keeping old sails?

[Canibul]

We received 10 sails with this old boat. The current set, a few light air sails, and all the original sails. Two jibs and a main. The current setup on the boat is a furled 130% genoa and a second forestay for hanking on other sails. I could use either of the old, small original jibs there, or our drifter. But since the boat has been converted to a roller furled main, I can't really use the original main sail.

Do you guys carry a bunch of old sails around with you as backup or spares? I'm thinking of getting rid of a couple of these sails but not sure what to do with them. Lotta darcron there.

[Sailmonkey]

We kept our old main and mizzen at someone's house who could ship it to us if needed. All of the headsails were on the boat (all hank on at the time).


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[Canibul]

Thats a good idea.

[Stumble]

We donate old sails to a Dominican Republic non-profit. They repurpose them to use as awnings, and fishing boat sails.

[thinwater]

There are lots of 2nd hand sail stores. Just sold an old main. I also bought a barely used (unused?) storm jib for a prior boat.

The way I look at it, anything short of sailing around the world, you are probably better off repairing the first set than wasting time on the stretched-out, sunburned second set. Sell them. The old main is no brainer; it no longer fits you boat.

First I would use them all so that I knew what they were not in the first string. My experience is with full batten mains, where they gradually stretch but seldom fail. Light air jibs are a different matter. You should be able to get down to 5 sails, easily.

[Canibul]

Those are some good ideas, as I hate to throw away all this dacron, but I'm not paying international shipping rates to donate anything, and there are zero sail stores of any kind around here.

Its going to be pretty sad, but I suspect several of them are just going to the landfil. So far I haven't come up with any other ideas. We're selling the house and moving onto the boat, so we have no storage here for them. I did think about leaving them with someone to ship to us if we needed them, but that won't work either. Too much hassle to ship something from here. Takes a half a day or more of someone's serious effort, plus money plus paperwork just to set it up.

[Wrong]

Originally Posted by Sailmonkey

We kept our old main and mizzen at someone's house who could ship it to us if needed. All of the headsails were on the boat (all hank on at the time).

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And if your mainsail is damaged beyond repair by a nasty squall half way to the Marquesas?

How will you receive your mainsail being held at someone's house? FEDEX or UPS? US Coast Guard?

[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by Wrong

And if your mainsail is damaged beyond repair by a nasty squall half way to the Marquesas?

How will you receive your mainsail being held at someone's house? FEDEX or UPS? US Coast Guard?

That's not the point. I can jury rig something for a leg like that. Rather, our old main was still quite serviceable, it was replaced when cash was plentiful. If shipping in a box of Dacron costs less than a new replacement then the old main gets shipped. Where it sits now is in an unused corner of a warehouse, preboxed, if needed.


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[Prairie Chicken]

Some handy people with heavy duty sewing machines are making sea bags, sail bags, duffle bags, hand bags, and more with old sails--depending on their weight. If know know a crafty person they may be happy to take them off your hands.

[Wrong]

Originally Posted by Sailmonkey

That's not the point. I can jury rig something for a leg like that. Rather, our old main was still quite serviceable, it was replaced when cash was plentiful. If shipping in a box of Dacron costs less than a new replacement then the old main gets shipped. Where it sits now is in an unused corner of a warehouse, preboxed, if needed.

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I'm curious. What's the 'jury rig' plan you have in place and what materials must be on hand to do the rig?

Good seamanship does not rely on people shipping otherwise critical components when and if we should ever need them. This includes spares. Anyone planning an ocean crossing must carry sufficient water, food, fuel...and spares of all types, including sails. If you believe the sea gods will look favourably upon you, and you'll never lose your mainsail in a storm, knock down and or roll, then why bother keeping the main sail at all?

[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by Wrong

I'm curious. What's the 'jury rig' plan you have in place and what materials must be on hand to do the rig?

Good seamanship does not rely on people shipping otherwise critical components when and if we should ever need them. This includes spares. Anyone planning an ocean crossing must carry sufficient water, food, fuel...and spares of all types, including sails. If you believe the sea gods will look favourably upon you, and you'll never lose your mainsail in a storm, knock down and or roll, then why bother keeping the main sail at all?

I carry spare dacron, sunbrella, bedsheets, thread, needle, etc......but not all that and the spare main sail. If need be I can put together something out of the other sails or the repair items I've onboard......This still doesnt change my reasons for keeping the old main in storage. Once I've arrived at a port with my shredded and spliced sails, then if need or situation dictate I can have my other sail shipped. If other options that trump shipping are there then they'd be employed first.
There comes a point when you can only fit so much crap onto a 32' boat, I know my skill sets, I know what I can make with what I have. If you feel insecure leaving port without two mainsails then so be it. I do not. I make my decision to leave a ready to ship sail with family with full knowledge that I may wish I had it in the middle of the sea......but also with the statistical understanding that on the boat it may rot into useless trash before being used.

[nimblemotors]

Haven't you seen the new drone delivery services? They will fly anywhere and drop off stuff for you.

I still have a bunch of old sails, and I really need to get them out of my backyard. (i'm now down to only 4 cars and 2 boats and four engines at my house )

Originally Posted by Wrong

And if your mainsail is damaged beyond repair by a nasty squall half way to the Marquesas?

How will you receive your mainsail being held at someone's house? FEDEX or UPS? US Coast Guard?

[Wrong]

Originally Posted by Sailmonkey

I carry spare dacron, sunbrella, bedsheets, thread, needle, etc......but not all that and the spare main sail. If need be I can put together something out of the other sails or the repair items I've onboard......This still doesnt change my reasons for keeping the old main in storage. Once I've arrived at a port with my shredded and spliced sails, then if need or situation dictate I can have my other sail shipped. If other options that trump shipping are there then they'd be employed first.
There comes a point when you can only fit so much crap onto a 32' boat, I know my skill sets, I know what I can make with what I have. If you feel insecure leaving port without two mainsails then so be it. I do not. I make my decision to leave a ready to ship sail with family with full knowledge that I may wish I had it in the middle of the sea......but also with the statistical understanding that on the boat it may rot into useless trash before being used.

And there is much less you can fit onto a 27' boat.

But I've had a nasty squall rend a mainsail leech-to-luff en route to the Marquesas. And, after spending the better part of a week enduring the challenge of repairing the sail on the boom (no room below), on a rolling boat being moved slowly under jib alone, trying to keep my chest from hitting the boom with each roll, unable to work on it at all on some days due to the oppressive heat; I now carry a spare.

Even if the spare is battenless and smaller than your stock mainsail in order to facillitate folding and reduce its bulk, carrying a spare is highly recommended.

I consider it an essential addition to my spares list...

[Wrong]

Originally Posted by nimblemotors

Haven't you seen the new drone delivery services? They will fly anywhere and drop off stuff for you.

I still have a bunch of old sails, and I really need to get them out of my backyard. (i'm now down to only 4 cars and 2 boats and four engines at my house )

Now I know where at least half the dollar boats in Richardson Bay came from!

[Ryan H]

At the very least you could try for a quick sell on Craigslist. Just take a pic of the sail unrolled in the yard with rough dimensions and something around 100$obo should do the trick.

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