S5EP7//Seamanship: Picking Up a Mooring Singlehanded Under Sail
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- Опубліковано 5 вер 2024
- This episode covers sailing from the south east coast of St John USVI to St Thomas USVI. It culminates with picking up a mooring singlehanded under sail in Elephant Bay. The narration describes techniques and decision-making when sailing singlehanded in crowded anchorages including picking up a mooring under sail.
Earlier in Season 5 I singlehanded the Far reach from North Carolina to the Virgin Islands in December 2021. It was my third voyage in the Far Reach to the Virgin Islands.
In the previous Season 4 episodes I shared what it took to rebuild our 36' sailboat from a complete gutted hull and deck into my ideal voyaging boat, installed a small inboard Diesel engine with a folding propeller, and made some additional improvements to the Far Reach.
Previous episodes recap:
Season 1, Episode 1, contains a short synopsis of a six year total rebuild of the Far Reach from a gutted bare hull. I also double hand the Far Reach offshore with my sister from NC to the BVI.
In Season 2, I single-hand the Far Reach from Sint Maarten back to NC.
In Season 3, I share my Single-handed voyage from NC to the BVI as well as from the VI back to NC.
In Season 4, I detailed the original rebuild of the Far Reach then the planning and installation of a small diesel engine with a folding propeller. I concluding by sharing some additional modifications and upgrades as well as trouble shooting the Cape Horn windvane.
To learn more about the rebuilding of the Far Reach: www.farreachvoy...
To read about this voyage, and many others, including additional modifications and updates to the Far Reach since her launch in 2015: www.farreachvo...
For more information on the Stimson Bow Roof Shed visit bow-roof-shed.com
If you have questions or stories to share about your own voyages feel free to post them in the comment section. Happy sailing.
The Far Reach sails like a dream and you handle her well. Really enjoyed this! Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
Thanks. She is a great boat.
Seamanship at it's finest.😊
@@fendykefabs Thanks. Appreciate the comment.
You solicited comments. FRV is one of few sailing and boat channels I subscribe to. The reason is simple: It's highly technical and relates to the boat - which is enormously impressive as a project - and to *sailing* and the places visited. It's pertinent, in other words, and high quality. I have negative interest in the next loud family in a Beneteau trying to be celebrities and sharing mundane daily experiences and their endless closeup selfies. There are too many of those and completely miss the point. FRV is one of my few subs.
I for one would welcome long form, boat and sailing-oriented sailing content. Novel concept, eh?
Had you considered a gimballed camera steadied to the horizon? It may serve that same style of film...
Thanks for such a a detailed comment. Much appreciated. My GoPro 4 is ancient but has been a work horse especially after I added the active attached mic with wind reduction. But, I plan on a second GoPro with horizon lock for exactly the reasons you describe. That will keep the horizon level. I'll probably move the GoPro 4 to a chest-harness or something like that. Or at least mount it forward of the mast.
@@FarReachVoyages Your content is probably this good because others won't do this level of work. The hull and deck restoration alone was just supremely satisfying.
I think a locked GP and maybe a good drone and you're as good as it gets, if you don't mind my peanut gallery input. ;o)
@@Trajectionable Thanks. Very nice. I now have a drone. So we will get some film of the FR sailing at some point. I have to get the part 107 commercial license though to post the film on the channel. Working on it now.
Many e-begging sailing UA-camrs could learn a lot from these videos.
First time watcher.. Loved it. For me as someone who has a hard time learning from books, listening to someone explain something and their thought process while doing it is 10/10 way to learn.
Thank you for this =)
Very cool. Glad it was useful to you. Thanks for the comment.
well done
Thanks.
Nice and quiet!
Thanks.
Man, that pickup was elegant.
Thanks HarbourDog.
I think this long format is nice once in awhile. Thanks for answering questions.
Good insights. I tend to agree. Appreciate the feedback.
I truly enjoyed the format of this video. It is always helpful to see how to handle a boat in various conditions. But more important to me is learning the skipper’s thought process in a situation like this. As you said, pre planning is extremely important. The execution, however, involves thought in motion. I like how you think. Sail-on!
That was my goal. Glad you enjoyed it! Appreciate the feedback.
A great video on how you manage some of the mundane tasks of cruising, something that almost nobody else does. Inquiring minds need to know- thanks
I know what you mean but just for the record I don't think of these tasks as mundane. They are at the heart of the voyaging life. The tasks that make it all possible. I enjoy the everyday stuff and find pleasure and joy in doing them well.
