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You people are going to start thinking I can't do anything right...


Ken_Potts

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  (maybe some of you already think so)  ;D

  I headed out for a thankgiving morning sail on Jordan Lake and the weather was a bit playful.  The wind seemed to be blowing somewhere around 10 knots from the SSW but there were some pretty hard (and frequent) gusts.

  I exercised the judgement that might someday gain me 15 minutes of fame and set up the full rig.  I thought I'd play around a bit then switch to the reefing step if I wasn't having fun.  I guess I probably should have reversed that order - Set up with the mizzen in the reefing step and move to the full rig if I was bored.

  I put the boat in the water and said hello to the guy who was fishing off the dock.  I headed off on a close reach but before I even crossed the lake once I bore off on a broad reach to see how fast I could go :)  some of the gusts were a bit disconcerting but I was impressed yet again by Southbound's forgiving handling.  I'd get up to speed and giggle some and then a gust would hit and the boat would heel over far enough to kill my speed (and make me thankful for the PFD) and then I'd still have time to do something about it.  I'd luff and recover and turn the boat back on course in time for the end of the gust.  Good fun, really.  I managed 8.5 knots with just me in the boat.  If I had ballas...  er, crew aboard we'd have been able to sail through the gusts too and I probably would have gotten a personal best speed.

  Within a few laps across the lake I decided that 7.5 knots is where the real fun begins - It seems like there's sort of a step between 7ish and 7.5 where I go from a relaxed smile to a wide-eyed giggle.

  Eventually I got a little too roughed up by one gust and decided to round up and reef.  As I looked upwind I saw that this gust wasn't a gust - It was our new weather.  The water was dark with windblown waves as far as I could see.  The plan was kind of cumbersome - I was going to roll up both sails, motor back to the dock, and move the mizzen to the reefing step while tied up to the dock (the dock was in the lee of some trees).  I brought Southbound into the wind, sheeted the mizzen in hard and tied the tiller nearly centered.  The main was flapping hard and loudly when I went to ease the snotter and remove the sprit boom from the clew.  I planned to free the boom from the clew and then pull it back and drop it in the cockpit before going forward to roll up the main.  As I released the snotter from the cleat I droppped it and the wildly flogging main sail shook the boom free at BOTH ends.  I saw the boom as it bounced off the deck into the water.  I knew it was lost forever because I really had to get the sails rolled up.  I managed to get the main sort of rolled and tied off and repeated the process on the mizzen (without losing the sprit boom).  I started the motor and went on a boom hunt.  I had been glancing to windward when I could to mark the position of the boom as I drifted away from it and I knew I was quite a long ways from it when the search began.

  I headed to windward keeping a lookout and when I was definitely too far to windward to find it I headed downwind again.  Once I'd run a couple of laps I decided that my initial impression was correct and I was never going to see that boom again.

  Somewhere in there the messily rolled-up main started coming loose and I had to head downwind and roll the main up more neatly (note to self: do it right the first time).

  Eventually I headed back to the dock and the guy who was still fishing there said there had been another sailboat out there before me but he'd gone over twice and eventually was towed off the lake by a powerboat.

  The three windsurfers out there were SCREAMING across the lake :)

  The good news is my sprit booms are made of ugly knotty wood and I've always considered them temporary.  I'll go find some good straight-grained doug fir tomorrow and make the new boom this weekend.

  So what would I do different?  As mentioned earlier I'd start under mizzen-only and move the mast if the weather wasn't as bad as it looked.  I haven't really decided if I'll devise some sort of keeper for the sprit boom.  I think today was kind of a fluke and I'll be watching for it next time the sail is flying around while I ease the snotter.

  I hope all you U.S. folks had a happy Thanksgiving (I know I did) and all you non-U.S. folks had a good day.

