first sail of 2004

[irwinsailor]

It was Saturday, it was perfect, east wind at 15 -20 knots. We got to sail for 1.5 hours! We had to go in because some of the people that came with had to get back. Why do people come along if they know that they can't stay out? It drives me nuts. What is the best way to stop this from happening? What do you say when you invite people along?

[CSY Man]

What do you say when you invite people along?

You will help cleaning the boat after we get back......

[delmarrey]

how many times I've had: no shows, "have to be at work soon", "yeah, some day soon" (never), "Oh, I don't feel good", " something came up", and on and on.

I've learned over the years to basicly invite other sailboat people out for just a couple hours. Powerboaters are into speed and get bored in no air situations and freak in a 25 kn wind and the boat's heeling over. Heck, just yesterday the winds came up and all the powerboats disappeared and all you could see were sails. It's a state of mind, only true sailors will sail. Others are just dreamers!

When you invite some out, just look at the expression on their face no matter what comes out of their mouth. There are a lot of wanna do-ers without commetment.
I ask only once now, and then setup a date at that time. If there's a cancellation, then THEY have to ask for a new date.

[Jeff H]

I usually tell people at the time that I invite them to join me for a sail of the time I expect to go out and come in and advise them that the way that I daysail, the length of the sail can be weather related. In extreme light or heavy conditions we might shorten the day but in perfect or near perfect conditions we might extend the day and suggest that they prepare to be flexible. Most are willing to be flexible or else advise me if there is some commitment that they can't change (such as a flight they need to catch.)

Congratulations on your first sail of the season. I know how that feels as this weekend was my first sail on Synergy in a long time. She was hit by lightning 7 weeks ago, and we just finished installing all of the new electronics and wiring. While there was no stuctural damage, I also replaced the standing rigging, and some thru-hulls and seacocks. The combination meant that every locker had to be emptied and there was a also fair amount of fiberglass work performed in installing the new transducers, thru-hulls, and glassing shut the old instrument holes. Clean up and putting everything back together and where it belonged was an emormous undertaking. On the other hand I discovered all kinds of stuff that I did not know was aboard the boat, like the Yanmar tool kit and spares that were buried in an aft locker that I did not even realize that I had.

Cheers,
Jeff

[CSY Man]

Mr.Jeff H:

Before yer lighting strike, did ya have the bottle washer in the mast -top and / or the thru hulls bonded and all that?

We have plenty of lightning here in Florida/Bahamas, but have no indication that my 25 year old boat has ever taken a strike, therefore I leaving things like they are: No bonded thru hulls, no grounding plate under the hull, etc.....(Except for the SSB plate)

Wonder if any of that makes any difference or not.....?

As for day-sails...Quit doing 'em a few years ago:
Living on a canal up the New River in Ft. Lauderdale, and it takes over an hour to get to the ocean, then there is the tidal current in the river that sometimes run 2 to 3 knots, bridges that don't open in rush hours and other factors.

Too much work and hazzle to go sailing for a few hours.
4 days is usually the minimum trip we do....Guests are well aware of that...Bring tooth brush and help clean the boat afterwards.

[Stede]

Irwinsailor,

I hear,and share your frustration.Having sailed for about 20 years now,I've been through a few different scenarios.I've taken a lot of people out on a local lake where I keep my boat that had never sailed before.I handle them with kind of a "kid gloves," approach.Making sure the weather is good, the trips short,explaining how the boat heels and won't flip over,etc.I try to make sure they enjoy the experience and hopefully grow to love the sport as much as I do.Some have become "hooked," while others didn't like the slow speed,or lulls of wind.

I've done numerous charters as skipper, with make shift crew.Some were relatives,friends, or aquaintances.Again, some had never sailed before.We always had good trips, but I became frustrated at times feeling like I was a "cruise director," and part of my job was to make sure that everyone had a good time.Crew members whinning about everything from the local rolls being too hard, to the boat's shower head not having water pressure like at home, didn't help relieve my frustration.If the weather turned bad, and we were stuck in a port for a day or two,some seemed to blame the fact on it being a sailing trip,rather than the weather, as they would do if they were on a vacation at the beach.

