First Solo Sails

[hoppy]

After a 25 year break from sailing i jumped back in boots and all and bought my SO40 just before Christmas. After only a couple of weeks before summer reminding myself about how to sail and to get used to my boat, i have now started my 6 week summer vacation in the Greek islands with 10 days alone on the boat.

I was quite nervous venturing out of the marina solo, as the last time i sailed solo i was probably 16 and it was a mirror dinghy With the Meltemi blowing though this part of Greece I have been a but worried that this could be a baptisim by fire.

I have now made 5 island hops and I am loving the solo sailing experience. With the exception of day two all of legs have been quite short, under 4 or 5 hours, so it has not been a too taxing experience.

I am finding that i am reefing earlier than i would with a crew and in general being more conservative. I have even got into the habit of wearing a harness on deck ( never done that before, shock horror). Anchoring is a challenge at time when the wind is howling and i cant be at the helm and anchor at the same time. I learnt the hard way the other day that fishing lines and windlasses should not be mixed. As i was trying to up anchor a fishing line got tangled in the windlass. I was lucky i managed to manually pull out enough chain so the anchor could get hold which allowed me to clear the windlass which took 20 minutes. Not sure what i would have done if the anchor did not hold as i was between 2 islands so i could not just drift and cut the line.

I have not yet tried going into a marina just yet. I figure i will wait until my water supply is low before i try that.

I feel like i am learing more doing this alone than if i had even a totally inexperienced crew. Most importantly there is more tinking about what to do next and less "she'll be right mate"



Btw if it was not for CF i doubt i'd be here now

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by hoppy

Anchoring is a challenge at time when the wind is howling and i cant be at the helm and anchor at the same time.

Yes you can be in both places at once.
Remember your autopilot is you friend As you come up to your anhcoring spot have your autopilot on, then drop your revs and go into neutral. As the boat is slowing down you walk slowly and relaxedly forward, as if you own the world (if no one is watching you can run forward ) and run your chain out as the boat stops


Use the auto pioot when picking your anchor up too


Glad you are enjoying it

[hoppy]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Yes you can be in both places at once.
Remember your autopilot is you friend As you come up to your anhcoring spot have your autopilot on, then drop your revs and go into neutral. As the boat is slowing down you walk slowly and relaxedly forward, as if you own the world (if no one is watching you can run forward ) and run your chain out as the boat stops

Use the auto pioot when picking your anchor up too

Glad you are enjoying it

Dropping the anchor has not been a problem other than the ossacional miss judgement of where to drop in a crowded bay. I have not used the autohelm but i have done the casual walk up front.

With the pickup do you have it in gear or do you motor forward, neutral and walk up?

I have a wireless remote for the windlass, but I cant bring in much chain with the windlass unattended, but i can bring it in whilst walking forward and grabbing my poking stick

[roverhi]

I use the autopilot when bringing in the anchor. Set the course to run the boat up the anchor rode and engine at idle in fwd. The boat makes just enough way for the windlass to keep up with the retrieval of chain. I usually leave the anchor hanging off the bow with maybe 10-15' of chain, but well off the bottom, to wash the mud off. Then go back to the cockpit and steer clear of the anchorage. Once clear, I'll either drift or motor slowly under auto pilot as I hoist up the last of the chain. May stack the chain and anchor on deck and was it down if it's particularly mucky. Use a a bucket with a line attached for that at present though I have a washdown pump waiting to be installed.

[MarkJ]

Yes, as roverhi says.

If there is very little wind picking up the anchor just click the auto pilot on and leave the engine in neutral and then I pull in a bit of chain, wait for the boat to move forward and pull some more in... doing some poking etc in between. It normally comes up fine and I can just drift a bit. It doesnt matter if the auto pilot disengages, its just the beeping thats annoying.

When dropping the anchor its always difficult to get it exactly in the right spot so I am never afraid to move it, even if its only a few meters, till its right where I want it. Its not long till I park as close to other boats as I would have with crew. Just be confident and dont worry if you find you need to move.

[hoppy]

After my fishing line incident I have now mounted a fishing knife in the anchor locker in case I forget my l multitool knife.

Just now sailing in a force 2 and calm seas dead down wind. Not brave enough to use my spinnaker pole yet, especially as I know it is not rigged up properly yet, but the goose winging is working well without.

I dont have a boom preventer fitted but I have an "easy gybe" which works just as effectively in the light wind, so much so as I have to loosen it a lot when I want to gybe the main.

[hoppy]

Just managed to survive my first solo med stern to mooring. It went very smoothly like i knew what i was doing. I was very happy that my quick release anchor drop setup worked perfectly. Managed to calmly stat the drop from the helm

I think i need a drink tonight

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by hoppy

Just managed to survive my first solo med stern to mooring. It went very smoothly like i knew what i was doing.

Thats one I haven't done. And not looking forward to it when I do!

Congrats. It has earned you a beer

[hoppy]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Thats one I haven't done. And not looking forward to it when I do!

Congrats. It has earned you a beer

Funnily enough i was not fearing it as it worked fairly well when crewed. Once i figured out how to release the anchor i felt confident. Mind you i was worried it would not "go to script" which is why i have avoided ports until now. The meltemi is howling and going to get worse, no suitable anchorages near by so i was forced into braving it

I am however totally dreading a marina or town with the lazy lines. Even crewded in my marina it has been a complete balls up almost every time.