With a few days of spare time, I went on a singlehanded Wayfarer adventure around the Inner Hebrides, starting from Craobh Haven and heading up to Loch Aline, Tobermory and back.
Thanks so much for going to the effort of filming this for us! We loved your presenting style; a bit like David from Cruising the Cut. Your videos are some of the most calm and informative on UA-cam and I felt I learned something today. This morning I crewed on a Wayfarer at the Severn Sailing Club (their open day!) and loved it. Found your video looking for something about Wayfarers. Thanks again and please keep doing videos - can you do more about how you tack / gybe etc? You explaining reefing was a revelation. Liked, Subscribed.
Thank you so much! I'll see what I can do - not a fan of doing instructional videos here on UA-cam, but if you are a UK Wayfarer Association member, I and several others more talented than myself contribute more informative videos to the video library on there - do check it out!
Just bought my first sail boat wayfarer you make it look very easy I suspect it’s not as easy as it looks I’m going to practice on a lake before I go to sea,I have sailed before but a long time ago
Great area to sail. Thanks for sharing. Need to my Devon Yawl up there. Ghost Ship is a good choice of beer. Keep up the good work in inspiring us all to sail further a field.
Very good cruise, good seamanship. I sailed my Mirror out of Croabh a few years back but did not have the local knowledge or confidence to go so far afield. Must go again.
Great trip young man, and some good good seamanship! This my cruising ground, I keep a Sigma 33C near Oban, I might have even saw you. Stay safe and best wishes. David
Good skills - on reefing at sea (no criticism just interested) would it be easier/safer to motor into the wind if its a bit blustery? Nice crispy sails you have there, (must start saving up). Your aft deck looks big? (you climb onto it to start the motor) no way could I perform that manoeuvre ;)
Motoring into the wind would cause the sail and boom to be flapping all over the place, and I'd struggle to keep the boat pointed straight into wind on my own. Sailing close hauled keeps the boat controlled and means the boom isn't swinging near my head!
Just picked up your channel, so forgive me if you covered this before. Reefing. Great to see how efficient it was. Impressed how she sat nicely with the jib just pulling. Would it be even better with a topping lift / lazy jacks? Or just worth the bother. It get windy very quickly here in Scotland. I think you need three reef points. Or will she sail upwind with just a part rolled Genoa. Risk of capsize. Do you use any ballast? Thinking a water tank fixed in the bilges, that can be filled / emptied whilst sailing. Have you a method for righting her? Do you carry a sea anchor. If you do capsize, very useful for holding her head to wind. Though you should have it ready to go at all times. How about heaving-to, or a similar manoeuvre, when you need to pause for navigation/ eating etc. Can you show us your sleeping system. Do you have a heater, it would soon get very cosy in that tent.
Reefing: Topping lift/lazy jacks would make things more difficult. As you can see in the video, I reef by lifting the aft end of the boom up first with the reefing line, and then dropping the front of the sail back down to the normal level. This keeps the boom high out of the boat to avoid hitting heads/dragging in the water. It's a very simple system with minimal string! Topping lift or lazy jacks would be a huge bunch more string to get tangled/in the way. Also, to get the sail down very quickly, I will lift the boom off the gooseneck and place the boom on the floor - the sail flies down in a couple of seconds and I am quickly in control, with no flapping sail/boom at head height. A topping lift or lazy jacks would make this impossible! Two reefing points is plenty - my second reef is 2m deep. Beyond that the boat doesn't have enough sail area to make progress into wind. If sailing across the wind/downwind, I'd definitely take the main down and sail under genoa - see a great example of us doing that in very strong wind here: ua-cam.com/video/RNJuz8rKa1I/v-deo.htmlsi=Pl4Q9is62URmS3WY&t=818 Capsize: Nope, no ballast, just a natural Wayfarer. I never sail her anywhere near the limit of control when cruising - always reefing early and staying within limits. Capsize would be a nasty experience (not least for the engine) so I don't want to risk even getting close. That said, I've spent plenty of time testing the boat and capsizing it, so I'm confident in my ability to right it on my own even fully laden. See a great example (including full inversion) here: ua-cam.com/video/1aOsczImiJQ/v-deo.html A water tank in the bilges would be dangerous due to the free surface effect. If the tank was ever half full, it would make the boat very unstable. Sea anchor: I do occasionally carry a sea anchor on longer offshore passages, as an option to stop for a break when heaving to would be impossible. Wouldn't be practical or easy to deploy in a capsize - last thing I want is lots of rope floating around! Heaving to: Yes, I do this plenty of the time. Sometimes I'll reef like this, although as you saw in the video most of the time I'm lazy and let the boat sail on just the genoa. I don't normally pause to navigate as my high-tech autopilot (bungee cord) will sail the boat fine for this! Sleeping system: Foam roll mat on the floor - stored in the front tank. Gore-tex bivvy bag with a self-inflating air mattress (thermarest) and sleeping bag inside - these all roll up into one and are stored in a drybag, in the front tank. I'll see if I can get a video of this at some point. Heater: No. It's warm enough and I'm not carrying any unnecessary weight! Hope that's all useful!
