Telltales

[dale]

Thanks Don

Thanks Don. I agree with you about your neck. Mine is broken after a couple of days on the boat. Looking at the mast head all day can be a real killer. We only have a C-22 but my 60 year neck is not what it used to be. I have even considered buying a wind direction guage from Moore so I would not have to look up as much. Do you have any experance with these? For the time being it is going to be the swivel telltails.Dale

 

[Ross]

I am a cheapskate so I cut a 1 inch wide ribbon from

and plastic bag and tie that to the shroud. Quite often the wind is showing one direction at deck level and quite a different direction at the mast head while we are at anchor.

 

[sailaway78]

I'm cheap too

I'm right there with Ross on this one. I personally like a piece of cassette tape, but I have used plastic trash bags cut into strips. Better than the trash bags, I like the red or orange ties that come in the tops of the trash bags. These are much more visible than the cassette tape. I had a set of the little wind indicators from West Marine, the ones with the little arrows that wrap onto the shroud with a little spring, but I found that they were easily dislodged if you went forward and grabbed the shroud as a handhold. And sometimes moved around with no help.

 

[Don Guillette]

Moore / Plastic Bags

Man, I thought I was cheap but cutting up plastic bags to make telltales is a new one on me!!Here's what I use most of the time - it is the green plastic tape you use to tie up tomato plants. One roll will last the average sailor a lifetime.I'm not familiar with the Moore sytem but I'm not a fan of the electonic wind indicator system. I know a lot of guys that have them and swear by them but I notice they never look up at the sails. In other words they seem to rely on what the instrument is telling them and they try to trim their sails accordingly. I'm just not that good. I need to actually see the wind hitting the sails and then go from there.This is off topic but there is another thing that sailors can use to judge the sailing conditions and that is their FEET. Try to develop a FEEL for the boat. I mean your standing behind the wheel and if your in touch with what your feet and balance are telling you you can detect subtle moves that your boat is making. It's like ZEN and your in touch with the inner spirit of your boat. Next time your out sailing and driving the boat, get the boat going good and just close your eyes and blank out the people around you. Your one with the boat and it is a trip. I may sound weird but try it and you'll see what I'm talking about.

 

[Ross]

Try it Don. Those bags are like gossamer and respond to the slightest breeze

almost every time you go to the boat you get a new one. All you need is a cutting board and a sharp knife. You know those two things you use when you clean a fish?

 

[Rick Webb]

8 Track Tape

Works better than the little cassette tape does

 

[Ross]

On our last sail in the fall the morning sun was shining

on about a thousand strands of spider web streaming from the shrouds. There was almost no wind that morning so they trailed straight back as we motored away from our anchorage.

 

[Joseph Shirley]

Mike, Like Don I like a lot of teltales and

I even have an extra wind vane on my cruising boat on the forward end on my Bow Pulpit. I use Cassette tape in the rigging (Shrouds and Backstay), But I use wool strands through my sails. They are easy to install with a needle and the Starboard and Port should be at different heights so you can always see the shadow of the leeward teltales through the sail even where there is no teltale window.The reason I use wool is that they are much less apt to stick to the sail in the rain. We raced (when I was Racing) in a lot of rain and I suspect you might see your share also. In the rain the tape teltales on the sail are stuck and are useless.

 

[Terry Cox, Passage 42, Belle-Vie]

Looking for advice...

In an earlier post someone suggested that they use the green plastic gardening tape for telltales. Seems like a good idea. I have some, so does anyone have tip as to the best way to attach this material to the sail? I was thinking of using double stick carpet tape.Terry

 

[Don Guillette]

Green Gardening Tape

Terry: I suggested using the gardening tape but some other listers came up with some trick ideas also. Anytime I went sailing on another persons boat I always brought the green tape with me. I fastened them with double sided tape. You would be surprised how many boats I've been on that do not have telltales. I don't know how they trim their sails without them. Actually, I do know - they don't trim them very well. I know what I'm looking for and I need the telltales for that last extra bit I'm trying to get out of the main and jib.The green ties work good on the shrouds also.

 

[Terry Cox, Passage 42, BElle-Vie]

Thanks Don...

Terry