I purchased my first c-22.(YEAH!!!) Part of my plan is to sail solo and part time with my wife. First can anyone tell me a good way to step the mast by my self. I was thinking of making a ginpole and putting an extra sheet winch on the trailer? I guess the real question is what thngs can I do that will make it easy for me to sail solo or with inexperienced crew? I already plan to lead all halyards to the cockpit. And what about foller ferling? Is there a good inexpensive way to roll up the head sail? Thanks to all of you who gave me advise. Itink iI got a good deal on my boat.
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sailing solo
Art, my c22 came prepped by the previous owner for single handing. The roller furling is a major plus as is the tiller tamer. It wont keep you on course for extended periods of time, but it is just enough to keep you up into the wind when lowering or raising sails. I also have the main halyard led to the cockpit so i dont have to leave forward unless i have a snag or forget to take the forward most sail tie off before leaving the dock ( which i usually forget....). I also have lazy jacks on my boat again, very helpful, but they need to be adjusted, they were installed with the mast attachment too high on the mast and i have a problem with them catching on thespreaders when running down wind. Self tailing winches for the jib are also a major help. As for stepping the mast, I dont have any information on that, I keep my boat in a marina all summer and the yard does the prep for me. Enjoy your boat, we have 2 seasons under our belt on ours with our 3 girls and we love it! jeff.
Art, my c22 came prepped by the previous owner for single handing. The roller furling is a major plus as is the tiller tamer. It wont keep you on course for extended periods of time, but it is just enough to keep you up into the wind when lowering or raising sails. I also have the main halyard led to the cockpit so i dont have to leave forward unless i have a snag or forget to take the forward most sail tie off before leaving the dock ( which i usually forget....). I also have lazy jacks on my boat again, very helpful, but they need to be adjusted, they were installed with the mast attachment too high on the mast and i have a problem with them catching on thespreaders when running down wind. Self tailing winches for the jib are also a major help. As for stepping the mast, I dont have any information on that, I keep my boat in a marina all summer and the yard does the prep for me. Enjoy your boat, we have 2 seasons under our belt on ours with our 3 girls and we love it! jeff.
some thoughts....
You can build a small teepee with a block at the top that can be used to step the mast by yourself. Leave your halyards at the mast. It will just make setup & breakdown a pain in the a**. This is time better spent sailing. Schaefer Marine makes a furler that is perfectly suited to your situation. It is called a Snapfurl. Your headstay length is 25.83 feet so fitting it would be a breeze.
You can build a small teepee with a block at the top that can be used to step the mast by yourself. Leave your halyards at the mast. It will just make setup & breakdown a pain in the a**. This is time better spent sailing. Schaefer Marine makes a furler that is perfectly suited to your situation. It is called a Snapfurl. Your headstay length is 25.83 feet so fitting it would be a breeze.
Attachments
Singlehanded Sailing
I singlehand sail my C25 the vast majority of the time, and I can say, for me anyway, that both roller furling and an autopilot are the way to go. My last boat didn't have either, but my C25 I bought last year now has both. With these two items, sailing is far, far easier and it has increased my sailing time three to fourfold, and increased my sailing pleasure tenfold!
I singlehand sail my C25 the vast majority of the time, and I can say, for me anyway, that both roller furling and an autopilot are the way to go. My last boat didn't have either, but my C25 I bought last year now has both. With these two items, sailing is far, far easier and it has increased my sailing time three to fourfold, and increased my sailing pleasure tenfold!
A couple of thoughts on reading your message
Ahoy Jeff, First...congrats on the C-22. It's a great boat Second, roller furling...don't leave home without it. Some swear at it....I swear by it. Third....I don't want to draw judgement, but it sounds as if you are a novice. Learn to walk before you run. Ie, learn to sail the beast with all the help you can. After you've done that, you won't have to ask the questions you are asking on how do I sail solo? Incidently, I find things like lowering the sails solo one of the hardest things to do. That and docking on a windy day. Good Luck, Brad on the Willy T
Ahoy Jeff, First...congrats on the C-22. It's a great boat Second, roller furling...don't leave home without it. Some swear at it....I swear by it. Third....I don't want to draw judgement, but it sounds as if you are a novice. Learn to walk before you run. Ie, learn to sail the beast with all the help you can. After you've done that, you won't have to ask the questions you are asking on how do I sail solo? Incidently, I find things like lowering the sails solo one of the hardest things to do. That and docking on a windy day. Good Luck, Brad on the Willy T
Single-handing
Learn to sail the boat with crew first. Practice sailing with only main, only genoa, only jib, etc. Learn to heave-to. Learn to reef the main. Practice man-overboard retrieval. I single-hand almost all the time, but I gathered some confidence with these drills first. And, it's roller furling, not 'ferling'.
