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I'm with Sloop too. Single handed sailing is the easy part....it's single handed docking that gets me worked up.

After a nice relaxing afternoon of sailing, my stomach starts tightening up as I head back to the marina knowing I have to dock.

The real problem is that the first year we were in the marina there was always another boater waiting on my pier to grab a line as I came in. Now that I've been there a couple of years, they assume I don't need help and just watch from their boats. It feels good that they have such confidence in me....I just wish I had as much! Even if you don't really need the help, it's nice to have it there just in case.

A windward slip really does help too.

It is always nice to see an able pair of hands awaiting on your return, regardless of conditions. I returned from sailing in SFO with a company colleague - a Kiwi with a vast sailing experience that swamped mine, having just learned back and fill

I turned out of our dock and accidentally turned the wrong way into a dead end dock about 30 feet wide and said...Ooops, we have to turn around.....Admiral was impressed as I spun the boat on its length on the centreboard. Tony, the marina owner, saw me later and said 'thats the last time I help you dock" with a smile...

Show off....

G

I often sail single-handed, and I agree with nearly all of the previous comments. - I have lines led aft, autopilot, GPS/chartreader, sail slugs, etc., and they all help. I also think that a bimini or other form of sun protection is more important for single-handed sailing in hot sunny weather, because you may be at the wheel for long periods of time.

In addition to experience, know-how, and good training, as a practical matter, I find that the most helpful tool for single-handed sailing is a good autopilot. It permits you to: keep the boat oriented while raising, lowering, or adjusting sails; go forward while under sail (which may become necessary for any of several reasons); go below; etc. (Granted that these are all possible without an AP under some conditions, under other conditions they can become more difficult.) It's also fun to be able to sit on the deck while under sail and watch the boat cut through the water (in moderate weather conditions, taking proper safety precautions) rather than always being restricted to a position near the helm. An autopilot is quicker and more convenient than heaving to, IMO, which of course doesn't help much under conditions such as raising sails, drifting toward shallow water, etc.

Jim

I have an AP mod planned but when singlehanding if you trim until the boat is balanced you can tie off the helm and go forward for at least 2 minutes without helm correction being needed in my experience.,

WARNING - with the helm tied and being alone you should tether off on a short leash if you are on open water!!!!

WARNING - with the helm tied and being alone you should tether off on a short leash if you are on open water!!!!

I have never had a reason or seen a safe need for a long lead. IMHO

When single handing you need to go below for whatever and need to go to the mast. Inorder to not untie yourself, a long lead is wanted for myself. I just tie a 50 foot dockline to the mast and to my harness.

It is best that you do not go to the bow. I know that my fordeck with all the salt spray dried on it is a dangerous place under way.

I do a lot of single-handing and in some conditions have been able to go hands off and sit back in the cockpit, or sometimes jsut keep a toe on the wheel. Once, on a slow downwind breeze, I was hands off for about 1 1/2 hours - cooking dinner down below & eating topside - always keeping a lookout tho. Being able to jump down to the head at times is helpful, but I also keep a tin cup in the cockpit for when I can't let go of the wheel, such as last weekend on the Maine coast!

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The whole deck layout isn't very sailor friendly, and the slippery cabin sides on the foredeck

I agree with you there Eric.

While sailing, I was showing the Admiral the value of a whisker pole by standing at the mast and holding the boat hook between the mast & genny. After about 15 minutes, she asked me to go out to the bow to check the anchor locker. "NO WAY - TOO ROUGH" says I. I think she was trying to get rid of me and keep the boat for herself!
Came up thru the bow hatch to check the locker.

Eric, this is downright creepy.

Get a real avatar like mine.

I don't know... With such a striking resemblance, I thought it was just an update of yours Scott. With a haircut, of course.

Kidding. Really.
Shane

Scott wrote:

Eric, this is downright creepy.

Get a real avatar like mine.

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Sloop John B wrote:I don't single hand because it gets so lonely out there.

Also, I have a problem coming in pier side. It's nice to assume someone might be around to help but if there isn't...

Often I might have dropped into the dock if I hadn't had the Mate along (for you non-nautical types, the 'dock' is the hole in the water your boat is tied up in; the pier, whether it's a 2x6 piece of wood or an East Coast highway that runs a quarter mile out into the ocean, is a pier).

I have to agree, the sailing is the easy part, but docking is another story. I think maybe one of these might be handy if they weren't so expensive.

http://www.sideshift.com/BoatType/SS230.pdf

I have sailed my M26 for four seasons now and about 90% of the time it has been on my own. I wear a regulated life vest with a lanyard, which i clip on to the life lines when I go forward. And as previously stated I stay off the lake during rough weather, unless I want to show a friend how well the MAc can sail sideways without a sail up