Great video, I like your sailing philosophy with the emphasis on situational awareness. I teach ship-handling and always tell people the most important thing is to "look out the windows"
Thanks!
Damn fine sailing, love it.
Thanks. Gals you enjoyed it.
Great video. Great seamanship. I look forward to seeing and hearing about your adventures!
Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it.
Have you ever tried the horizon lock feature on an action camera? I wonder if it would help show the waves any better, not that there were many waves in today's video. Great content. Sailboats are meant to be sailed, it's fun watching you sail onto a mooring, but I didn't quite follow what you were doing with the mooring line forward of the mast, do you have a winch up there?
My old GoPro doesn't have a horizon lock. But I am planning on buying a new one that will lock.
The snubber is a long line tied to a cleat on the foredeck. You run the other end of the line through the hawes hole (a hole through the bulwark) through the eye in the mooring pendant, back through the hawes hole, and to the cleat. This is a standard techniques. We use use it to secure the boat to the mooring initially. But because we have a bowsprit I then reconfigure the snubber line in a different way that better accommodates our long bowsprit. I don't have any film of that set up. That's why I need a second camera. We will film all that eventually.
Having sailed single handed quite a lot, this planning and decision making is familiar. However, I'd like to say to other sailors and motor boat skippers to stay away from a sailboat where you can see just one person working on the deck. His/her ability to react to your precence is very limited. Making sudden and unexpected chances in your course makes the single handed sailor's situation impossible. Most of us are on the sea for recreation. You really don't have such a hurry that you should do single handed skipper's work harder!
Amen to that!
Thanks for another great video. Is it possible you got the weather helm/lee helm and sail balance description flipped when you described it in the video? If your tiller is diving to leeward (weather helm) heading the boat into the wind, I believe you should ease the main. Or do I have it backwards?
Cheers!
Hi Jack, can you give me a time stamp and a little more info so I understand what you are referring to? Yes. Ease the main to reduce or eliminate wx helm. Or add more headsail. You want to move the sail's center of effort forward.
Some general thoughts: Just because the tiller wants to go to leeward when you let go of it does not mean the boat has wx helm. If you have to bring the tiller windward of centerline to make the boat go straight then you have wx helm.
The Far Reach and boats like her with the rudder attached to the back of the keel do not have "balanced" rudders like more modern fin keelers often do. Even a boat with a neutral helm and a rudder like the Far Reach will usually turn into the wind on a beat if you let go the helm because the boat's track will be governed by the curve of the hull as she heels over. Not unlike carving a turn on a ski by weighing the edge of the ski.
You'll note when the tiller is centered the Far Reach is sailing a straight line. Take a look at the Cape Horn video in S5E5.
Does that make sense?
I edited this in the first paragraph after rereading the question.
Thanks for the discussion, interesting notes about balanced rudders vs unbalanced. The section in the video I was referring to starts at 22:20.
I’m used to sailing fin keel boats and dinghy’s so perhaps it’s possible things are a little different for a full keel boat.
I’m not an expert and just here to learn. Cheers!
Jack
Hi Jack, sounds to me like you have a good grasp. I shouldn't have said "if the tiller falls away to leeward" because it sounds like if I let go and the boat heads up that would indicate wx helm which would be correct. I should have said "if I have to hold the tiller to leeward to keep the boat sailing straight that tells me to pull in on the mainsail." But the part after that about wx helm is more clearly stated.
Thanks for watching and engaging. It makes it more interested for everyone including me.
lateen rig gaff rig bermuda rig junk rig I like them all. If i want to sail around the world like you, which rig do you recommend and which keel do you recommend?
Well I am not sailing around the world. Not yet anyway. All the rigs you list are capable. All can and have made it round the world. Each has strengths and weaknesses. Same for keels. Hal Roth in his book "How to Sail Around the Wold does a good job of answering your question.
I probably go with Bermuda, gaff, Junk in that order. For keels I go with full, full with cut a way like the Far Reach, and fin. No skinny keels with torpedo bulbs.
Bottom line: I think a rugged simple boat is generally best. But you have to like your boat, enjoy sailing her, and being on her.
Good job, very nice Mainsail.
I have an Alberg 35 a very similar boat.
