Sailing is underrated

[Kettlewell]

I think I'll be preaching to the choir here, but I think one very important aspect of cruising is often lost in many discussions on this forum and even more so on many of the others. Remember, a sailboat is meant to sail! Don't get me wrong, I love having a strong and reliable engine, but you also need a great sailing boat set up to be easy to handle and able to get you almost anywhere under sail you could go under power. Too often today I see sailboats being towed in by one of the commercial towing services and apparently the only problem is the engine is dead. What about the sails? The answer is often not that the boat can't sail, but that the owners have not sailed her enough in all sorts of circumstances to be confident they can handle her, and boats more and more are set up with so much poop on, in, and around the cockpit that it is difficult to handle the jib sheets, main sheet, etc. Many cruising boats become motor boats with sails because it is so difficult to handle them under sail. Plus, the same full cockpit enclosure that seems to be the standard these days not only makes handling the sails very difficult (you can't see them for one thing), but it adds enormous windage making the boat sail worse.

I have been fortunate enough to own several classic boats that could really sail, and the contrast with modern cruising boats is stark. Take a look through some old books and note how low and sleek older boats were, with clean leads for the sheets to the cockpit, winches placed where you could get at them and really put your back into grinding, a mainsheet set up so the helmsperson could handle it. Just this latter point seems lost on many cruising boaters and designers--why set up a boat from the get go so there is no possible way for someone at the helm to reach either the jib sheets or the mainsheet? That just about guarantees you won't be short tacking your boat into harbor. Not everyone sails with a full crew. On my boats they have to be set up so a single person can steer, tack the boat, trim the main, etc. Yes, we usually travel as a couple or a family, but I don't want to have to call up the off watch if I need to tack in the middle of a night watch.

My point is simple--a sailboat is meant to sail, so make sure yours is set up properly to do so, and give yourself the training and skills to be able to take advantage of the vast free energy source nature has provided.

[Godot]

An advantage of smaller, simpler boats is that they are easier to handle solo.

I think a lot of folks who buy big boats are really looking to take their house with them. Houses are not known for their sailing ability.

While I know a number of big boat guys who own beautifully sailing boats, sail a lot, even single handed, it does seem that typically smaller boat people are more into the act of sailing than floating luxury.

Now-a-days I am a very live and let live kind of person. If a boat gives joy, whether it is sitting at the dock, motoring down the ICW, or beating through the roaring forties under reduced sail, I figure it is all good.

[Kettlewell]

I agree with Godot--the smaller the boat the more it is sailed, in general. One thing often forgotten though by the big boaters is that the sails are not just there for the fun of it, but they are also an important safety device. I've lost the engine several times while cruising and still been able to safely proceed on my way under sail, including entering and leaving harbors. Today the loss of the engine on a sailboat often seems to be followed by a Mayday call on the radio. Plus, another thing I forgot to mention is that all of the gear purchased today to make sail handling easier can actually make it more difficult when something breaks. I've helped rescue a few people with jammed roller furling, for example, and I have seen many more with serious problems including ripped sails when the furler wouldn't work. I get the impression that many of today's boats are designed first as sailing houses, like you pointed out, and then at the end the designer plops a rig on the drawing and tries to figure out how to make the thing work.

[CharlieJ]

LOL- brings to mind something my Ex told me years ago. At the time we were sailing a 21 footer, and she usually brought the boat back into the dock at the launch ramp, while I handled sails and lines. She's quite capable as a single hander

One day the wind was absolutely zero- NONE, so she was coming back in under engine power. About 100 yards out, she looked at me and said-

"I don't know how to DO this with the engine- I've never done it before!"
;D ;D

Another time, coming in under sail, she didn't like her approach, so bailed out, went around and tried again. That wasn't to her liking so she bailed a second time and came back in, this time very nicely. Guy standing on the dock asked her why she didn't just use the engine?

She told him" that's no fun at all!"

[Kettlewell]

At a boat show one time I tried to figure out how the jib sheets were supposed to be lead to the cockpit winches and I discovered it was literally impossible to do it without the lines taking a sharp bend over various objects, and it was a major production boat builder.

[Godot]

The boat scale thing really is insidious. Just moving from my little Seafarer 24 to the Bayfield 29, I notice I'm not quite as likely to just spontaneously slip the lines and go sailing for an hour. I do sail quite a lot, but am more likely to consider if it is really worth the effort just for the sake of going. The B29 is still a pretty small boat (seems pretty big to me); but takes just a little more effort to get going and to put away every time.

[CharlieJ]

Depends on the people though. I have some friends who lived aboard an Irwin 37 for years and years. Both worked regular jobs.

They lived on a mooring, and insisted that the boat be kept so that they could be ready  go for a sail in 15 minutes or less.

That's THE reason they didn't dock the boat :D

[Kettlewell]

I know that our personal history shows that we have sailed less as our boats have gotten bigger. Part of that has to do with also gaining more powerful and more reliable motors, meaning we didn't have to sail to get someplace. If you've got a smaller boat with maybe an outboard for propulsion often the fastest and easiest way to get between two points is under sail. But, you are right it varies a lot based on the inclination of the owners. I've never kept my boat at a dock for long, but when I do I know it takes hours to go anywhere. Keeping your boat on a mooring means dropping one line and you're underway. Being at anchor takes longer and is a lot more work, and the bigger the boat the more work it is. It's one reason you see people drop the hook in places like Georgetown in the Bahamas and not move for weeks at a time, even when nasty cold fronts come through. It's also why lots of folks carry huge dinghies with giant outboards--so they have a way of getting around after they have pitched camp with the big boat.

