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Daylight - who needs it?

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JimB517
Past Commodore

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USA
3285 Posts

Initially Posted - 11/06/2007 : 17:05:18

You may have read my depressed lament about the loss of daylight savings time and how that curtails my sailing every day after work. Although I am quite willing to sail back into the harbor after dark, I rarely leave to go out when it is dark. I did just that last night, leaving the slip around 5:30 and sailing through until about 7:30, back in the slip by 8 and on the road for home by 8:15.

Night sailing with heavy fog not far offshore was fun. Really the experience was not that different from normal after work sailing. Since I could not really see the telltales I had to sail much more by feel. Winds were light, seas were fairly calm, and it was damp and cold. I did not get the spinnaker up. Due to the fog the view to the west was interesting - pitch black with no horizon and no difference between sea and sky. Waves and wind were invisible.

I may do some more of this.

Sunday I had a great sailing day and went about 10 miles offshore to the 9 mile bank. A 5 knot reach out and back. It was windy and cold. I made coffee on the way in (need to come up with a way to clamp the coffee pot to the stove). Any ideas?

I've been giving a new friend at the office sailing lessons. We go out every Monday night. On lesson 1 I simply took him out to the ocean, showed him how to raise and lower sails, and let him steer upwind. On lesson 2 we stayed in the harbor and sailed a triangle race course letting him steer and carve around buoys as close as possible while I trimmed. Then we switched places. He learned to start and stop the motor, steer a course, handle the boat, and get sails up and down.

Last night we covered night sailing in light air. He steered almost the whole time. Steering is easier than trimming. I took over at the end to get the boat in the harbor with light headwinds. He dropped and flaked all the sails, helped me put the boat away.

Suggestions for lesson 4? I don't want to do a night spinnaker set but maybe setting the pole for downwind work would be good (me on the foredeck, him steering and pit).

Another idea is teaching the electronics (radio, GPS, autopilot, depthfinder). I've already gone over basic emergency use of these items. I use these items all the time but the idea would be to let him use them while I watch.

Your ideas are appreciated.

Indiscipline 1978 FK SR #398

Edited by - on

Frank Hopper
Past Commodore

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Pitcairn Island
6776 Posts

Response Posted - 11/06/2007 : 17:07:42

Anchoring?

Edited by - on

Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 11/06/2007 : 17:42:45

MOB drill? (No, Jim--don't jump in!)

Edited by - on

delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 11/06/2007 : 18:31:47

I agree with Dave, MOB drills would be the thing. That way if you manage to go for a swim while you're up on the foredeck in later lessons, he knows what to do to get you back on board.

Edited by - on

ClamBeach
Master Marine Consultant

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3072 Posts

Response Posted - 11/06/2007 : 19:35:44

"could not really see the telltales"

If you don't have one yet, a LED headlamp with red lens is better than sliced bread at night.

Edited by - on

stampeder
Master Marine Consultant

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1608 Posts

Response Posted - 11/06/2007 : 20:36:19

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">(need to come up with a way to clamp the coffee pot to the stove). Any ideas?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Stove Fiddles.

Edited by - on

johnsonp
Admiral

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USA
606 Posts

Response Posted - 11/06/2007 : 21:04:38

The one thing that Catalina did right on the C250 cabin was the dual switches for the red lights.
On the 2002 C310 I have one permanent red light in the cabin and a portable on deck.
Red lights should be standard on all sailboats in case the get caught sailing at night.
Once you turn off that 1000 candle lite you need quite of bit of time before you can see again.
paulj

Edited by - on

jerlim
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1484 Posts

Response Posted - 11/07/2007 : 12:51:39

MOB drills are my suggestion. I'm curious about visibility, w/ a heavy fog at night. I'm guessing traffic is light enough not to worry?

Edited by - jerlim on 11/07/2007 12:54:29

JimB517
Past Commodore

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USA
3285 Posts

Response Posted - 11/07/2007 : 14:43:28

Good ideas for sailing class #4. I think we'll cover safety - VHF, GPS, and we'll do a MOB drill on an old fender. That is unless we have big winds and heavy seas in which case we will cover reefing.