Do you always keep your topi g lift tight while sailing?
Thanks for engaging. The A35 is a gorgeous boat. The topping lift should be loose. What is the time stamp of where you see it tight?
@@FarReachVoyages 27:15, The 2 nd reef was kinda tight too,
But it’s no big deal, you handled that boat very well
She sails well.
@edwardfinn4141
That's an optical illusion. Probably the GoPro lens. I have another video taken by a friend on a boat of me sailing past them as I picked up the mooring. I just checked it--The topping lift is quite loose. Before I haul up the main I tighten the topping lift to raise the boom off the gallows. Then loosen it after I set the halyard tension. I have to do the same thing in reverse when dropping the sail. I tighten the TL just enough to keep the boom from being able to make contact with the gallows until I am ready to drop it into the notch. But thanks for commenting. Happy sailing.
Edit--I reread your comment. I didn't understand at first as there is only a single reef in the main. You're talking about the second reefing line putting too much tension on the leech. Agree.
@@FarReachVoyages sounds like you are on top of it.
Sounds like I should have keep my big mouth shut , haha.
All the best, love the series…
Have you ever thought about an Atlantic circuit? You know you and that CD 36 are capable of Getting to the Carribean the long way round…
Head NE from the USA Boston , Halifax, Newfoundland, the Azores, Canaries, then back to the Carribean in the trade winds
I did it, the North Atlantic was the easiest part.
Yes. In fact that was my plan for this summer until I got tangled up in the mast project.
Do kow how to dock with sail to a pier......Do you have a video of it....
Not sure what you're asking.
Can you dock to a pier with only sails.....if soe do you have a VIDEO of it............@@FarReachVoyages
No film. You can sail up to a pier or a dock. But the conditions have to be just right. I have done it many times in a J24. But a J24 displaces 3,000 lbs. You can stop it by hand if you are coasting a bit. You can't do that with a big heavy boat like the FR. Typically on a boat like ours you would deploy a light stern anchor about 75' before you get to the dock and snub down like a brake. You have to be an exceptional sailor and the condition need to be right. Not really recommended. You don't want to smash your boat or anyone else's boat.
@@FarReachVoyages Soe ........no you cant.......
@@perfstaas7188. Sure you can. Just not recommended. Just have a stern anchor read to let go and use it as a brake to stop the boat. What I have done on the Far Reach is sail the boat close to the dock and then scull the boat into the slip or to a dock. Done that many times. Maintain positive control. Go to S3EP2 at about 00:35 to see example. In this case I am sculling the boat out of the slip when we were engine free.
a MOB trick would be easier, I think
How so in a crowded anchorage?
@@FarReachVoyages you don't need to do that full fig8. all you need is that final approach upwind to slow down. in your final leg, you have full clearance on starboard from that moored boat. you just need to approach more from port and in the final 3 boat lengths or so head up more, then you'll naturally slow down, I think
In theory yes. With a furling jib or a second person on deck you don't need as much time to set the boat up. If there is a hiccup you can quickly correct it.
I needed time to drop the jib, clear the deck, rig the snubber, and position the boat, all the while keeping an eye out for local boat traffic and changing wind conditions. There is also a slight current carrying us down channel so I ended up further down wind than desired. There is active boat traffic running in and out of Crown Bay Marina to windward which I wanted to avoid. So the ability to perform an inspection pass and then spin the boat around dropping the jib, gybing, and preparing for a mooring pick up with a 16,000 lb full keel boat is unrealistic...unless everything was prepared ahead of time and you have done it a hundred times and everything works "perfectly." Flaking halyards out and ensuring all the lines will run free is essential to a drama free pick-up. One hockle in a halyard and the sail is not coming down when you need it too without rushing around on a suddenly over canvased boat.
Tacking, instead of gybing, the boat and dropping a back winded jib allowed it to fall on the starboard side of the foredeck leaving the port side open for the pick up. It also gave me more time because the boat ends up steering parallel or away from the mooring field vice towards it, which would have given me less time. I also edited out the part where a skiff came along side during an approach to the mooring insisting they give me a tow! 😂.
But I think it is still a good example of methodical careful boat handling without drama concluding with a successful mooring pickup under sail in a crowded harbor with a lot of active traffic. It's the kind of challenge I enjoy.
And, I am always learning and improving my skills. That's what's great about sailing. You can't know it all....you are always improving.