How much experience is enough?

[Captain Smollett]

That said, being conservative in reefing/sail area is always good IMHO, especially single- or shorthanded.

Question:

How many folks here take in an EXTRA reef at night as a matter of "Standard Procedure?"  I've heard of people doing/recommending this, and just wondered who here practiced this particular 'conservative' approach.

I don't do this (and have not done this) as a matter of SOP...but would look at each night watch separately.  I do think it is a good idea to plan sail changes, when possible, at the watch change so both watch standers are awake and on deck.  This we do - again, when possible.

This might mean taking in a preemptive reef quite a bit before (and if) things deteriorate...but if it looks good for the next watch (we typically run 4 hour watches aboard Gaelic Sea), we might just leave it til the next watch change.

By the way, welcome aboard and good sailing post grog for Phil...

[maxiSwede]

If we fly the chute, we usually douse it at nightfall (exception if we wouldn't move at all without it) When th winds pick up we do want to be both awake and active to douse it even if it's in a sock.
This goes for the assymetrical in a sock but the drifter albeit smaller area, is at least as much 'hassle' to get down.

Otherwise if the conditions makes it likely we could need to take a reef, we mostly do before dark aswell. It costs a fraction of a knot, often no loss of speed at all, and it's always easier to shake a reef out if needed.

The above goes for when w have reason to expect squalls too of course.

As for taking reefs and shaking them out (and headsail changes) I tend to do it on my own when on watch (out of habit if nothing else) but Isabelle wakes me if needed when she's on watch.

Interested to hear how other cruising couples does... ???

[CharlieJ]

That said, being conservative in reefing/sail area is always good IMHO, especially single- or shorthanded.

Question:

How many folks here take in an EXTRA reef at night as a matter of "Standard Procedure?"  I've heard of people doing/recommending this, and just wondered who here practiced this particular 'conservative' approach.

I have done the reef at night thing on several occasions. Depends on where we are anchored, and what the weather looks like. If in a very well protected spot, and/or if the weather is good, we don't bother.

If anchored in an open anchorage, and iffy weather, then I will sometimes tie in the reef before dark. It's not a bad idea, and I THINK I originally read about in in a Hiscock book.

One thing for certain- we leave the sailcovers OFF while at anchor for overnight, so we can get under way more easily if needed.

[phil416]

What a great resource for the sailor contemplating a blue water cruise, I wish I had logged in here before I left.
     I always reefed the main before going to sleep, and set the proper foresail, never the drifter.  The one time I did not the wind kicked up and tore the goose neck track from the mast.  The repair took 12 hours.  The new srategy that emerged was to brew a pot of tea at sundown, assuring that I would awake periodically.  Deep Blue now rests in Solomons Md. undergoing refit for her next adventure.  From the Azores, it was off to Portugal, Madiera, Canaries, Cap Verde, Grenada, isla Mujeres, Ft. Myers Fl. and the ICW back to the Chesapeake.  When I had crew more sail was carried as help was always available.  When I departed Norfolk, the average time to reef my main was 1.5 hours. An inexscusable failure to practice.  Constant improvement to the system and practice reduced that to less than 5 minutes. Hopefully a valuable lesson to others contemplating such an adventure.  Highlighting our errors can be invaluable to those planning to cast their lines.   Fair winds Phil

[Auspicious]

Small hijack -

Sailing up the Chesapeake yesterday from Deale to Annapolis I saw a great SailFar boat, about 26' with wind gen, a nice looking wind vane, and under full sail heading South at about 4 kts in just under 10 knots of W wind.

Not sure they saw me give them a full salute from the aft deck on the HR43 I was delivering.

[maxiSwede]

What a great resource for the sailor contemplating a blue water cruise, I wish I had logged in here before I left.
     I always reefed the main before going to sleep, and set the proper foresail, never the drifter.  The one time I did not the wind kicked up and tore the goose neck track from the mast.  The repair took 12 hours.  The new srategy that emerged was to brew a pot of tea at sundown, assuring that I would awake periodically.  Deep Blue now rests in Solomons Md. undergoing refit for her next adventure.  From the Azores, it was off to Portugal, Madiera, Canaries, Cap Verde, Grenada, isla Mujeres, Ft. Myers Fl. and the ICW back to the Chesapeake.  When I had crew more sail was carried as help was always available.  When I departed Norfolk, the average time to reef my main was 1.5 hours. An inexscusable failure to practice.  Constant improvement to the system and practice reduced that to less than 5 minutes. Hopefully a valuable lesson to others contemplating such an adventure.  Highlighting our errors can be invaluable to those planning to cast their lines.   Fair winds Phil

Hey, that's a great Circle of the North Atlantic.  GROG to you!

Reefing on 'Nanna' and before that, on 'R?de Orm'

grabbed winch handle, up to the mast, release halyard to premarked spot, attach cringle and then crank the mast-mounted winch for the reefline. Had two of those, then tension the halyard again.

After some 'drill' this takes less time than writing it down.

As an interesting(?) aside on our new (to us) boat Nanna everything was set up for reefing from the cockpit. Tried it out but the friction from the longer lines, pulleys and cleats made it WAAAAAY too slow for our liking.

The interesting thing is that 'all lines led aft' is always mentioned as safety advantage. After trying both ways, I strongly disagree. We found the 'one-reef system' to be a safety hazard and bought two used winches to install at the base of the mast together with pin rails I had made locally according to my own design.

For us, the speed of the reefing process is the determining factor, not being on deck or not. Of course sailors who are older, or at least less nimble might see it different.

[maxiSwede]

That said, being conservative in reefing/sail area is always good IMHO, especially single- or shorthanded.

Question:

How many folks here take in an EXTRA reef at night as a matter of "Standard Procedure?"  I've heard of people doing/recommending this, and just wondered who here practiced this particular 'conservative' approach.

I have done the reef at night thing on several occasions. Depends on where we are anchored, and what the weather looks like. If in a very well protected spot, and/or if the weather is good, we don't bother.

If anchored in an open anchorage, and iffy weather, then I will sometimes tie in the reef before dark. It's not a bad idea, and I THINK I originally read about in in a Hiscock book.

One thing for certain- we leave the sailcovers OFF while at anchor for overnight, so we can get under way more easily if needed.

Good points there about staying 'alert' at anchor.

Just to clarify, I was speaking about reefing underway, on a passage.

[Jim_ME]

Phil, Welcome aboard. Enjoyed reading your posts. I hope that you will write the full story of your Atlantic voyage. When sailing my Typhoon, often solo, it was very handy to heave to and reef when the wind picked up. That is a great feature of the long full keel of the Alberg designs. I'm interested to see how well the twin keel design of my current cruising boat will heave to, when I eventually get it in the water. I expect that it won't be as well, and I will miss that.