[CapnK]

Another thing is that while motoring, most sailors have their gear all tucked nice and dock-pretty, and lose their "sailors mindset" because of it - and that can cause much chagrin when the iron genny decides to take an unscheduled rest.

Happened this past week at my marina to a fellow who is just wrapping up a 2 year refit of an Alberg Pearson 35, and was coming to our marina for the first time. The exterior work is done. He was headed in with a following tide and the wind at his back, and the engine cut out just as he entered the 'mouth' of our docks. When the engine quit, and with nicely furled sails, he went up and onto a floating dock with that pretty new dark blue bow. I was not there to witness it, but one of the sportfishing captains said it looked like the whole bow climbed out of the water before he halted. Ouchy.

He has roller furling foresails, but he didn't have them ready or even try to use them. Even so, had he been thinking like a sailor, there was still plenty of room where he was when the engine stopped for him to have executed a turn into the wind that would have slowed him considerably even under bare poles, thus allowing him to come alongside a face dock instead of straight into a slip.

Yet he tried to get that engine running and into reverse gear to no avail, right up until the dock crossed his T...

[Kettlewell]

Yet he tried to get that engine running and into reverse gear to no avail, right up until the dock crossed his T...

That sounds like a situation that called for an anchor to be dropped. When coastal cruising we keep ours ready to go at a moment's notice, though I have learned that when well offshore it is best to really lash it down extra securely. I suppose it depends on the type of marina and docks, but many are just too dangerous to sail into and out of. The typical New England marina is a whole bunch of slips created by floating docks attached to pilings with maybe a boat length or two of water between rows. Motoring in or out is tricky enough--sailing would be risking a lot. I'm not saying that you have to sail everywhere--just that a lot of cruising boats today appear to be more motorboats with sails than real sailboats with auxiliary power.

[s/v Faith]

I agree that having a ready stern anchor is very useful.  I doubt that it would find bottom in Georgetown landing marina, the current rips through there pretty fast.  

It is a terrible feeling to have a motor die when it is integral to your plans.  Unfortunately, even reliable motors seem to sense this and choose to die in just these times.   Because of this, I like to try to plan maneuvers around figuring out how I could get some sail into the mix in a hurry....  

Yesterday I was leaving an anchorage in a blow that quickly had turned my protected bay into a lee shore.

One tremendous advantage of smaller boats is the ability to set sail quickly.  I love roller furling, and find it is a great advantage when trying to set some sail quickly.  It's drawback however is that it is really hard to point with just the jib.  If I had to claw upwind yesterday it would have been very hard to impossible on just the jib....

Getting the main up (even with the sail cover off) would have taken too long yesterday.  If I had started before the wind came up I could have sailed out (Emerald Tide could have gotten out under sail) but winching the main up a 50' stick was just not going to happen in the time I had.

Having a reliable motor is good, but having made plans to sail is better...

[CharlieJ]

Yet he tried to get that engine running and into reverse gear to no avail, right up until the dock crossed his T...

That sounds like a situation that called for an anchor to be dropped. When coastal cruising we keep ours ready to go at a moment's notice, though I have learned that when well offshore it is best to really lash it down extra securely. I suppose it depends on the type of marina and docks, but many are just too dangerous to sail into and out of. The typical New England marina is a whole bunch of slips created by floating docks attached to pilings with maybe a boat length or two of water between rows. Motoring in or out is tricky enough--sailing would be risking a lot. I'm not saying that you have to sail everywhere--just that a lot of cruising boats today appear to be more motorboats with sails than real sailboats with auxiliary power.

For sure agree on having an anchor ready. Saved a lot of damage to my tri one time- adverse tide, draw bridge, engine quit.

Another point on marinas. These days, there are a good many who prohibit sailing inside the marina. May or not make sense, but they make the rules for their own places.

Same way the bridgetenders do- it isn't illegal to sail through a draw, but many tenders just won't open if you have sail up. And THAT is really aggravating when you have a fair wind :(

[s/v Faith]

One thing that consistently amazes me are the number of cruising boats merrily heading off the wind with roller furling jibs neatly furled on the bow.

Now I understand some folks don't like the "trouble" of unfurling for short trips, others don't like to "sail" in confined or inland waters.... No, wait strike that.... I don't really understand this.  Why not sail or at least motorsail when one has the chance?

I typically will have at least the jib out even going down the ICW.  Sadly many bridge tenders (and their states lawmakers) view this as some sort of dangerous practice and will forbid sailing through opening bridges under sail.  That is when the furling jib really helps make sailing the ICW more easy.

[CapnK]

I marked up the map below to show the situation/area better. Depths along the approx course line are 25'+, with a variable hard sand/soft mud bottom. Current can run 2-3 kts, winds were under 15 kts. The large sailboat you see berthed on the inside of the face dock was not there at the time of the incident (no boats were); it is the S/V Fritha, 74' LOA, and gives a good indicator of how much room was available to a boat of 35' for maneuvering.

Note the 4 bare piles to the W of the course line, where my former slip was located - those could also have been used to fetch up to in lieu of a dock. Charts show clearly that there is 15'+ depth there.

One thing this marina will teach you is that, here at least, it is prudent to dock *into* the current, always - even if only temporarily, before going into your slip at slack tide. I have seen this place give tidal fits to docking 50-60' sportsfishing boats, even with their twin diesels, differential thrust, and big wheels.