Over the years, I've found the merits of single-handling more,and more appealing.I'm not anti-social or anything, but I enjoy the freedom while on trips of staying where I want, as long as I want.I find the challenges of handling the boat alone,meeting other cruisers,making an itinerary that suits me, and laying the blame for screw ups only on myself satisfying.On trips to the Outer Banks, Bahamas,Keys,and Tortugas, I met a lot of people that I don't think I would have if I hadn't been a single-handed sailor.

As I'm sure you know, sailors are a special " breed of cat." True sailors love all of it.The bad with the good, is all part of the adventure.Finding, and keeping crew with that mentality is a challenge.Once while in Greece,we were on a small ferry boat traveling from the island of Mykonos, to the tiny island of Delos to view the ruins there. The weather suddenly turned pretty nasty as the Meltemi kicked in.The boat rolled and pitched violently. A few of us were sitting on a fantail bench when the first mate came by to check on us.He pointed at each one of us in turn as he looked at how we were handling it all and said " sailor,.... sailor,.....no sailor,....sailor" Being recognized as a sailor from that old seadog was a honored compliment to me.IMO,some people sail on boats, then there are sailors.The two aren't necessarily one and the same.

[Jeff H]

Hi CSY Man,

My boat does not have a 'bottle brush' and is not bonded. The word from the field is that the 'bottle brushes' seem to attract rather than repell lightning if they do anything at all. I have mixed emotions about bonding. Had my boat been grounded, every thru-hull would have been suspect and I have heard of thru-hulls blown right out of the boat by a lighning strike. We think that the lightning traveled straight down my mast. My mast is keel stepped on a heavy SS beam (until last week I thought it was aluminum) in the bilge which is then bolted to one of the keel bolts. So we conjecture that the lightining passed through the beam, bolts and keel on its journey through the boat. We conjecture that it was the induced current that took out the electrical system.

Having the boat at a dock at my house, and being able to sail in and out of my slip, I do a lot of daysailing or even catch an hour or two out on the water after work. I also get out for a lot of two to four day weekends.

Regards,
Jeff

Jeff

[CSY Man]

Roger on that Mr. Jeff.

Yup, have heard the same thing about them bottle brushes, they have a mixed reputation and some say they attract rather that repel lighting.

If in the vicinity of thunderstorms I make it a point to turn off radios and especially not transmit.....Wonder if I am kidding myself, or if that does make a difference attracting lightning or not?

I had my 7 bronze thru holes bonded for a while, then attached a zink grouper to the bonding wire...Thought I was protecting the boat agains electrolysises and stray currents, galvanic action and all that, but found corrosion on the bronze instead of the grouper loosing weight, so I un-bonded the 7 instead and now it seems to be 'better".
Also have zinks on my rudder gudgeons, the last a year at the most.
Quit using shorepower for battery charging after 2nd. solar panel was installed, perhaps that is why I have less corrosion...
Who knows?

Electricity and me is like cat and dog, we don't understand each other...

Yeah, if ya can daysail without 5 pesky drawbridges, strong currents and a narrow river full of amateur boaters drinking Budweisser and not knowing the rules of the road, ya are lucky...

I have "done" the river a few hundred times now and make money now and then being a river "pilot" for boats going to and fronm yards, but I still have respect for the conditions and try to minimize the head aces and potential problems by not going for day sails....Sometimes the bridges malfunctions and ya get stuck between bridges, all dressed up, but nowhere to go....Have even been stuck overnight, but 2 to 3 hours are more normal.

Had I known all that before I bought this here house on the canal, I may have done somehting else, but on the other hand, pretty "protected" (if such a word can be used) from hurricanes