Amazing Video, I am looking forward to watching part 2. Any chance you could let me know where to find a wayfarer tent, or if you made it yourself what it looks like?
Hi there - smashing videos, thank you for sharing them. Can you tell me - which length Ronstan telescopic tiller extension are you using - 740mm - 1120mm, or longer? Trying to figure it out for my Mk1a at the moment. Thanks in advance!
Wayfarers are not so tippy but non self righting and will invert without mast top buoyancy. Hard to recover from a capsize as usually a capsize occurs in bass conditions. So be warned. What ever about you, don't put an inexperienced crew in peril. Yes..I saw that video which was good. Pity they were goofing around rather than covering what they were about.
Great video! Thanks...
Beautiful little boat. I need one like it
Thanks for sharing, looks like a fun trip!
Always nice to see a beautiful wooden dinghy :-)
Best regards from a Heron sailor!
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it!
Great adventure! Loved our Wayfarer...I always thought I was reenacting Swallows and Amazons!
Thank you!
Thanks so much for going to the effort of filming this for us! We loved your presenting style; a bit like David from Cruising the Cut. Your videos are some of the most calm and informative on UA-cam and I felt I learned something today. This morning I crewed on a Wayfarer at the Severn Sailing Club (their open day!) and loved it. Found your video looking for something about Wayfarers.
Thanks again and please keep doing videos - can you do more about how you tack / gybe etc? You explaining reefing was a revelation.
Liked, Subscribed.
Thank you so much! I'll see what I can do - not a fan of doing instructional videos here on UA-cam, but if you are a UK Wayfarer Association member, I and several others more talented than myself contribute more informative videos to the video library on there - do check it out!
Beautiful sailboat.
Great video, enjoyed it.
Thanks!
Great series and nice to see your great skill with your beautiful boat.
Thank you!
Great creative content,Thx
Enjoyed that. Thanks.
Congratulations! Grand effort and great video.🙂
Thank you! More to come...
Just bought my first sail boat wayfarer you make it look very easy I suspect it’s not as easy as it looks I’m going to practice on a lake before I go to sea,I have sailed before but a long time ago
Great area to sail. Thanks for sharing. Need to my Devon Yawl up there. Ghost Ship is a good choice of beer. Keep up the good work in inspiring us all to sail further a field.
Thanks, it's such a beautiful area!
Nice, done that trip to Kerrara a couple of times ….had a bit more wind.
A few rocky reefs to steer clear of.
Great video thank you
Glad you enjoyed it!
Looking great! All the best, Les.
Thanks Les!
Very enjoyable! from the other side of the pond but would love to join you shall content myself with your vids ..keep on sailing sir!
Thank you!
you,ve had great tuition from experienced sailors ,thats real sailing your doing,makes you more capable and able to handle anything with sheets
Thank you!
Great video, Thanks for sharing, May I ask what type of outboard bracket is fitted on transom, looks nicely positioned to not interfere with rudder👍
Thank you. Mine is a stainless steel one supplied and fitted by Matt at Aeroluffspars
Wind always dies at the same places! This is Good Weather Scottish Sailing!
Indeed!
Very good cruise, good seamanship. I sailed my Mirror out of Croabh a few years back but did not have the local knowledge or confidence to go so far afield. Must go again.
Thank you, it's a wonderful place!
Great trip young man, and some good good seamanship! This my cruising ground, I keep a Sigma 33C near Oban, I might have even saw you.
Stay safe and best wishes. David
Thank you! Give me a wave if you see me out there. I'll be back!
@@WayfarerAdventures I definitely will! I'll have you over for dinner too.
Good skills - on reefing at sea (no criticism just interested) would it be easier/safer to motor into the wind if its a bit blustery? Nice crispy sails you have there, (must start saving up). Your aft deck looks big? (you climb onto it to start the motor) no way could I perform that manoeuvre ;)
Motoring into the wind would cause the sail and boom to be flapping all over the place, and I'd struggle to keep the boat pointed straight into wind on my own. Sailing close hauled keeps the boat controlled and means the boom isn't swinging near my head!
