Violet's Bloom Launched

[Jan Williamson]

Well, yesterday was a most interesting day. I was scared to death :shock: My brother and his girlfriend (both experienced sailors looking for excitement :shock: went with me. Thank goodness because I need a lot of practice. I have a lot of pictures, and video but I don't know how to post video yet. It is digital video too, so as soon as I figure it out, I'll post them.

The weather was mid 80's and supposed to be light and variable winds, but it turned out to be gusty and squirely. My co-captian said we had 15 to 20 knot wind gusts, and beleive me we had the toerails in the water many times :shock: I honestly thought I was going in the drink a couple of times. I had two batteries and two 50 lbs of sand bags in the forepeak. But most to of the time on of the two crew were standing up by the mast, so it seems real stable, unless a gust came along. I got to see the stream of (insert term) what ever it is coming out the back of the boat, very cool. I made my rudder like Barry's airfoil idea, out of a 2x12. Steering seemed really responsive. We sailed for about two hours and then with me brother at the helm, suddenly lost steering. The tiller busted out and released the two eyebolts :? I told my brother, "let's drop sail and motor in" He said no, we'll tack in :shock: . So he reached through the now highly appreciated hatch in the transom deck, and hand steered it back to the dock. I was a nervous wreck, (mainly because the water was cold) but it was way up there in one of the most exciting, and proud moments of my life. Here are a few pix

[attachment over 4 years old deleted by admin]

[Guest]

Bravo!!!!! I can tell you are relieved with the successful launch of it. Starting out your maiden voyage with that much wind and that unexpected problem, can really unnerve you for sure.

[Mark Gudschinsky]

Congratulations and good winds. Can we borrow your lake :?: :lol!:

[adla]

HOW FUN! MORE pictures!!! I am so excited for you....

a.

[Arnie Eaton]

Way to go, girl.

[P Doug (WA)]

CONGRATULATIONS!! And a beautiful boat she is! Man oh man, er I mean lady oh lady it can't get any neater than that!

What was your brothers impression of the boat, as an experienced sailor?

[Barry Pyeatt]

Congratulatons Jan,

This is such an exciting moment. I"ve been thinking about your launch and how well it would go.

I'm sorry to hear that you had a tiller/rudder problem. Have you figured out why it let go? Things must have been pretty well balanced if he was able to sail it back to the launch ramp. That is a really good sign.

Your boat looks fantastic. The photos magnificent. Looks to be a beautiful place to sail. The entire crew looks like it was having a great time.

Glad to hear that the hydrodynamic rudder design worked well. I've got mine ready to go along with the stock design and a third that is in essence just a board with a tapered trailing edge and a rounded leading edge.

Let us know just what is needed to make the repairs to the steering system.

And of course, more photos please.

[capt jake]

Can't say anything more than has already been said. BRAVO, way to go, yeee haaa!!! :))

Very nice job.

[Stump]

Just saw the post. Fantastic!!!!

You ROCK! 8) 8)

[Mike Henderson (Oregon)]

VERY NICE. CONGRATS!!!

[Jan Williamson]

Thank you everyone for the compliments. You know I couldn't have built it without you.

My brother and Kris(girlfriend) said the boat handled real well, felt very stable, and tacked well. The steering was effortless, so I don't know yet what cause the tiller to break. Maybe I just need to beef it up more. You'll see in the pic of the tiller where it broke. and the coupler holding the two eyebolts on. Maybe it needs to be reinforced (doug fir).

[attachment over 4 years old deleted by admin]

[capt jake]

What are your sails made of, can't remember. Everything looks fantastic! Including the crew! :)

[Jan Williamson]

I made them from polytarp. The canopy grade, carpet tape, and white duck tape. I may sew the tape later, or just move forward with the dacron ones. But of course, I way over reinforced them, so they may do fine till next summer.

Thanks, see how relaxed my brother is? And I am hanging on for dear life

[capt jake]

Aye! But you be holdin' the main sheet! ;)

[Jan Williamson]

That is true, and one time I used the sheet to lean out quite far counter balancing. Now how are you supposed to that single handed? :shock:

[capt jake]

That is true, and one time I used the sheet to lean out quite far counter balancing. Now how are you supposed to that single handed?

And if the wind fails???? One wet Jan! LOL Answer to the question, don't know.........

[Frank Hagan]

That is true' date=' and one time I used the sheet to lean out quite far counter balancing. Now how are you supposed to that single handed? :shock:[/quote']

Well, you don't. Have to be a bit more careful when single handing.

You had a very, very eventful launch day! And great to have some experienced people there to give you some instant confidence. You have pushed the boat as far as you can, so you already know its limits. That's really valuable experience!

You'll get to where you can head up into the wind, spill some wind by letting the main sheet out, or spoil the sail shape by loosening the gaff halyard to de-power the boat. The first two are the easiest; letting the gaff flop about up there never appealed to me! When you single hand, you should make sure to wear a PFD and have a whistle attached to it. Also think through situations now, before you single hand, to prepare yourself ... in a knockdown, you have to loose the main sheet, and if you can, loosen the halyards and try to get the sail pushed down the mast toward the boom. Then you stand on the keel, grab the rub rail, and see if you can right the boat.

[Jan Williamson]

Now that's the kind of advise I needed. One thing that was a little more comforting is that my husband and kids were circling us for the first 1 1/2 hours in a power boat just in case of things like that. . I had some question about letting out the main, but I don't think my crew agreed. It is just so scary doing the trial and error thing so I wasn't insisting.

I think I will single hand with the jib alone for a while till I become more familiar. So do you mean loosening the peak halyard?

[Stump]

If I may be so bold, yes he does, it is called scandelizing. Neat word uh?

[Fintan Murphy]

Jan,

congratulations as well from this side of the water.

Regarding letting out the main. This is probably the easiest way of getting you out of touble if a gust hits you.

Think about it, the sails, particularly the main sail, are being pushed by the wind. they will pivot around the base of the mast, and thus the boat heels. This is the same force as a weathervane, except on the horizontal plane instead of the vertical.

The keel is what stops the sails going right over in that it acts in the oppose direction to the push on the sails. Water, being far denser than air, means that a keel can be much smaller in area than the sails.

Now, if a gust hits you, the sails get pushed over further, leaning the boat, (or turning it in a horizontal plane). So the way to counteract this is to let our the mainsheet, which lets out the mainsail so that it does not grab as much wind.

The other method to effect the same thing is to turn the boat up into the wind. But the problem with this method is that you may head into the wind too much and then have to "fall off" the wind again to gain momentum. The other problem is that you may, being close hauled, turn to much and accidentally tack. Unlikely but possible.

At least when you let out the main, the boat leans less, and when the gust is gone, you can bring in the main again and go on your merry way.

Might I also suggest that it would be a good idea to go out with your brother and/or girlfriend a few times and have them explain what they are doing and why. This is a great way of picking up the art of sailing.

Congratulations again