It was night but the fog was offshore a few miles. It was not near the boat. But sailing west meant looking offshore into a pitch black sea, sky and fogbank. It was like sailing with your eyes closed.

Turn around and head east back to San Diego and there were so many shore lights it was like daylight.

Edited by - on

jerlim
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1484 Posts

Response Posted - 11/07/2007 : 15:03:19

Sounds like great fun - it almost takes sailing into a Disney ride experience!

Edited by - on

ClamBeach
Master Marine Consultant

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3072 Posts

Response Posted - 11/08/2007 : 20:30:03

Almost forgot: For night sailing I highly suggest that you invest in a couple strobes... put 'em in your lifejacket pockets.

For $7.99... cheap thrills.
http://www.overtons.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?r=view&i=79656&fcat=28C&cID=FROOGLE

This is the one I have in my life jacket.
http://www.boatersland.com/acr3961.html

Edited by - on

Todd Frye
Navigator

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USA
222 Posts

Response Posted - 11/12/2007 : 10:10:25

Shortening sail is good to be familiar with. If you have a hanked on head sail, a pitching deck can be intimidating to the uninitiated. Do you have a harness and tether for going forward in rough weather? Practice reefing. Also night navigation is a whole other world. Try some nav light recognition drills. Annapolis book has some good explanations. PFD's should have illumination AND a whistle. Find another boat to race. Lots of knowledge gained here...and it's fun. Fair winds. Todd Frye

Edited by - on

MattL
Admiral

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USA
990 Posts

Response Posted - 11/12/2007 : 12:28:31

Hi Jim,
I had a great time in SD. My class went till 5 on Saturday, I think I can perhaps do some 3d drafting now. I missread my ticket for my return flight. I thought it was for 7:20 in the mornign, but it was for the evening, by this time my cell phone had no charge and I was unable to reach you. Spent the day wandering around the city, when the rain started I went to the airport and started reading the book my wife gave me a couple of months ago. The weather delaied all flights and fiinally got home around 12:30 this morning.
Now my next job is finishing the tiller I started so it looks like yours.

Edited by - on

Champipple
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
6855 Posts

Response Posted - 11/12/2007 : 14:01:03

MOB Drill
docking
Intentionally put the boat in Irons
Work on holding a boat in the groove, steering both up and downwind through waves.
Reefing
Bad weather class: Take a day off, sit in the bar and go over rules of the road, sail selection, sailing vocabulary, RRoS or knot tying class.

Do lesson one over again but work on fine tuning

pick up jobson's sailing fundamentals book - probably 15 bucks used from ebay and there should be plenty.

Edited by - on

JimB517
Past Commodore

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USA
3285 Posts

Response Posted - 11/12/2007 : 23:53:57

Well, here is a great photo from today 11/12 a wonderful holiday on the water.

My friend and his son joined me for a long voyage out to the 9 mile bank. I went yesterday and what a day. It was raining lightly. I sailed on a very rough sea with light winds. I made it out about 5 miles, gybed back, got up spinnaker, and ended up motoring the last mile. I watched the game on TV, cooked barbequed pork chops, dirty rice, beans, and spent the night on board.

Today we had moderate winds, seas about 4 feet and smooth. I was able to make 5 knots practically all the way out there. For a lesson, my student got the jib hanked on (he did it upside, down, cliping the halyard to the tack). Then he did it right. He hoisted both jib and main. I sailed it out as the wind was on the nose and there was some holiday traffic in the harbor. Once out I gave him the helm, and told him to set course for the North 9 mile bank. He used the GPS, set course, and trimmed sails for the trip. It was a close reach. Both he and the boy were a little seasick but the boy bounced back and was soon eating me out of house and home. Dad stayed sick and fed the fish over and over again. But he didn't want to quit. Eventually we were out of sight of land. I gybed us at 2:30 PM and trimmed for home, we were about 7.5 miles out. The only life we found on the way out was a big kelp pattie with lots of birds (no large fish home).

The boy was sleeping and Dad was trying to find some way, any way, to be comfortable and end the misery. The best thing I could do was get him home as quick as possible. He went up to the bow for awhile and found dolphins, that was very exciting and got everyone involved for a half hour or so. Soon after this the wind died.