Just picked up your channel, so forgive me if you covered this before.
Reefing. Great to see how efficient it was. Impressed how she sat nicely with the jib just pulling. Would it be even better with a topping lift / lazy jacks? Or just worth the bother.
It get windy very quickly here in Scotland. I think you need three reef points. Or will she sail upwind with just a part rolled Genoa.
Risk of capsize. Do you use any ballast? Thinking a water tank fixed in the bilges, that can be filled / emptied whilst sailing. Have you a method for righting her?
Do you carry a sea anchor. If you do capsize, very useful for holding her head to wind. Though you should have it ready to go at all times.
How about heaving-to, or a similar manoeuvre, when you need to pause for navigation/ eating etc.
Can you show us your sleeping system. Do you have a heater, it would soon get very cosy in that tent.
Reefing:
Topping lift/lazy jacks would make things more difficult. As you can see in the video, I reef by lifting the aft end of the boom up first with the reefing line, and then dropping the front of the sail back down to the normal level. This keeps the boom high out of the boat to avoid hitting heads/dragging in the water. It's a very simple system with minimal string! Topping lift or lazy jacks would be a huge bunch more string to get tangled/in the way. Also, to get the sail down very quickly, I will lift the boom off the gooseneck and place the boom on the floor - the sail flies down in a couple of seconds and I am quickly in control, with no flapping sail/boom at head height. A topping lift or lazy jacks would make this impossible!
Two reefing points is plenty - my second reef is 2m deep. Beyond that the boat doesn't have enough sail area to make progress into wind. If sailing across the wind/downwind, I'd definitely take the main down and sail under genoa - see a great example of us doing that in very strong wind here: ua-cam.com/video/RNJuz8rKa1I/v-deo.htmlsi=Pl4Q9is62URmS3WY&t=818
Capsize:
Nope, no ballast, just a natural Wayfarer. I never sail her anywhere near the limit of control when cruising - always reefing early and staying within limits. Capsize would be a nasty experience (not least for the engine) so I don't want to risk even getting close.
That said, I've spent plenty of time testing the boat and capsizing it, so I'm confident in my ability to right it on my own even fully laden. See a great example (including full inversion) here: ua-cam.com/video/1aOsczImiJQ/v-deo.html
A water tank in the bilges would be dangerous due to the free surface effect. If the tank was ever half full, it would make the boat very unstable.
Sea anchor:
I do occasionally carry a sea anchor on longer offshore passages, as an option to stop for a break when heaving to would be impossible. Wouldn't be practical or easy to deploy in a capsize - last thing I want is lots of rope floating around!
Heaving to:
Yes, I do this plenty of the time. Sometimes I'll reef like this, although as you saw in the video most of the time I'm lazy and let the boat sail on just the genoa. I don't normally pause to navigate as my high-tech autopilot (bungee cord) will sail the boat fine for this!
Sleeping system:
Foam roll mat on the floor - stored in the front tank. Gore-tex bivvy bag with a self-inflating air mattress (thermarest) and sleeping bag inside - these all roll up into one and are stored in a drybag, in the front tank. I'll see if I can get a video of this at some point.
Heater:
No. It's warm enough and I'm not carrying any unnecessary weight!
Hope that's all useful!
Amazing Video, I am looking forward to watching part 2. Any chance you could let me know where to find a wayfarer tent, or if you made it yourself what it looks like?
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it! The tent is handmade by John Mellor: wayfarer.org.uk/awpcp/show-ad/?id=31477
really nice video.. i just bought my self a wayfarer.. the baby-blue one :-) just a quick, how big engine do you have?
Thank you! It's a 2.5hp.
Hi there - smashing videos, thank you for sharing them. Can you tell me - which length Ronstan telescopic tiller extension are you using - 740mm - 1120mm, or longer? Trying to figure it out for my Mk1a at the moment. Thanks in advance!
Thank you! It's the 740mm version - seems to be the right length for me.
Wayfarers are not so tippy but non self righting and will invert without mast top buoyancy.
Hard to recover from a capsize as usually a capsize occurs in bass conditions.
So be warned. What ever about you, don't put an inexperienced crew in peril.
Yes..I saw that video which was good. Pity they were goofing around rather than covering what they were about.
Huh?
What size engine are you running?
It's a 2.5hp 4 stroke Suzuki. Fantastic little engine and very lightweight.
When was this
July this year
Haha, just noticed this was right at the start, well done. So many don’t say.