Billy Currington says it best "people are crazy". No way no how would I want that experience...happy you survived and were able to write such a good report...I got into sailing many years ago because I thought it was fun and relaxing. what you went thru is not my idea of fun or relaxation but good for you if you like it
Dwight Veinot C&C 35 MKII, *Alianna* Head of St. Margaret's Bay, NS d.ve...@bellaliant.net On Tue, Oct 27, 2015 at 3:50 PM, David Paine via CnC-List < cnc-list@cnc-list.com> wrote: > Hi All, > > As I mentioned last spring as part of a question about life rafts, I had > planned to sail my C&C33-1 solo to Bermuda and back (double handed) in > the Bermuda1-2 race. I did, It was fun, it was terrifying, it was > expensive to prepare for, and it was frustrating as I did not do well (dfl) > in my class in part because of the high winds and seas near the gulf stream > probably favored the HR49 and other heavyweights in my class but mostly > because I was climbing a steep learning curve. Of course, a C&C35-1 won > the return and did well on the way there so (in my case) it's the sailor > not the boat. In preparation for the next one, I need to resolve a few > issues with the boat and a lot with the skipper. I was putting together a > list that I thought I would share. > > (1) The autopilot has to be more than bullet proof. I thought my below > deck pilot was, but I was wrong, and as a result I found myself upside down > in the cockpit locker and crawling deep underneath the cockpit floor in > horrible conditions to tighten bolts that allowed the tiller arm to slip > (no woodruff key or slot to put it in). I lost a lot of time bobbing > around with the sails down repairing the autopilot or sleeping. The fix > for this one is obvious but will require dismantling the quadrant and > figuring out how to bolt the tiller arm to it. Other issues with the > autopilot were completely my own fault as I made changes to the electronics > but did not have time to proof test the changes. > > (2) When a wave fills the cockpit and it gets flooded (and it did > repeatedly) the engine instruments are going to get wet. This is not good > as the switches will (and did) fail, I am considering relocation or > creating a waterproof cover. > > (3) Following seas WILL drive water up the tailpipe and into the engine. > As a result, I sailed into St Georges harbor and up to the customs dock > then I spent a day in Bermuda sucking water out of the engine and drying it > out enough to get it started. For the return trip, I put a plug in the > exhaust pipe but the plug was washed out in the "washing machine like > conditions" and ... we got to sail the boat into the Newport Yacht Club > dock at 3:00 am on no sleep. Then spend another day pumping oily water out > of the engine. Yeah, slow learner. > > (4) The fuel tank vent on my boat is high up on the starboard side but by > the time I got to Bermuda, the tank had a quart of water in it (which I > siphoned out). Good filters (a racor) helped but I need to relocate the > vent -- the question is where? It may not be wise but on the return trip I > wrapped the vent with tape (which, if I had run the engine I would have > removed) A better solution is needed. > > (5) Reefing has to be quick and easy -- I spent far too much time > screwing up enough courage to go to the mast to reef and shake-out. My > current reefing system (probably original to the boat) has a winch on the > boom which makes the first reef fine but I used all three reef points and > releasing the last reef before pulling in the next in 35-40 kn of breeze is > a nightmare. I need to work on leading the lines to the cockpit. > > (6) A removable inner forestay and a blade foresail might be nice. My new > furling 130 spent a lot of time furled 50% and that really has screwed up > the shape of my formerly new and now blown out 130. > > (7) The boat was reasonably dry inside (a result of hours of rebedding > hardware) but somehow the mast collar leaked like a sieve. The boot looks > perfect so it has to be the where the Al collar (mast partners) meets the > deck -- who would have thought that the one place I didn't rebed would be a > problem! > > (8) Hoisting a radar reflect on a flag halyard to the spreaders seems like > a good idea until the line breaks and you lose both. > > (9) The one turnbuckle that I did not wire was the port diamond stay. > Turns out the mast will stay up without this - whew! It is extremely > unnerving to see a piece of wire swinging around at night in a blow. Wire > everything. And use lock tight on critical bolts -- my solar panel broke > loose as a result of a bolt getting unscrewed. > > (10) Fighting with a 10 foot long spinnaker pole to fly the spin gets > really old. Luckily the wind only died down enough to fly the spinnaker at > the end of the race but if the conditions had been more benign, I would > have had to fly the spinnaker much more. An assymetrical with a short > prod would be nice (but probably outside my ability to rationalize the > spending). > > (11) Getting a decent weather (GRIB) file occasionally would have been > really helpful. I suppose I need to figure out how to do a SSB or Sat > phone modem. > > Tons more lessons learned but that's enough for now. > > Best, > > David > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Email address: > CnC-List@cnc-list.com > To change your list preferences, including unsubscribing -- go to the > bottom of page at: > http://cnc-list.com/mailman/listinfo/cnc-list_cnc-list.com > > >
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