Learn to sail the boat with crew first. Practice sailing with only main, only genoa, only jib, etc. Learn to heave-to. Learn to reef the main. Practice man-overboard retrieval. I single-hand almost all the time, but I gathered some confidence with these drills first. And, it's roller furling, not 'ferling'.
Roller furling not required
A few notes: I sail with hanked on headsails (150 and 110). I do not find this to be a handicap, in fact I prefer it. I agree that one of the most important skills to learn is to heave to. If things get hairy or you just need to let things settle down for a few minutes it is very comforting to know. Learning to reduce sail alone is another thing that you should know soon. BTW: I find it very easy to reef the main while hove to. In addition to a tiller tamer and leading the halyards aft, a downhaul on the jib is a must IMO. The C22 is a very forgiving boat to sail. When I started, I took a two day dinghy (JY 14) class then sailed a Rebel (15' sloop) for a summer. My first time aboard the 22 was the singlehand 35 mile sail home. It was a rainy, windy, cold March day. Am I nuts or what? Any way I was amazed how much easier she was to sail than the Rebel. It is a good idea to sail with experienced crew aboard at first if you can, but I don't see any reason not to sail single hand pretty early in your career. Just be careful in picking the day at first. The real key to learning is to sail a lot. Classes are a good idea, but nothing makes you improve like time in the boat. If there is a spouse that is at all "squeemish" about sailing, I recommend waiting until you exude confidence before you take her out sailing. Otherwise you might scare her off. This doesn't apply if she is gung ho and very interested. In that case learn along with her taking turns at the helm.
A few notes: I sail with hanked on headsails (150 and 110). I do not find this to be a handicap, in fact I prefer it. I agree that one of the most important skills to learn is to heave to. If things get hairy or you just need to let things settle down for a few minutes it is very comforting to know. Learning to reduce sail alone is another thing that you should know soon. BTW: I find it very easy to reef the main while hove to. In addition to a tiller tamer and leading the halyards aft, a downhaul on the jib is a must IMO. The C22 is a very forgiving boat to sail. When I started, I took a two day dinghy (JY 14) class then sailed a Rebel (15' sloop) for a summer. My first time aboard the 22 was the singlehand 35 mile sail home. It was a rainy, windy, cold March day. Am I nuts or what? Any way I was amazed how much easier she was to sail than the Rebel. It is a good idea to sail with experienced crew aboard at first if you can, but I don't see any reason not to sail single hand pretty early in your career. Just be careful in picking the day at first. The real key to learning is to sail a lot. Classes are a good idea, but nothing makes you improve like time in the boat. If there is a spouse that is at all "squeemish" about sailing, I recommend waiting until you exude confidence before you take her out sailing. Otherwise you might scare her off. This doesn't apply if she is gung ho and very interested. In that case learn along with her taking turns at the helm.
Trailering
If you do not keep this boat in the water like the rest of these sailors, keep it simple. Roller furling would be the last item I would add, doubles the weight for stepping the mast and the additional problems of hooking to the bow by yourself, could take more than two men and a boy. After you run your halyards to the cockpit, add a downhaul for your headsail. Keep this downhaul close to the headsail halyard, you have to work both lines at the same time.
If you do not keep this boat in the water like the rest of these sailors, keep it simple. Roller furling would be the last item I would add, doubles the weight for stepping the mast and the additional problems of hooking to the bow by yourself, could take more than two men and a boy. After you run your halyards to the cockpit, add a downhaul for your headsail. Keep this downhaul close to the headsail halyard, you have to work both lines at the same time.
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