Have a system on my boat where the halyard ropes are fed through a series of two pulleys at the base of the mast and then out through a cleating device into the cockpit. It seems practical enough for say a one man operation but can the main & jib be hoisted & lowered that easily from the cockpit?
Can someone fill me in on how this system works in an actual sailing experience so that I don't look too stupid when I get out on the water. There are two tie off cleats on the mast itself as well but I assume you don't need to use those if the above system is deployed?
Many sailors like halyards led back to the cockpit. I don't. In most cases if my sail slides aren't lubricated, I'll wind up having to be at the mast handling the sail anyway, whether it's pulling the sail all the way down, putting on the sail ties, the cover, or most importantly reefing the Main sail. The O'Day 272s are set up to do all of these chores from the cockpit and that's great for the people who sail them but it's not my cup of tea. I get confused just looking at all the control lines and halyards at the rope clutches on the cabin on each side of the companionway.
Of course there's always the risk of falling overboard while your taking your Jib down or standing at the mast working the halyards but this is all part of being a sailor. At some point in time you're going to need to walk to the bow to drop your anchor or pick up your mooring pendant line so why not get used to working right at the mast? Head her up into the wind and walk up to the mast and raise your Mainsail and cleat it off at the mast. There's an old saying that goes; "Use one hand for the boat and one hand for yourself."
I sail solo most of the time and I have an electronic autopilot which frees me up to do whatever needs to be done.
Having a roller furler is probably the smartest move I've ever made. This is one thing I recommend highly for any sailor who single hands. It's a real work saver.
So the autopilot and the roller furler are a great help to anyone who single hands a sailboat but having halyards led back to the cockpit is not for me.
What you can do is get the sails ready to go up and then point her into the wind and pull your main up first. You can pull your Jib up anytime. Later when you're ready to drop your sail, I would put a lot of slack in the halyard just in case the mainsail doesn't come all the way down. You don't want the halyard to knot up and snag on anything and have to walk back to the cockpit to clear it. This is one of my biggest peeves with halyards led back to the cockpit. If your halyard snags at the mast, at least you're right there to clear it.
I have internal halyards in my mast and my old mast tabernacle had a single sheave on it for my Jib halyard. What a PITA that thing was! Every time I tried to pull my Genoa sail down after releasing the Jib Halyard, that stupid halyard would kink at that sheave and I was for ever having to go back to clear it. The original tabernacle was a piece of cheap junk that was made in France and assembled in the states. I got rid of that tabernacle and had a stainless steel hinge plate installed. The rigger added an exit plate on my mast next to the Main Halyard exit plate for my Jib halyard.
Most roller furlers have the halyard built into them and the Jib halyard is not used. Today, I use my Jib halyard for raising/lowering my mast and sometimes I might haul my Stern's Sunshower up on it and take a shower on the bow of my boat. Otherwise, I really don't use my Jib Halyard much anymore since I've installed the roller furler.
A lot of times I might be motoring up the river with a light wind coming from astern and I raise my Mainsail. The books tell you to head into the wind when you raise the sail but heck you can get away with a lot of things on these small boats. I really don't care if anyone is watching. I do what ever works for me. The only way to gain experience is to get out and use your boat. As far as the knowledge is concerned, you could do what I did and that is go to your local town library and draw out some books on sailing. Also, there's some great Youtubes on the web that you can check out.
