Upwind motoring while using a reefed main and a storm sail?

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Yep, you "create" wind when motorsailing. The headsail/main slot works well and lifts you up more into the wind, also gaining speed especially if you are fighting any wave action.

It's much better with flat mainsail alone sheeted in as tight as possible, at least on my old boat with the jib cars on the rail, when trying to point as close as possible to the wind to make way

My boat (a Bristol 27) is terrible at pointing.

I was used to somewhere near 30 degrees off on my last beachcat with its high aspect ratio main. The boom was so short it would fit in my jeep and the luff was around 31' or so. This on a 300lb/17' boat.

Motoring into the wind with the 5 hp and flat main though on the Bristol really helps with pointing and gets me home at a reasonable time on Sundays during the season

[Moontide]

Alchemy,

Lots of big words but i think you maybe mean algae, or some other bad boy, blocking the pickiup. Also learned that the hard way, but diesel algae is interesting, like dryer top layer on an opened can of latex paint.

Back to the OP Check Minney's in Newport Beach. Can pickup up whatever sail is equivalent to a blade (80-90%) kib. sheet it well inboard and it will give you half a knot or more. if really serious get an undersized main that is equivalent to a double or triple reef. Also very cheap and will save a lot of wear and tear on your regular main. There's a reason race boats do this for deliveries.

Have a great trip. Hope you have time as there are lots of great stops, mostly every 30-40 miles, once north of SF.

Bill

[jkindredpdx]

Many years ago we came up from Mexico under power and debated somewhat about raising sails. I was the proponent of a reefed main and, under heavy winds, a storm jib, not for propulsion, but to diminish rocking. One stormy moonless night, I was the deck ape sent forward to ride the bucking bronco and hank on the storm jib when our skipper agreed with my logic. That was a ride I'll never forget, but it sure helped the motion.

[bwells79]

Something not mentioned if you have not motor sailed with your boat before; I would caution you to keep an eye on engine temperature. If you are heeled enough to get your cooling water intake out of the water you could have problems.

[donradcliffe]

Go with the tried and true west coast delivery configuration. Double reefed main and no jib. Don't waste your money on the headsail. Unless you go out to Hawaii, just go up the coast. There are frequent gales 300 miles out, and you want the option to duck into a harbor if things are looking bad.

[Schooner Chandlery]

Best of luck with your trip. We've done the San Diego to San Francisco leg countless times --every one of them different times of year and different weather experiences. The SF to SE Alaska leg only two times (once each way). What we got on the SF->Neah Bay, WA was wonderful sailing because we went up in March on a series of southerlies...gales actually that well suited our heavy 30T boat. On the way south, early fall, we had calms or again southerlies so we motor sailed back south. A bit of a strange experience that one.

You will likely have the NW winds, if you're lucky you might have W winds and can really enjoy a sail. When it is big seas but no winds, we motor with a tightly sheeted flat foresail (we're a gaff rigged schooner, so that's in the middle of the boat) and tightly sheeted staysail. If we can pick up a little winds for motorsailing, sure we'll fall off a bit to do that. It really depends on the conditions. The boat is happier motorsailing, letting the wind steady us as we cut through the waves rather than rolling with them. If it is truly calm, we go w/o sails up at all. If a bit of a seaway, but not much, we'll just have the tightly sheeted staysail up.

You will hopefully have a lovely trip. If the winds aren't working FOR you, try to stay close into shore. When we had no winds and motored down the coast WA to SF we were in the crabpot-free tow zone about 10nm out from shore. When we saw a bit of a head wind (17 hrs of 20 kts from the South right on our nose between the Columbia River and Coos Bay area) another boat that was 40 nm off to the west was seeing 40 kts on the nose in the same period. They had to go into Crescent City for fuel while we did not, solely based on that decision of theirs to stay a little further out. Conversely, if you have wind to work with, it's much better 30 nm to 60 nm off the land.

It took us 5-1/2 days from SF to Neah Bay WA sailing up in the spring and motoring down in the fall. The SD to SF leg for us has been as short as 75 hours and as long as 100 hours of sailing or motor sailing time.

Along the entire coast the strongest headwinds or tailwinds and/or sea conditions we've faced were around Point/Cape Blanco (southern OR) and second worst was along the Big Sur coastline just south of Point Sur (mid CA).

Because our boat is heavy and big, we tend to go out in bigger winds and seas that is probably the norm. If we're going to sail, we need big winds. We do like to catch the winds that come with storm systems so my own impressions of the Pacific are that it can be very rough seas. No matter that, it's always a lovely trip and I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

About ducking into harbor? Don't plan on it/don't count on it. If the conditions are nasty, the bars will be nasty or closed. Plan on continuing to your destination. While there are a few wide open places to get into, once you've left SF heading for WA, it's best to just think that you'll make it in at Neah Bay in the Strait and not before. You will have no disappointments if you have no expectations about the matter of getting in out of the conditions at sea.

The least enjoyable experience I've ever had at sea was when my husband and I (sailing shorthanded as we always do) did not stand watches during a long daysail expecting to anchor for the night before going on. We had no autopilot at the time (it was during our 2 years of sailing w/o an autopilot) and couldn't get into our planned anchorage so had to sail through the night to the next anchorage. Bummer of an experience as we were tired from a long spirited day of sailing and had to continue sailing through the night. Expectations: if we had expected to have to sail the night, we would have rested and taken watches during the day. So now, we sail as if we will not make it into port until our final destination.

Have a great trip.

[roverhi]

With our over powered Westsail, 25hp in a 22,000# boat, used to motorsail occasionally,. Sheet in the staysail and reef the main and we'd pick up a knot or so over just powering about 20-30 degrees off the relative wind. Also made the motion of the boat a lot better.