Sail #6 - A daysail with the main and jib

We are going through yet another heat wave in the Chesapeake with temperatures over 33C (92 F) and relative humidity over 70%. To beat the heat, the Admiral and I got up early, drove to Rosalind and got her ready to sail by 9:00 am. Wind was light, 5-10 knots from the west, typical summer, so we decided to again sail off the mooring. Our closest neighbor (Gorgeous Girl, a Pacific Seacraft 40) was straight downwind barely 20 meters (65 ft) away so we had to think carefully about our maneuver. To get steerage and avoid Gorgeous Girl we planned the following:

1. Get the engine started - to have it as a backup

2. Remove the mooring lines from their cleats, attach them to each other and place them on the bollard so they are easy to cast off

3. Wait until Rosalind points into the wind and unfurl the mainsail

4. When ready, and with Rosalind’s bow swinging to starboard, take the mooring pennants of the bollard and start walking them down the port foredeck to allow Rosalind to gain some speed.

The plan worked! Rosalind fell off to starboard, we pulled in the main sheet and she started gaining way sailing safely in-front of Gorgeous Girl. After a couple of boat lengths we rolled out the jib and continued sailing down the river. 

There are a couple of spots when sailing down the river where, with light westerly winds, there is very little wind so we kept the motor running (just in case) until we passed through the Red 6/Green 5 gate. After the Red 6 we shut off the motor. Sailing Rosalind in light airs and flat water does not get old. Doing two to three knots on a deep broad reach, the loudest sound was our dingy moving through the water. At that speed the world moves by very slowly and there is time to look and see. Even though we were only a little over a mile from our mooring, and we have been down the river a hundred times, there is always something interesting and new to observe. Wildlife, the wind and the water, and other boats all make great subjects of study. On Rosalind with the sun reflecting on the river it can get very hot, so when we reached Red 4 we decided to turn around. We try to limit our summer outings to about one and a half hours when it’s really hot out.

The temperature was climbing above 30 C (86 F), so the Admiral reached in the cooler and offered me a neck cooling tube. What a difference; within a few minutes I felt refreshed and so much more comfortable. I was sold, the neck cooling collar is now part of our cruising kit! We had it chilled in the freezer at home for the daysail. When we are cruising we will put it in the freezer of our very small onboard refrigerator.

In light winds, we found that when Rosalind is moving at less that three knots, it’s better to jibe than to tack as there is not enough momentum to push her bow though the wind. After the jibe, the apparent wind increased and Rosalind got livelier. But we could not fall off and let Rosalind take advantage of the stronger wind.. 

To get back we had to stay close hauled, and work every puff and wind shift to get to the Green 5/Red 6 gate on the starboard tack. That part of the river is very narrow and there is very little room for tacking so we worked to keep Rosalind closed hauled and we made the gate! 

Approaching Green 5 under sail

Sailing on a summer day

After passing through the gate, we started the motor, and furled the main and jib. It only took a few minutes to get Rosalind to her mooring and get her buttoned up. Another short but exciting and interesting summer daysail.

The Chesapeake is a beautiful place, even in the heat of summer…

 Finding a home for our life raft

We have a 6-person Winslow ultra-light life raft. The raft weights about 30 kg (65 lbs). When we first bought the raft we asked for it to be packed so it would fit next the companionway steps in the aft cabin. The location, while close to the cockpit had several disadvantages. It was under the tool cabinet doors, so tools could fall on it and cause damage and it was placed vertically making it a little more difficult to get out. Lastly it was very low requiring a big lift to get it into the cockpit. After living with that arrangement for a short time we moved the raft behind the mizzen compression. That location was out of the way, but ease of access was definitely compromised so we knew that we had not found the right place for it yet.

Initial location, next to aft cabin companionway (looking down).
Tool locker behind doors on the right

Second raft location behind mizzen compression post 

This year we stored our composting head in the space behind the mizzen compression post and while looking for a good spot for the raft, we just put it on the forward part of the starboard bunk (bed) and presto we found its new location! The new spot is easily accessible, does not interfere with opening the side storage bins, is higher up (easier to get the raft in the cockpit) and is protected from any companionway spray or drips. 

The only think that was left to do was design and fabricate a “cradle” or pivoting tray that would allow us access to the storage underneath. After some measurements, we made the cradle, tested it, painted it and installed it. We are very happy with the new life raft location. Here are some pictures of the project.

Life raft cradle with black knobs to secure it in the down position (left) and heady duty hinge (right)

Life raft secured to cradle and lifted to allow access to storage below

Life raft secured in place (looking to starboard)

View from the aft cabin companionway

 Sails #4 and #5

Chesapeake summers are hot and humid so, to beat the heat, we are looking at early starts and short outings. The fourth sail the season was a quick outing to check for any interference between the new inner forestay and the operation of the jib and its roller reefing system. If you want to learn more about that you can read the post on why we are adding one more sail to Rosalind that will be uploaded shortly.

The fifth outing was a great sail. Last weekend, the forecast called for light winds 4-9 knots and hot weather so we decided that, as usual, we would go out early to beat the mid-day heat. We invited two great friends to come along and planned to be on our way by 9:30 am. Instead of dinging back and forth we brought Rosalind to the dock to pick up our guests. Motoring down the West River it was clear that Rosalind was a little slow. It has been two months since we pulled her out of the water and had her bottom power-washed. We have found that the engine runs very smoothly at 1800 RPM, generating very little vibration throughout the boat. Even though we will not win any speed records at these RPMs, the cruising is very conformable with the engine just humming along with minimal noise, and we can travel for many hours without feeling like we are being shaken to pieces. 

We motored to Red 4, about a mile from our mooring. We rolled out the mainsail, fell off, rolled out the jib and turned off the engine. Sailing! The wind was slightly stronger than forecast, between 10 and 14 knots. With the wind shifting from a beam reach to a broad reach Rosalind’s speed ranged from 2.8 to 4.2 knots. What surprised us was that even on a broad reach Rosalind sailed herself. The balanced sails and the flat sea state helped keep her on track. Nevertheless we were amazed at how well Rosalind tracked (sailed straight) by herself. 

The Admiral enjoying the sail!

We sailed to the entrance of the Rhode River and, as the ambient temperature started to climb close to 30C (86F), we prepared to tack and head back. Tacking, turning the boat so that the bow crosses the wind, was not a success. We started turning and expected the jib to move from one side of the boat to the other, but the jib did not budge.  Instead the jib got stuck around the inner forestay. It only took a second to realize that with the new inner forestay in place we could no longer tack without first furling the jib and then unfurling in on the other side.  This is because the “slot” between the jib and the inner forestay is too narrow for the jib to go through it. So we furled the jib and instead of tacking we jibed, moving the wind across Rosalind’s stern. It was clear that we had not yet built “muscle memory” to account for the new forestay configuration!

Inner forestay just visible behind furled jib

We sailed back up the river and after a little time we first furled the jib then the main and motored the last bit to the dock where our friends got off. The two outings confirmed that the new sail configuration will work well. The fifth outing of the season with our fiends was relaxing and pleasant and we learned a lot about how we will sail Rosalind in the future with her new sail setup.  Another great set of outings!