Sometimes that niggly feeling you have before you launch, you know the one, the "is this really a safe move" one, should be trusted. It is your gut telling you not to push things stupidly.
I should have listened to it, that gut feeling! But, with so few opportunities to sail this year, i was keen to get out on the water.
It is amazing how quickly a forecast can change over the course of an hour. In the space it took to rig and launch the wind had increased significantly and had changed direction to easterlies.
And so I found myself clearing Mountbatten breakwater and into a sea of chaos. Not so much the waves but the gusty wind. It came hurtling off the Jennycliffe Bay heights. The further out into the sound I went, the worse it became.
Today I found it difficult to control mizzen and jib. The freaky gusts were just too much and at one point the wind gust was so fierce that I was sure the jib was about to part company with the masthead.
I gave it an hour but sometimes you just have to admit defeat. Sailing is supposed to be fun isn't it?
4 comments:
Did you even realize how close you came to losing your paddle LOL
hey Joel - Yeah, saw it going but knew the front tag was holding it sound but at the time it was getting 'interesting' with the mizzen sail hooked up over the raised outboard as well - a case of priorities :)
I can go straight but have never quite got the hang of tacking under jib and mizzen - always stall head to wind whatever i do. I gybed her several times - thats easy...hairy but easy :)
for what it is worth, someone was out in their drascombe longliner with 4 POB and they saw me and were laughing until they were suddenly hit by one of the squalls which nearly put them over......they contacted me on Facebook to say they followed me back in apparently. They had reefed main and jib and said it was hairy for them too. It wasn't the constant winds so much as the sudden gusts - 35 - 45mph - weren't forecast but my did they prove challenging!
How do you do tacking under jib and mizzen because I'm clearly doing something wrong!!
how are you by the way - you and family all well?
Hi Steve,
Tacking under jib and mizzen is difficult. The best way I've found is to gather as much boat speed as possible, throw the tiller hard over as far as it goes, leave the "wrong" jib sheet sheeted in and let the backed jib help bring the bow around, then switch over to the proper jib sheet once the bow's come around. I rarely try sailing upwind under jib and mizzen. I prefer double-reefed main instead as she goes to windward much better. If that's too much sail I furl the jib too and sail upwind under double-reefed main and mizzen, which is still better than jib and mizzen. By the time I'm forced into using jib and mizzen, I'm sailing a reach or run towards shelter.
hi Joel - thanks for reply and sorry about late response. Been away for a few weeks expeditioning around Iceland and only just got back. Took longer to get through security and baggage to the car park at London Heathrow than it did to check in, fly and land from Reykjavik. The irony of standing in a queue of nearly 2000 people for over forty minutes under a massive neon sign which said Welcome to the Uk....is not lost on me......and we were in the UK, EU, scandanvian, USA, NZ and Aus....queue....the rest of the people in 'overseas' were queueing for a few hours more by all accounts!
Anyway, thats really helpful advice - I need to use double reefed main more than i do. Anyway, sorry about late reply......stuck up the fjords in northern and eastern most iceland and internet connection is a little hit and miss depending on where we were.
I'm literally about to go sort arwen out now so hopefully get an overnight trip out on her this week sometime. Take care, hope you are well and enjoying life and thanks for the tips - again....:)
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