Craig Posted June 1, 2003 Posted June 1, 2003 Yesterday was not too promising. Winds 10 to 15 at 0900 to build to 20 with higher gusts by 1600. Two others and I went out anyway. The waves were 1.5 with some at up to 4s. Strong 15kt wind out of the SSW running right down the bay. I put the first reef before we left the dock. Damn good thing, as it was so rough I wouldn't want to go up on deck with no other sailor aboard to handle the boat. People have the hardest time keeping them into the wind. We had a blast, we ran NW-SE from about 10:30 to 14:30. The GPS said a pretty steady 6.2 to 6.4 kts. Coming down the backsides of the big waves the speed would hit 7 kts for a little bit! Not bad for an overweight 7 kt hull. I could lock the wheel with my knee or foot and steer with the main sheet. The seas stayed OK till mid afternoon when the waves were more 3 - 4ft than lower. The winds were building and starting to gust so we went in. The nice part of the sail was that I was getting that speed with the boat nearly level in the water. No more then a 15- 20 degree heel most of the time. These things will go like hell when you get them trimmed out right. I had the wheel braced with my foot and when the puffs would heel us over the lead kept her up and the rail out of the water almost all of the time. When it did dip it was only for a second and she came back up as she tried to round up. The puff would die and she would work right back to her course. I am sold on that ballast. That a the wide beam make these very well behaved boats I have to tell you all that I am feeling my age today however. I really didn't feel like the boat was beating me up but you have to watch them close with the wind that high and I didn Quote
Mike Pennington Posted June 2, 2003 Posted June 2, 2003 Craig, You maniac! Well at least you reefed the sail. Jeeze, wouldn't the two of us on the same bay be a gas. They would have to call out the coasties to clear the bay of us. No never mind that, clear the bay for us I meant! Mike Quote
Frank Hagan Posted June 2, 2003 Posted June 2, 2003 Hmmmm ... how much ballast did you add? And where? Quote
Russ Sylvester Posted June 2, 2003 Posted June 2, 2003 This whole weekend was like that. A coule of times I thought about going out but after checking the wind decided to not go. Would have been a wild ride if the rig would've stayed together. Quote
Knut Posted June 2, 2003 Posted June 2, 2003 That really sounds like a pretty wild ride and it must have been a lot of fun. I bet you slept like a baby the following night. Some questions: How much ballast and where (+ material)? Main reef = a slab reef (jiffy reef)? How much reduction? What jib size was up in combination with your reefed main? I am 58 myself. What age are you talking about feeling? (Who would not feel it after such a day???). Did you try to beat against the waves and if so, how well did you manage (very light boat and I have the feeling of stopping in the waves)? Quote
Craig Posted June 2, 2003 Author Posted June 2, 2003 Mike one mans maniac is another idiot. I wish you could have been here it was tireing but fun. It would be really nice if some one around here would build one of these. Dan has a Wkndr but he is still up North selling the house. Frank the added ballest is ~265 lb cast in overlapping plates to surround the mast box. They are held in place by a wedgeboard that keeps them from going forward. I raised my rig 18" and the ballest is to restore the righting moment and to retrim the boat after the addition of the big motor and my fat a... Russ you need to come up here and sail with me some time. We really need to have a weekend at some mid point this summer. Kurt, My sail suite (suit?)was cut by Sailright and assembled by myself. The design is Stevenson stock except my foot is fuller and flown loose. The peak is also a bit higher. I asked for two reefs to be added and they are ~ 20% if the area each. I guess about 36" from the foot and 36 from the first reef. I only used the first. I tied in the front and back reef points and ladder laced the in betweens with 1/4" rope. Easy to shake out that way. The outhaul was chinced as tight as possible and the foot left loose. The jib is std Stevenson and is about 60-70%. Working jib I think it is called. I am 57 but would have guessed 70 Sunday morning. Slept like a rock. In seas like that I take the waves on the quarrter bow if possible. A well trimmed Vac will take them head on but it is a real pain if the nose is high. You will get wet either way. Be crareful with the Vacs and a following sea. That wide stern wants to wallow and if you are not watching she will jibe or broach. Quote
Russ Sylvester Posted June 3, 2003 Posted June 3, 2003 Umm, OK, but you're going to have to give me a couple of months to get Opus cleaned up. If I remember correctly your vacationer was quite the work of art and you would just laugh at mine. She's suffered through a LOT of sailing in the last few months and it's really beginning to show with the dings, dents, scrapes and such. My plan is to drydock her this fall and do a pretty intense teardown and refinishing. Although I would love to see a vacationer in person. Quote
Craig Posted June 3, 2003 Author Posted June 3, 2003 Russ the Saralee wa built and finished to use. And use her we do. The paint is lumber yard latex for quick touch ups and I don't worry about mar and tar from the dock pilings. And hit them we have. Sara made a direct hit with tthe sprit on a piling a few weeks ago. I hollered "bulls eye" and she smiled like she had done good. I keep the can of white on the bench for times like that. Quote
Russ Sylvester Posted June 3, 2003 Posted June 3, 2003 Oh good, somebody else that has put some major 'ah $*!ts' on the boat. I thought I was the only one that had actually screwed up enough to try to skewer the dock head on with the bowsprit. Luckily there was only one person on the dock at the time and she looked at me like I was nuts or something. All I could do was shrug my shoulders and say "oops!". Yeah, we'll have to hook up somewhere along the line. Would make for a neat picture to have a vacationer and a weekender side by side for comparison. I know I've always wondered just how much bigger a vacationer really is compared to a weekender. It would have to be in the august or september time frame as june and july are booked solid. Quote
Craig Posted June 3, 2003 Author Posted June 3, 2003 One of my kids lives in Jacksonville so this is a real possability. We have to go up north in July to see the old folks so that is shot and I am snowed under at work right now. Too many project too little $$. I an fixing to dump some of these dogs and cats. everyone thinks I can feed a crew on fee-for-sevice. You ever see 10 mad wives on a friday with no paychecks? Not pretty, really not pretty! :roll: Quote
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