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Makes you think ----
I'm retired, live 4 blocks from the Marina, I dock
in a slip,
in Port Washington, WI on the West shore of
Lake
Michigan.Coming up on my 4th year of sailing my
C27.
From April to October I sail about 4 times a
week single
handed. If it's 25+ knots with 3 to 5 ft seas I
just don't sail.
I don't own a tether, I almost never wear a PDF. I
have
EVERYTHING rigged to the cockpit. I have
nver had a close call or even thought about going OB.
Now--- reading this thread for two days I'm
thinking
HOLY CRAP.
Pat Ford
Seabiscuit C27 3692
Port Washington, WI
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, December 07, 2005 12:09
PM
Subject: catalina27-talk:
Single-handling
This is funny - I would suspect that this is the most feared issue with
single-handing. I've been sailing for about 30 years, but only the last 5 on
my own boat. It wasn't until last summer that I ventured out on my own - the
thought of falling overboard never really came into mind. I've never once, in
30 years of sailing, ever fallen off a boat (accidentally). I would even say
that there has never been a close call of falling overboard either. My first
trip out alone was simply to test my new autopilot - at first, I was only
going to motor around in the bay outside of our club to calibrate the unit. It
worked so well, that I headed out into the lake and stayed out for a couple of
hours - it was incredible. The feeling is hard to describe - it sounds sappy,
but I truly felt at one with my boat, there's nothing like it.
My first attempt to get back to the dock alone was a non-issue... I read
somewhere, can't recall where, that you appr! oach the dock at a speed
just a little slower than the speed at which you feel comfortable
hitting the dock. With that in mind, docking is pretty simple, as long as you
prepare for it (lines, fenders, etc.). You must step off with both bow and
stern lines in your hand! I use a "Hail Mary" line that is fixed to my
finger dock that clips (quickly) to a sliding ring on my port side Genoa track
(all the way forward) to stop all forward motion, if necessary.
My boat isn't even rigged for single-handed sailing. None of my lines
(other than main sheet and jib furler) are rigged aft. It would be more
convenient to have all lines led aft, but it's certainly not impossible to
sail alone without this. The autopilot is what enabled me to feel like I could
sail alone - not sure what others feel about it. I sail on Lake Ontario, so I
guess if I fell off the boat, it would wind up aground - eventually.
JKB
MCC Toronto
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
I've been tempted to go out alone and one day I will give
in. I really am not so worried about falling over. I figure the life
jacket will keep me afloat. The Chesapeake is fairly poplular.
The boat will run aground somewhere ("It" does it with me aboard so I figure
it will when I'm off! ). To be honest, the thing that keeps me from
going out alone is bringing it back to the dock! The vision of
splintering wood and fiberglass...or the thought of people asking me how I
got the boat in the slip sideways...makes me a little
tenative.
DT
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