Solo sailing: Dropping Jib
- Thread starter LordNelson
- Start date
Actually, it isn't that much money. If you are concerned about spending 20-30 bucks on your boat for a length of small diameter line and a couple of very small blocks... and a plastic cleat... then brother.... you are in the wrong sport. That's less than you spend on a round of golf and it absolutely solves your problem.
Soft decks are a different thing entirely... and I agree that's a very weighty decision... but a jib down haul is a NO BRAINER to make your sailing safer and more convenient.... plus you can take the gear with you when you get rid of the boat and the new owner won't even know.
Problem is I don't have a traveler. The main is connected to the back stay with a diamond plate. Any way to simulate dropping the traveler all the way. (not sure just what this means)
If I want to keep sailing on main alone - head a little downwind on a reach, main well out, tie the tiller off, and take advantage of blanketing from the main! If it was balanced, when you drop the foresail, the boat will start to round up, but not too far because the main isn't sheeted tightly.
I may be late to the party, but I think your issue is easily solvable. Run a dousing line from hour cockpit to your bow and up the forward stay. It doesn’t have to be a large line since it is just pulling down the sails. Then worst case scenario you run to mast, loosen thebhalyard and get back to cockpit. Anyway, hope this helps.
No problem. I've never had a boat with a roller furler, so a downhaul was a huge upgrade for me! I got the idea for it from the Stingy sailor and had all the parts for it laying around. But if I didn't have fairleads I would have used pieces of PVC like he did.
Perhaps I misunderstand my terminology here. I have a spinnaker with a dousing sock. The line on the sock is the one that I call a dousing line. The line that pulls a sail or a spinnaker pole down is something I call a down haul. I see a dousing line & a down haul as different things. Am I off base?
Yeah, I'm with you. But I think I was mostly wrong and you guys were right. I think I made this comment right after watching a spinnaker video on YT. While there may be an exact definition by some salty sailor here, the most important thing is to make sure everyone on YOUR boat knows what you're referring to. Anything has gotta be better than that white line over there with the red thingys in it.
I'm guessing a downhaul could also refer to your boom vang or your spin pole holdy down thing (see what I did there?). But now we are getting off topic.
No, you're right they are different.
I was thinking that in the context of this conversation where we are discussing a line to pull down the jib they are the same thing.