Hi Phil, and thanks for the tips. I did most of my early sailing on Lake Erie, where you can usually see a storm coming from a long way off. We got fooled once when we were in a particularly intense race, and were on the final leg on a run with the chute up, and suddenly we felt the air change, looked behind us and said "Oh sh*t" The spinnaker ended up flying from the top of the mast because we either had to release the sheets or have it split. After about a 15 min. blow, it was over, we gathered the sail in, and finished the race. I've never been a big fan of polarized sunglasses, so I won't need to change.
I will practice spinning the boat. The marina gave us a slip that is pretty much straight in, since we were newbies. My big embarrassing story has a minor and a major component. After a few exhilirating hours of sailing, we headed back toward the harbour channel. It was gusting upwards of 20 knots, and we were booting along at 6+ knots, a little hairier than I would have chosen for my first sail. But it was fine, and I was getting the groove back. As we neared the channel, I mentally reviewed the steps for dropping the main, furling the jib, and starting the motor. Wait, the motor won't start! I had forgotten to push the red handle back down when we went out, and I was just about to come about when I realized my error. That's the minor part. As we motored up to the slip, the wind was coming from the starboard bow, pushing us back and away from the slip. I had never docked a boat this size before! So my mate had the docking lines ready, and I brought the boat right up alongside the slip, she jumped off while holding the lines, I popped it into reverse to stop the boat, and all was well. I jumped off to help tie the boat off, but it didn't want to stay at the slip. In spite of both of us pulling on the lines, the boat was determined to back out away from the slip. I thought it was the wind, and couldn't understand how it could be so strong. The boat started to turn around the end of the slip due to me pulling on the line, and was in danger of hitting the nice 35 footer on the other side of the slip. At the last moment, I realized I'd better jump back on the boat, or I'd lose it. With the docking lines released, the boat missed the other one, and just kept backing out across the water. I reached down to put the motor into gear, and realized to my horror that it had been idling in reverse the whole time! Oops! So I just spun her around, came into the slip again, made sure it was actually in neutral this time, and the docking went much much smoother. Lesson learned. The boat has the fin keel, if that is the deep one. The sails (I'm assuming) are the standard ones, with the foresail appearing to be about a 135(?) I notice that due to the track length and position, it wouldn't be possible to run a big genoa. The autohelm is a ST4000+. I don't know if the + means anything. I noticed that when the wind was shifting, it had difficulty keeping the boat on course, but having never had autohelm before, I don't know how well they're supposed to work. ...Ron On 2010 Mar 02, at 2:22 AM, Phil Agur wrote: > Hi Ron, > > > > Welcome aboard! > > > > Herb is just down the block compared to Lake Ontario. I bet I can top you're > first time out story, if I can remember it at this point. > > > > I've probably got two important pieces of advice as a starting point. > > 1. When the snow clears put away your polarized sun glasses. > > . Sudden changes in wind direction or wind intensity change how the > light reflects off the water making the water appear to change colors. > > . That color change is an early warning to skippers who can then > react to the changes before they hit. (Get crew to a safer location, get the > main uncleated, furl the head sail, etc.) > > . Polarized sunglasses by blocking reflected light minimize or > eliminate color changes on the water surface and force you to be reactive > not proactive. > > 2. Learn how to turn the boat in its own length to allow maneuvering > with zero boat speed. > > . The boat will spin like a bandit starboard (clockwise looking > down). > > . Against all logic, learn how to spin the boat to port. This takes > twice the effort but works. > > . Dozens of bad docking scenarios can be easily overcome if you > could just stop and turn the boat to a new direction on a dime > > . In fact the famous yacht club docking maneuver from the movie > Captain Ron is just a variation of spinning the boat. > > . Typically I'll run a test for how the wind and current is going to > affect my docking just before I get in alley and let the drift line me up. > > > > Which keel and what sail inventory do you have? Wing Tip is of course a > wing keel but I've been dying to talk about how the boat sails with a fin > keel owner. > > Do you have an auto helm? As Herb will attest it takes a little work to get > the auto helm to relax enough to sail a C270 comfortably. The rudder is far > more effective than the typical ST4000 install making it very twitchy. > > > > Phil Agur > <http://www.catalina27.org/public_pages/profile270.htm> s/v Wing Tip > C270 LE #184 MMSI 366901790 > > > > > > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Ron > Ginter > Sent: Monday, March 01, 2010 7:31 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [IC27A] Newbie onboard > > > > > > Hi All, > > I've been lurking all winter and thought it was time that I finally > introduce myself. I took possession of a 2004 C270 on Labour Day, and I'm > thrilled to bits! I spent several years on a racing crew on a C&C25, but > that was more years ago than I care to admit. In the intervening time, I > always wanted to get my own boat, but was married to someone who made it > very clear that if I ever bought one, I'd be alone on it. In the interest of > marital harmony, I put the whole sailing thing on the back burner, and > contented myself with riding my Ducatis. > > Now, that someone is an ex-spouse, and I'm finally free to realize my dream. > I have a girlfriend/partner who is enthusiastic about sailing, and we're > already looking forward to many happy hours out on Lake Ontario. The boat > practically threw itself at me! When we went to have a "preliminary" look at > a marina, it was the first boat we saw, and it was the size I wanted. Plus, > it had just been reduced in price. We looked at several other boats, but > kept coming back to this one. I put in a low-ball offer that was accepted, > the financing fell into place easier than I expected, and suddenly I'm a > boat owner! It's like new, and has been lightly used over its short life. > > I have much to learn, and have already picked up a lot of good info by > monitoring this group. However, it seems that everyone has the C27. Are > there other C270 owners besides Phil? > > Anyway, I will have many questions as spring rolls around. Back in > September, we had wonderful weather in this area, so I got to sail for a > month before having to put it away for the winter. I have never been the > skipper before, and have only had to concern myself with my specific job on > the racing crew, so there are large gaps in my knowledge now that I'm the > guy in charge. I'll relate a couple of amusing stories about my first time > out after the embarrassment eases a bit! <g> > > ...Ron (Oculus) > > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > ------------------------------------ > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > >
