about everything on this old boat. I didn't mention that this is the original main and it looked pretty good. Not blown out even though it was pretty soft. From what I found on this boat, I don't think the previous owners used it or stressed it out too much. Inland lake, probably spent a lot of time at the dock and on the hook, bimini top, not much in the way of sail controls, no compass, no radio. Heck, there's three double 110 outlets in the cabin, for crying out loud.
But I didn't look at the sail slides. Half of them I can now see had been replaced and the ones that broke that night were the originals and lighter in construction than the newer ones.
Check everything. I never had one break before. Then again, I've never had a boat this old before.
Luckily, this is a slow time for the sailmakers and you can get some good discounts on new sails. Should have the main back by Tuesday morning with new slides and a new metal headboard. The old one was plastic and all but shattered when the slides gave way. O'day factory sails.
You know, the boat didn't point that well, but I figured that it was just the boat. Now I'm thinking that the main wasn't up to snuff, being old and all. If I can get a good enough discount I might just have me a new main in a week or two. I usually don't put my boat away 'til late October anyhow, and shoot, I got all winter to pay it off.
Rich
