tough winter with pics, ok not really that tough

[vizwhiz]

Francis, any issues with leaving your vehicle/trailer parked at that ramp in Palmetto overnight?

[Mac26Mpaul]

I'm not sure about a second motor. | mean theres thousands and thousands of boats on the water that dont have a sail as a backup to get home and dont have a backup motor (in my part of the world anyway). Not too many fishos with their half cabins or runabouts have a backup motor.

Anyway, we have our radios, flares, phones, epirbs, V sheets etc. Over here we have a volunteer Coast guard service (very different to the US Coast guard) and another similar organization called the VMR (volunteer marine rescue) You can log in by radio with them every time you take your boat out and if you dont come back by a certain time, they go looking for you. VMR is about $50 a year for membership I think and yes it is a breakdown service. They will come and tow you to the nearest port if you breakdown. Even if your're not a member, they still do it (membership is more about fundraising, as VMR is not government funded). The Coast guard is bascially the same thing and there is even talk of them combining now, which makes sense...

We have another organisation called Coastwatch which flys about looking for illegal immigrants in boats, drug running or whatever and reports suspicous stuff to the Navy or Customs. Here, the Navy or Customs then does the work that the US coast guard seems to do.

We have a tiny Navy by US standards, based on only having a population around 22 million people or so; and a country as big as yours with a much bigger coastline, so the services I mentioned are somewhat stretched, and it is possible to boat in areas a hull of a long way from any other human beings. If I ever get to some of them in the Mac and breakdown without my mast, well, theres always the dinghy!

[fdeoreo]

Vizwhiz,

i haven't done any overnighters from there yet. i also haven't checked to see what the parking lot signs say either, i will on the next visit. but the lot across the street where i park is an empty dirt lot and seems to be wide open. if you mean safety wise, the marina is there, 41 is kind of busy and lit up and the police station is a few blocks away, so i am thinking it would be fine from that perspective. hopefully i will be finding out soon!

francis joshua

[esc]

I'm getting ready to take my Wife and 5 year old son out for the first time in our . My plan it put the must up, but not use the sails. Just motor around for a while in protected waters, stop at a restaurant on the water for lunch, motor around some more, then head home. The most important part of this plan is making sure that the first time I take them out, they have fun. So far, all of my "voyages" have been marred by mechanical breakdowns, so I don't want to stress anything while they are with me.

The occasional breakdown while out with the guys just adds to the adventure! But I don't think my Wife would enjoy THAT much adventure.

It would be easier if I didn't have to rig the mast, but I think that getting it re-rigged for the next trip after removing it completely would be a lot more trouble than just raising it even when I don't plan on using it.

I'm still trying to get my son used to the idea of sleeping in the boat. We have tried a couple of times in the back yard, but he is always too excited about doing something different to sleep and I've ended up giving up around Midnight and putting him to bed back in the house. I hope that by Spring he will be able to get a good night sleep on the boat.

In the mean time the boat has turned out to make an excellent prop for our back yard privateer adventures. But it has proved exceeding difficult to catch up with that pesky Spanish treasure ship (which looks suspiciously like a play scape) on the other side of "Backyard Bay."

[Mac26Mpaul]

Id disagree with it taking as much time to rig as remove the mast. Removing the mast is a matter of taking out four ringdings and then lifting the mast off the boat. You can just leave it on the grass beside where you keep the boat. The trick is to have the admiral waiting there so you can pass down one end of the mast. I actually got it off the boat by myself last time which took a little longer. Mr M makes it sound like a simple coupla minute thing to raise the mast etc, but in reality your looking at closer to an hour to rig the boat by yourself at the ramp, same to derig. And your wife will be looking after the youngster so, you will be rigging by yourself unless you have other crew to help.

THe only advice I would give on a first time trip like that is, Even if there is the slightest breeze, have a rudder down and a little bit of board out when you berth at that resturant. The biggest problem with these boats (in my opinion) is the windage issue. A breeze can blow you into trouble in seconds (like the second last time I went out - had a perfect berthing at a jetty and when leaving a sudden breeze swung my butt around in seconds wiping my prop out on the rocks...

[esc]

I don't think it will take an hour to rig. I won't need the rig the boom or sails. I also have put it up by myself before and it wasn't that bad.

One of my concerns about completely removing the mast is having to re-adjust the stays. I know I could mark where they were somehow and try to put everything back where it came from...but nothing is ever as easy as it should be. I know I should also familiarize myself with adjusting the rigging...but I have not had the time to fool with that yet.

All the same, you have a good point. I need to make sure I can minimize the amount of time spent waiting for me to rig/de-rig the boat. No one likes waiting around at the boat ramp.