  If the wind blows hard enough this weekend I'll be at Jordan under only the mizzen - Otherwise I'll be working on my brand new sprit boom. :)

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I enjoyed your story and other than losing the boom, it sounds like a great day sailing.  It started snowing here mid-afternoon and when I stuck my head out the back door, everything is coated with a couple of inches of snow....yuck.  We are getting lake effect snow, which can really pile up fast. Please keep sharing these sailing stories.  It certainly helps my morale through these Michigan winters.

Thanks :) :)

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  Thanks Greg,

  I guess I did something right just by getting out on the water then  :)  I'll share more sailing stories as soon as I have the new boom...

  If it's any consolation I just got off the phone with some friends in Montana who are reporting a foot of snow and 11 degrees F - And crazy as it may sound I'll be envious of your lake effect snow when we finally get to our normal 33-degrees-and-raining winter here.  Can't ski on rain.

  Is there a Florida messabout in the winter or should we start one?  We could trailer our boats down to the panhandle and sail and eat crab and drink beer (or iced tea, whatever)...  The Snowbird Regatta...  Yeah, that's it!

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Guest ib1boatnut

I don't understand all the terms yet, but it sounds like you had fun and everyone is home safe a good day in anyones book. Our water has been iced over for a month now and only 5 more to go and I hope I will have my own story. If I quit spending so much time reading forums like this one my boat may actually be ready by then. I have a lot to learn and stories like yours sure help. That snowbird thing sounds cool er I mean warm  :D

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Ken, glad you got in okay.  I'm trying to figure out how the forward end of the sprit came loose.  Mine is rigged with the snotter thru a becket block bolted through the end of the sprit and then clipped to a loop of line around the mast.  Do you have the slotted sprit instead?

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Boatnut - Get to work!  If you're anything like me you're not going to want to work on a boat when the warm weather arrives.

Mike - I do consider it a relatively successful day.  I'm just getting tired of losing boat parts :)

Garry - Thanks for sharing your story too.  I enjoyed the pics also.  I guess everybody who goes out ends up being challenged once in a while.

Jeff - Yep.  My booms are slotted at the front.  The boom was shaken out at BOTH ends by the flogging of the sail.  When it hit the deck and bounced into the water it was horizontal (it didn't drop one end first).  Are you saying you've got extra purchase compared to as-drawn?  Does the snotter turn down towards the deck at the mast or at the end of the sprit boom?

   I was lazy today.  I went into work late, worked a half-day and left early for the lumberyard.  I found a doug fir 2x2 with clear and fairly straight grain, 42 rings per inch (yes, I was so happy about the stick that I actually got out the jeweler's loupe and tape measure and counted the rings) ;D

   Now I've got the new sprit boom shaped and almost ready to paint.  I held off on the paint just in case the weather might allow me to sail this weekend.  So tomorrow I'l either be siling or painting.

   If I end up sailing I'll be sure and post an update about whatever I happen to lose overboard this time  ;D

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Hey Ken,

Sorry I missed our post about sailing on Thurs. I checked the forum a little too late. Sure sounds like I missed out! Too bad about the sprit boom. Maybe these awesome warm windy late late fall days will stick around a little longer and I can get out to the lake soon. I have finals coming up soon so not sure. My dad and I are working like crazy over the break and got back from visiting family today. More work this weekend. http://www.sailnaway.blogspot.com

aVnmLA.jpg

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  Hey Alan,

  You missed it again - I'm going sailing RIGHT NOW.  I should be at Vista Point between 12:00 and 12:30 if you and your dad need an excuse for a long lunch break.  You're too busy right now to show up but if you do and I'm on the lake already just wave wildly from the dock.  I'll try to keep an eye out for you.  It's not slacking off - It's research  :)

  I checked your blog and the boat is coming along nicely.  One warning - When I installed the centerboard trunk I was very careful and I still ended up with it picnhed in a bit in the middle.  It took lots of grinding to get the board skinny enough to fit.  It would be reasonable to install a temporary block, a little wider than the board, in the bottom of the trunk before installing the trunk.

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