Single Handed Cats

[tomfl]

[QUOTE=boatman61;1265413]

Originally Posted by rabbi

the single most important thing to me is a reliable (!!) autopilot. And a backup.QUOTE]


+A1..

Back in my monohull days I was able to trim the sails so the boat would stay on course without an AP.

I am still experimenting on my Seawind, but by moving the traveler and trimming the sheets on many points of sail I hardly have to touch the sails.

There is also the matter of configuring the AP. Some of them require you to sail in a circle five times or stuff like that.

While toys can make single handing easier there is no substitute for having experience single handing your boat. I was out recently for a day sail and played around with sailing with the screecher and the main with one reef and was a little shocked to find the boat had a lot more weather helm than I expected. I really had to move the traveler more than I would have guessed to reduce the weather helm.

YMMV

[colemj]

Originally Posted by tomfl

There is also the matter of configuring the AP. Some of them require you to sail in a circle five times or stuff like that.

That seems almost a non-sequitar stuck in the body of your post?

Five circles is a lot. Most require the compass to be calibrated by making a single circle. But this is only necessary one time during commissioning of the pilot and doesn't seem to be too onerous a task for a piece of equipment that is going to see a lot of use for many years. Our VHF required more time and setup than that.

Mark

[barnakiel]

Well, most of the time Rays require something like at least +2, often 3 or more circles. And Ray Aps are very common on this side of the pond.

Sometimes they refuse to calibrate and keep you in the circle mod for ever. Damn technology. ;-)

b.

[colemj]

OK, I will grant you 2-3 circles. Once. During the commissioning of the pilot. Is that onerous? Again, our VHF, inverter, battery monitor and many other common electronics required more setup time and effort than that.

In regards to your second sentence, the answer (cause?) of that can be found in your first sentence. This is easily fixed/avoided

Mark

[colemj]

BTW, the AP should work perfectly well if you never do those circle(s). They are only required to calibrate and compensate the compass, not operate the AP. Any other use of the compass may be compromised, but not the AP.

Mark

[salticrak]

This may be of interest. Regarding A.Ps.

Tiki 21 autopilot test sail - Wharram Builders and Friends

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by colemj

OK, I will grant you 2-3 circles. Once.

(...)

I can see you ARE a nice guy ;-)))

+flowers

As we look at Raymarine's website we can see that their new APs do not use the old style compass and do not require calibration. They use a 9-way accel-G-compass sensor. Solid state, big mama.

That's nice, methinks.

b.

[colemj]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

I can see you ARE a nice guy ;-)))

That's funny - it does read differently than I intended. I meant that I recognized that some take 2-3 circles, but this only needs to be done one time.

Mark

[crazycat]

I think it has to do with how you set the boat up. I have a old prout snowgoose, was terrible when I first got it. Now everything is where it needs to be to single hand her. I live in Miami and go to Bahamas for 2-3 weeks at a time or down to Key West. I Even took it to Belize on a 2 year trip. Also your skills come into play when handling any boat alone.

[MehmetCan]

I don't know but turning around 2-3 times (or even 10 times) is not a chore, the worst can happen is people on the shore calling you an "idiot" from distance...

How does this MOB stop and/or circle around thing work during sailing? Anybody tried that?

As for single handing, anything but Jules Verne Trophy cats and PlayStation for that matter. If the lines lead to the helm, if you have good visibility and -preferably- protected position and of course, decent electronics, that's more than enough...

[Rav]

Hi All,

A really interesting discussion very close to my heart.

I am looking for a boat to single hand around the Ionian and I made a list of all the essentials I would need on any boat for singlehanding.

With all that stern to / bows to Med Mooring in crowded little harbours, top of my list was low windage and manoeverability (especially in reverse). Ergo, I set out to choose a modernish short fin keel monohull. Definitely not a cat. Very definitely not one with a single prop.

Hey, guess what I am buying? !!! Yep, a single prop Snowgoose 35. Love at first sight, I am afraid. Logic out the window. I guess i will just have to spend my life as a cruising hermit away from civilisation until I learn to drive the old girl in a straight line.

Really, interesting stuff on the other points. The MOB autostop /circle is a great idea. I am just surprised that the NKE device doesn't give you an option for a DSC MoB call, as well.

I'm no expert but my single handing requriements list was ...
FOR MOORING
- Centre Cleats
- Good dinghy access - ideally, a platform (to get lines ashore quickly.)
- Electric Windlass - with cockpit remote control (only 100 bucks).
- Drum on Pushpit with shore lines.
- Med style Kedge Bucket on pushpit

UNDER WAY
- Furling Genoa
- Manageable sails - (a) In Mast furling that works or (b) well set up Slab reefing with lines to cockpit & lazyjacks, stacker or (c) Ketch rig
- Self Tailing Winches near helm.
- Jackstays
- Autohelm
- Instruments (incl plotter) at helm.
- Lots of pockets around helm for food, flasks, handheld VHFs, etc.

Added to the list is now MoB system, spare authelm, etc.

Of course, if only I could find a maiden who would put up with me for the sake of a life of sun and sea in paradise, then the local Tavernas could get my £££s instead of the chandlers!

Rav.

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by colemj

BTW, the AP should work perfectly well if you never do those circle(s). They are only required to calibrate and compensate the compass, not operate the AP. Any other use of the compass may be compromised, but not the AP.

Mark

I actually found that I needed to do the setup circles another time, when we were in Vanuatu. For some reason, the AP compass wasn't dividing the circle into 360 equal degrees. On some headings a 2 degree course change was more like 10 degrees. A quick couple of circles fixed it.

But yeah, it's really not a hassle at all. Especially compared to the benefits.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

I actually found that I needed to do the setup circles another time, when we were in Vanuatu. For some reason, the AP compass wasn't dividing the circle into 360 equal degrees. On some headings a 2 degree course change was more like 10 degrees. A quick couple of circles fixed it.

But yeah, it's really not a hassle at all. Especially compared to the benefits.

I've never bothered as I sail to the ships compass not the TP's... otherwise the mechanics work just fine... hit the 1* button.. you get 1*... hit the 10* and that's what you get...

[44'cruisingcat]

That was the problem, I'd hit the 1 degree button, but the boat would change course by 5.

Easy fixed though, took maybe all of 5 minutes.

[Rav]

Originally Posted by crazycat

..... how you set the boat up. I have a old prout snowgoose, was terrible when I first got it. Now everything is where it needs to be to single hand her. I........

CrazyCat - I'm about to buy a Prout Snowgoose 35 in the UK and I expect to be sailing singlehanded most of the time.

Any tips that you can give me for setting up the Snowgoose for singlehanding would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Ravi