[Mac26Mpaul]

Well I guess it wont take that long without having to do the boom and all the other stuff, but the lifelines still make getting the mast up a pain. It is a totally stress free thing when you can just drive the boat to the ramp and basically straight in the water

You shouldnt have to re-adjust things if you have taken the mast off, just put the ring dings back in and it should be just as it was.

Not sure if you have it the same over there, but where I live, most ramps have childrens playgrounds pretty close by, which is very useful for rigging a TS if you have kids!

[kitcat]

This is an interesting thread, bearing in mind it is as much about getting the family used to being on the boat as anything else.

It seems to me that as long as you are realistic with the time it takes to rig and unrig, the other half will live with that, taking the kids off or whatever. As far as getting on the water is concerned, it makes sense to use the motor the first few times, but at some stage you will have to, or want to, get the sails up. When this time comes, I feel it is vital to understand that, for some reason, women, in particular, don't like the boat to heel, something which it always does naturally of course, and for us guys, it adds to the fun, so, with women in mind, and this is something I have done myself, so as not to scare my wife, use the motor to get upwind, then sail downwind or on a [very] broad reach, mainly using the roller furling jib, so that it can be put away easily and quickly if thing aren't going as smoothly as you would like for her, the added benefits of course, are that sailing downwind is warm, wind free and smooth, in other words, the best bit of sailing, the rest will come later, but it is important that you get out as often as possible to learn how to sail the boat in more extreme condions and of course on a tight beat.

[Fred Rio]

Couldn't agree more. We purchased our Mac in Oct. Although I have sailed my whole life, this is our first boat. To ease the family (admiral and three kids) into sailing we motor upwind and sail on a reach or down wind. The kids really seem to like the feeling of being powered by the sails, but only as long as the boat is flat!

Our little 6 year has an uncanny touch at the helm: she can find the grove and keep the boat in it ... not sure how she does it!!

Fred -> Captain - tells people what to do
Louise -> Admiral - tells the captain what to do!
Lauren -> Skipper
Julian -> Deck boy
Daniel -> Prissy passenger that needs to be served and revered (also the center of the Universe)

In order to remain true to the post title, here is a pic of our Black Friday's morning (Elliot Key).

On Black Friday we got up at 6:00am to take advantage of the "SAIL"s


Fred

[Rick Westlake]

So of course I decided to head down to Florida for a week ... down to Charlotte Harbor (I'm in Bradenton tonight, long story about the delays) - and I must apologize, but it appears I brought the cold weather with me!

[esc]

The broad reach is a VERY good idea.

I've done a lot of sailing in traditional sailboats and the first time I went out for a test sail in my ...it was unnerving. It just didn't move right! Upon consideration, I think that it is a combination of the high cockpit and the fact that it pivots on the corners rather than the center. So that rather than the boat rotating around you it lifts you up and "throws" you out to the side when it heels. After a few times out I hardly notice it now, but it made me VERY uncomfortable the first time out. I can only image how it would be for someone who isn't already accustomed to living at an angle.

I do not have a roller furling jib and although I had first intended to get one, now I'm reconsidering it. From what I've read here, it adds to the difficulty of stepping the mast.

Unfortunately, it seems I have a long list of repairs to take care of before I can take my boat out again. The helm is binding, the rudder brackets are bent and asymmetrical. The rudder blades are slightly damaged. A brake is hanging up on one side of the trailer and the bearing cap fell off the other side. I suspect that by the time I get all that repaired Winter will have officially arrived and the first trip for the family (original scheduled for Thanksgiving weekend) will have to wait until spring. Because, along with all the other things that must go right, it needs to be a warm (not hot) sunny (but not TOO sunny) day.

[Catigale]

Our little 6 year has an uncanny touch at the helm: she can find the grove and keep the boat in it ... not sure how she does it!!

some have it and some dont....both of my 13 year olds have done it for 6 years....and I cant....

[hoaglandr]

Great thread!

Good suggestions with regards to keeping the admiral happy. I'm a new sailor and that is certainly a concern of mine. We just got the boat this fall and we have only had it in the water once and we just motored around. I'm really looking forward to getting her back in the water with the sails up in the spring. I'm afraid winter has arrived here - 18 degrees and snow today!

esc - with regards to the jib furler, I am admittedly a newbie but rigging my genoa furler is fairly simple. Maybe I'll think differently when I've actually done more than rig it in my driveway.

Russell

[vizwhiz]

when I've actually done more than rig it in my driveway

Right now, even that sounds fun to me!

but it appears I brought the cold weather with me!

Yes, and you may now return the unused portion of cold weather back to "the north" from which you brought it!
Glad to hear that you're down here Rick! I hear fish are biting big time in the area (have a friend fishing down in Estero Bay area)... I'd guess the cooler weather is driving them into the bays/rivers.