singlehanding with a 2 year old

[dutchwinter]

well i went out with just the munchkin for the firt time with intentions of putting up some canvas this past weekend. since im new to sailing and the mac i decided that i would give it a go with just the jib, as suggested by the ladies at BWY. it went pretty well, and a good time was had. i did have one issue with the sheet getting caught up on the knob of my foredeck hatch and nearly ripping it off in a strong wind, but disaster was averted. Ive since then mounted a hatch holder that may also be used as a lock, so I can toss that knoob, but it may be a moot point considering that i wont have to have the hatch thrown all the way open if i want a bit of air. hopefully i can have it open a bit, and not have the sail catch on it, i expect Ill find out later on tpday. anyhow to the point of the post.
when i was out using just the jib, I was pretty happy. as it was my first time sailing any boat, ever, with me and the cabin boy, and only my 4th or so time sailing, i was very comfortable. the one thing that i had a hard time doing was adjusting the sheets from the helm. not that they were too hard to pull in, even with the wind, and without the winch handles. No, i was just getting a free workout by reining them in with one wrap around the winch, and giving a tug every once in a while till i figured out the sweet spot. the issue that i had was with the placement of the cam cleats. they seemed a bit low. or not quite alined where i might want them. this got me to thinking of Bills swivel cam cleats, mounted on the little platform on my genny track. maybe I wouldnt need to go that far, perhaps just a tiny block of starboard would do. Im not sure which would be best, or maybe i just need to be more agile, or get longer arms or something. has anyone dealth with this? maybe its just something that has to be dealt with.

[Carl Noble]

Do a search on Cam cleat risers and there are 9 posts for a great solution.

[c130king]

Dutch,

I have the cam cleat risers. Worked pretty good...although one did come loose on me. But after reading all the threads on Bill's EZ-Cleats I did buy them and I absolutely love them. Don't even use my winches anymore. Genoa sheet runs to the EZ-Cleat on the side of the cockpit and just ends there.

Here is a pic of JCasale (a member here) on my . The EZ-Cleat is right on the left hand edge of the photo. The line ends there...no need for the winch. And I have sailed with full Genoa in about 15 Kts and had no problem controlling the Genoa this way.



Cheers,
Jim

[Trouts Dream]

I second the use of the EZ Cleats.
They make sailing solo sooooo easy, we even use them when running the spinaker.
The only time I use the winch and cleats are when heavily reefed or when friends come and want to handle the sheets.

[Andy26M]

I used a set of risers under my cam cleats and that did the trick for me

Andy

[dutchwinter]

cool. i looked them up, and they seem to be just the thing i was thinking of. thanks guys. no need to cut off a chunk of starboard now.