Winter Cruising Question

[Hayden Watson]

...I had to pull my headsail back off and take it back to the sail loft. For some reason whoever altered the sail for a roller furler did so by adding an additional attachment point on the tack at the appropriate height for the new furler drum. My original tack now dangles of the drum and binds up with furling the sail. Sail loft said they had never seen it done that way.

It sounds like your head sail had previously been a hanked on sail or possibly on a racing foil. It makes me wonder if the cringle that you are using for the tack was originally intended to be a reef point for the genoa. Is there a matching cringle on the clew?

 

[colb218]

It sounds like your head sail had previously been a hanked on sail or possibly on a racing foil. It makes me wonder if the cringle that you are using for the tack was originally intended to be a reef point for the genoa. Is there a matching cringle on the clew?

The loft I took it to had a similar thought. I took it off and took it to them and they thought that maybe it was a reef point. When I put it back on the boat I ran the halyard all the way up and there was no way to get the tack over the drum of the furler. When back up at the boat this weekend I zip-tied a long measuring tape to my halyard(with a messenger line as a back up) and ran it all the way up then measured to the roller drum. Hopefully this will solve the mystery!

Of course as I sit here typing this I realize I didn't include the measurement for the upper swivel. Hopefully they can account for that.

 

[colb218]

Great pictures. Sounds like the outing was a lot of fun for all. You packed a lot of experiences into a short cruise. Good for you.

If the wind is not dead on the bow and there are no tidal/current constraints on the passage, I will unfurl my sails as soon as there is a breeze to sail. I figure the best enjoyment of a sail boat is to shut down the auxiliary power.

When the tide stops all motion and we start to slip backwards I figure that is a sign from the Wind gods that it is time to light the Iron Jenny.

It helps to have sails which can handle various wind conditions. An Asymmetrical will give you a sail to sail on a reach or down wind in a light breeze. A jib or a Genoa on a furler gives you flexibility in the amount of sail you open to the wind. While the main is a bit of work to get ready to raise or stow, I figure working the sails is a part of the experience on a sail boat.

Thanks for sharing the experience

Thanks! It was a lot, but also very relaxing. I would have put out the jib had it been set up. When I went out last time we had ~5kts and I enjoyed running downwind for an hour or so. Sunday would have been a beam reach and really enjoyable. Next time!

 

[jssailem]

Get your sails sorted out and sail often.

 

[colb218]

A couple of updates. Headsail is sorted and is wonderful.

Showed up a few weeks ago with plans to quickly put the headsail on and head out for a day sail. Between my two young-ish kiddos and sailboats being sailboats I was quickly reminded that I am not in charge. Fortunately my dock mates came to the rescue and helped my wife and I get the headsail on. The stopper knot on the roller furler also decided it was time to come undone as we were wrapping the sail. Fun! My dock mates helped me avoid a couple of hours of looking at diagrams and frustrations. I was going to abandon the day sail as we had run over my planned departure time by quite a bit, but again my dock mates wouldn't hear of it and damn near shoved use out of our slip.

We are now planning a 3 day trip over spring break in a couple of weeks(4/13-4/15). I plan to head to Friday harbor the first day and spend the night there. I was looking at heading back up to Sucia to cut the trip back basically in half and exploring a fun island. I was looking at Fossil Bay in hopes of potentially finding dock space. With the two kiddos it would be nice to avoid the dinghy trip if possible. I have been researching, but can't get a solid read on the depth of the docks? Is 5.9 ft too much draft to tie up to the dock? If I am reading the tide charts correctly we will probably be in the positive the entire time we are there, though not by much.

 

[Terry Cox]

I have been researching, but can't get a solid read on the depth of the docks? Is 5.9 ft too much draft to tie up to the dock? If I am reading the tide charts correctly we will probably be in the positive the entire time we are there, though not by much.

Depth should be okay at either dock in Fossil Bay with your draft. We draw five feet and have anchored further in than the docks, well past the last mooring ball at low water without worries. All mud /sand anyway. Just part of the experience. Same way in Eagle Harbor at the mooring ball closest to the head at a minus tide. At five feet I can see the bottom with the keel sitting in the mud. Again, no harm.

 

[jssailem]

Which of the C&C 34's do you have. Center Board/Keel? or just Keel.

Sounds like you have some real good dock mates. Good to hear they encouraged you to go out for the sail.

 

[colb218]

Depth should be okay at either dock in Fossil Bay with your draft. We draw five feet and have anchored further in than the docks, well past the last mooring ball at low water without worries. All mud /sand anyway. Just part of the experience. Same way in Eagle Harbor at the mooring ball closest to the head at a minus tide. At five feet I can see the bottom with the keel sitting in the mud. Again, no harm.

perfect! being on the dock would be really nice so hopefully we can snag a spot!

 

[colb218]

Which of the C&C 34's do you have. Center Board/Keel? or just Keel.

Sounds like you have some real good dock mates. Good to hear they encouraged you to go out for the sail.

no center board, standard keel. sailboatdata.com says 5.9 draft and I typically assume 6+ js needed.

 

[jssailem]

Timing is everthing. Like the:

"Last sip of the Tequila bottle gets the worm"...

"The Early bird gets the worm"...

When it comes to dock space, "the Early boater gets the dock space."