New Member

[poetalan]

Hi there

New member seeking to enjoy cruising. Have my own 34' steel sailing cruiser, but not completely set up for single handed sailing. Looking to crew for others.
I enjoy music, current affairs, debating & writing poetry
TC
Poetalan

[NotQuiteLost]

Good to have you aboard, Poetalan!

Glad to hear you chose the proper hull material for a boat, as well At that size, there shouldn't be much beside radar with proximity alarm and windvane/autopilot needed for safe long-distance singlehanding. The rigging is small enough to be easily handled by one person, and there's likely plenty of space for your self and stuff.

Where are you located?

[poetalan]

Hi NQL
I'm learning to sail single handed. The jib is furling, but not the main.
I'm looking for vane self steering, but new units are so expensive. As for radar, that's after self steering. She's a sound boat, well built. Not too fast but safe. Just fitted a new Kubota engine. The 35 yr old Perkins came out with it's hands up.
Moored Pittwater, Sydney. So beautiful here
TC
Alan

[NotQuiteLost]

Originally Posted by poetalan

Hi NQL
I'm learning to sail single handed. The jib is furling, but not the main.
I'm looking for vane self steering, but new units are so expensive. As for radar, that's after self steering. She's a sound boat, well built. Not too fast but safe. Just fitted a new Kubota engine. The 35 yr old Perkins came out with it's hands up.
Moored Pittwater, Sydney. So beautiful here
TC
Alan

If you're mechanically inclined, you can get good instruction sets online for building your own windvane. They're not that expensive to do yourself, and most of the kits/instructions I've seen people talk about would work just fine for a heavy 34' boat.

Does your main have reef points? If it does, then solo-sailing should be a cinch Just run with less canvas than you think is 'proper' for the situation, and it gives you that fudge factor if you happen to wake up with 15 knots more than you went to sleep with. Life's about the journey anyways, right? Who needs the extra half knot of speed?

Also, the cheap little weatherstations usually have alarms that can be set for when the wind reaches a certain speed. Really, technology has made it a lot simpler for solo-sailors.

During my last eighty day passage, I actually got plenty of sleep. Six hours or so uninterrupted for about five nights per week was plenty to keep me fresh and sane.

[poetalan]

As I'm reasonable with spanners & drill I will investigate the kit option
Any ideas where to start??
Fortunately the main has 2 reefing positions. I haven't been out in really heavy weather yet. That pleasure awaits me, but I have a good sea anchor made from a car tyre and marine ply, & plan to use it in that instance.
I sleep well on the boat too. I think it's to do with the energy expended in staying upright whilst awake.

TC

Alan

[NotQuiteLost]

I don't know any sites off-hand, and my internet connection is too slow to go surfing for links. A google search is probably a quick way to find something, and if you don't find anything in the next day or so I'll see what I can dig up when I've got better access.

Also, I know some people here used designs they found in sailing books on Amazon.com. But again, I don't remember names.

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha and welcome aboard!
Good to have you here and good luck on getting out there sailing.
kind regards,