Dumb question regarding hauling the mainsail

[Adax]

Freerider, you are indeed talking about us !
Ex Cali, unfortunately you are right about the listening part. I am coming to the conclusion that we need two boats which is financially not possible.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by Adax

Hola Skipmac,

Muchas gracias.
on the Buenos Aires side, but to make things even more mixed, I am originally from Germany. So I speak a little sailing latin in every language, something like jack of all trades master of none. I am trying to concentrate on Spanish as I am still planning to get my coastal skipper licence. One day...

So you speak sailing in German, Spanish, English (more?) and I can barely speak sailing English. Maybe I'm a jackass of all trades.

[Adax]

Good suggestions and I have asked to do the whole maneuver but he won´t allow it. I was only asking for technical advice to see if I was being unreasonable with him and to save my floundering confidence, but you guessed more than I anticipated.
50 times we have sailed together and in reasonable weather things go great, but when it gets a bit gusty I really do not want to have the helm cold without at least having experienced the feel of it for 2 minutes before it counts. We have done it a few times, it works well, but he prefers it his way. It spoils my enjoyment, but as it his boat I will step off his deck.

[DeepFrz]

Sometimes it helps if women take sailing lessons with other women. It helps build their confidence in a non competitive environment.

Perhaps the skipper gets a little bit anxious when the conditions aren't exactly nice. A good talk about what you need in a more relaxed environment might help.

[Adax]

Thank you Deepfrz. You are probably right .

[SkiprJohn]

If the abuse continues find a new Captain. There is no reason to sail with someone who makes you feel uncomfortable. Your Captain should be training you to feel confident and sure of yourself.
kind regards,

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by SkiprJohn

If the abuse continues find a new Captain. There is no reason to sail with someone who makes you feel uncomfortable. Your Captain should be training you to feel confident and sure of yourself.
kind regards,

I completely agree with this statement! This "Captain" is not only not teaching you skills to advance your abilities, he is demonstrating the wrong way to do things, both in terms of boat handling and in crew management.

Jump ship at the first opportunity!

Cheers,

Jim

[Adax]

Cheers people, but he would be the first to say that I need another teacher. He was horrified when I told him how I felt and the last thing he wants to do is to spoil sailing for me. He is a sweetheart in the rest of our life, so I will heed the advice and get a different teacher so as not to stress our relationship any more. Stress due to lack of experience as a teacher and lack of time on water is what it in effect boils down to.
Thank you for sharing your experiences and tips with me, it helped a lot

[thinwater]

Yup, the skipper should be capable of givin instruction that work. It is always more plesant to take down sails at minimum speed, but it sounds like he underestimated the wind just a bit. And he should have know that an inexpereinced hand might require just little more speed than someone used to the specfic boat.

1. Head to wind vs. beam aligned with the wind. This actually varies a bit with the slug/track/bolt rope araingment. Some can be dropped at any angle, some require the boa to be near head to wind. I've had both.

2. Current. Didn't we learn in physics--and in life--that any non-accelerating frame of refference is equivalent? Current away from shore generally has very little effect on handling--in fact may be undetectable without a reference or instruments--with the following exceptions:
a. Waves that originated outside of the tidal area. This is the common "tide against wind" effect. However, it only happens when the waves, say from the ocean, enter a tidal course. A bend in the river can also do this. Since waves travel very long distances, they always see the curent as "accelerated" when compared to where they originated. The effect can be severe where the waves first meet he current, nd generally sorts itself out, though that can take a very long distance if the waves are of moderate size.
b. Current very near land, where it is flowing at one speed at one end/side of the boat and differently on the other side/end. This is why a kayak entering the stream will spin. It's fasinating to watch Mississippi river pilots work big barge string through New Oreals during high flow. And of course docking a pain in a current, rather like parking a car when the lot is moving.

But no, a tidal current out in the middle of a river or bay will not push the nose around, any more than we can detect through our senses that the universe is expanding at a frightful velocity. We can detect the rotation of the earth, because that involes continual angular acceleration.

3. Steering with the outboard, if possible, can allow a small boat to hold into the wind at nearly zero speed. This can be very useful waiting out a brief thunderstorm, since it minimizes wave impacts and makes it easier to keep the prop in the water.

[chris_gee]

For a boat to be steered it needs water flowing over the rudder generally at about walking speed. If you are heading into a current, with no throttle the boat is moving backwards with the current, a bit more throttle and it matches the current but will be effected by any wind, then still more throttle it moves forward. If it starts to get off course the wind will push the bow away. To easily stay on course you need enough throttle to make headway and get steerage. The best person to tell how it is going is the person steering who adjusts the throttle to get the right speed. You were correct and the skipper seems to have misjudged it.
The hardest thing most newbies seem to find is actually pointing into the wind ie knowing where the wind is coming from, despite the many indicators, ie boom, wind vane, waves, and feel of the wind. It can be frustrating and even difficult trying to get the sail down in any wind when the boom is hanging out. Consequently getting some practice at the steering first is a good idea.

[DtM]

Get a mainsail with batten cars and lazy jacks/boom bag !!!

Point into the wind and just let the halyard fly.

[Adax]

Just an update. We went out yesterday and everything worked beautifully, even in a spot where we had little room to set sails . ( Low water levels yesterday and in that particular part of the river there are very few "deep" water areas) As I thought and you confirmed the split in labour makes all the difference to making this a lot easier.

[charliehows]

or...if you have searoom, heave to and let the main down in the shelter of the jib...hang on...might need a ketch rig for that...