The young boy, 12 years old, was very involved and loved the day. After the dolphins he helped me sail back while Dad laid down. USCG stopped us but thank God did not board for an inspection. I have all the stuff but I wanted to get my friend to land. The wind went to nothing and we ended up motoring back about 2 miles. My student stirred out of his misery to get the jib down and the main furled. We were in the slip, boat put away, and on the road by 5 PM. My young crewman wants to go again, ASAP. I pray his Dad does.

Edited by - on

John Russell
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3444 Posts

Response Posted - 11/13/2007 : 07:33:55

What a great day. Thanks for sharing.

Introduce your friend to the wonders of ginger. Ginger snaps to nibble on helps a lot. Ginger ale is good too, but the carbonation might be a problem. Ginger tea works. My Admiral takes a dramamine on the way to the boat and it seems to help. Less helpful if taken after the mal du mer hits.

Edited by - on

Steve Milby
Past Commodore

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USA
5902 Posts

Response Posted - 11/13/2007 : 08:46:38

Late this summer, I was helping a friend bring his boat back from Annapolis to our marina, about 30 miles south of Annapolis. The skies were heavily overcast with low clouds that were piling up and ugly. There was a lot of fog, and, later in the afternoon we had such heavy rain that it completely blocked visibility of the shoreline all around us. But the GPS kept us oriented to our position and direction, until the GPS suddenly blinked off. As soon as it happened, I felt disoriented, and realized that, in a very short time, I wouldn't be able to tell, with certainty, what direction we were going. I checked our compass heading, and that ensured that I could at least keep us on our approximate heading, but it still wouldn't help us find the little entrance to our marina.

Once you know what to look for, the entrance to my marina is easy to find, day or night, as long as you can see the shoreline, but in zero visibility, it would be very difficult to find it without a GPS. Fortunately, there was nothing wrong with the GPS. My friend had inadvertantly turned it off. He turned it back on, and we were back in business, but it reminded me how easy it is to think everything's peachy, and how quickly the situation can change. My friend and I both keep an inexpensive, battery-powered back-up GPS on board our boats, along with plenty of extra batteries. If he hadn't been able to get the installed GPS working again, we'd have felt very vulnerable without the hand-held back-up.

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JimB517
Past Commodore

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USA
3285 Posts

Response Posted - 11/13/2007 : 09:47:21

I always keep track of my compass heading out and back. My GPS is powered off the boat but it is a hand held on a mount and I have batteries. One day in really really thick fog I decided to test myself and find the harbor without GPS. It was not easy. Visibility was about 50 feet. I got close and could hear the fog horn. It seemed to be coming from everywhere. I knew I was close by depth. I knew the heading. But finally I abandoned the experiment and turned the GPS on for the last 1/4 mile.

Edited by - on

tmhansen
Captain

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USA
397 Posts

Response Posted - 11/13/2007 : 14:38:46

Jim when I took a sailing class to get to a bareboat certificate we spent a lot of our class time after we mastered the basics of sailing on anchoring and docking. There are a lot of variables in docking with current and wind. I learned a lot and it has served me well. Knowing how to spring the bow or stern out and which to use in a given situation. Teaching someone else these skills on your boat may be more than you want to take on as it is bound to result in a few scrapes.

We too employ ginger snaps and ginger ale. Not sure if they work or not. I do know munching on a few kettle chips helps to calm things down for my clan. We always try to keep a stock of such on the boat.

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JimB517
Past Commodore

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USA
3285 Posts

Response Posted - 11/13/2007 : 18:35:07

Normally my 3rd lesson would be docking. He does not have a boat, however, so I will move on to downwind sailing: poling out the jib and flying spinnaker.

If we have a return engagement, we will run downwind to San Diego Bay under spin, then run in and look at all the boats.

I want to get these guys up to speed as possible race crew.

Edited by - on

ClamBeach
Master Marine Consultant

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3072 Posts

Response Posted - 11/13/2007 : 20:23:41

>"Dad was trying to find some way, any way, to be comfortable"

Bonine. Chewable, fairly pleasant tasting. If you have any doubt about your passengers' sea legs... have 'em take it.

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