River sailing 101

deniseO30 · #1 (**permalink**) 08-26-2010

Wait until the prevailing winds come back like they have this week! Yay!

It's tough round here. the Delaware river runs slighty NW and S to SE some part of it always has winds going N and S. the past few days we've been getting some stronger winds from the w-nw. I was out there all day today! ye ha!

jerryrlitton · #2 (**permalink**) 08-26-2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by deniseO30

Wait until the prevailing winds come back like they have this week! Yay!

It's tough round here. the Delaware river runs slighty NW and S to SE some part of it always has winds going N and S. the past few days we've been getting some stronger winds from the w-nw. I was out there all day today! ye ha!

I would wager you had a good workout.

CalebD · #3 (**permalink**) 08-26-2010

Denise,
I was out on the Hudson on Weds. for the beer can races with a W-NW breeze of <= 10 knots (light conditions for my old boat). The hardest part about racing and River Sailing 101 I find is dealing with the reversing current that the ocean tides send up river against the non-tidal flow of the river.
If PHRF ratings are to be believed we shouldn't have been able to beat an O'Day 27' and a Cat. 30' (std. rig) but we did. The current often trumps the wind if the wind is low.
Normally I sail with my boat's co-owner who is all about "watch the telltales", "hold your course", "head up", "fall off, you're pinching", "go for speed", "pole out the jib", "lose the pole", "tighten the Cunningham", "bludgeon the pinholes" etc. He was absent for this sail/race and while I know we could have done even better had we tweaked everything to within an inch of perfection but we did not and just enjoyed sailing the race without so much commentary from the skipper: me, this time. Cap'n Blye will be back next Weds. to worry the crew to exhaustion but we will probably do better if the river's current, wind and time allow.
Sometimes it is just nice to be out on your boat and enjoy the overcast sunset and muffled moonrise behind the clouds without orders being barked at you in a rapid succession.

River Sailing 100. Course outline:
- learn to swim; in cold water as well. Life jackets do help.
- bring an anchor with a line/rode attached to the boat, not you.
- look at the charts, not a map for depths in the river
- learn to sail and learn to enjoy it/heeling is normal for sailboats
- learn the rules of right-of-way. There is only one rule: avoid commercial traffic and any boat larger then yours with big engines. With other sailboats you can shout stuff at them like 'Starboard' or 'WTF?' if you did not see them sneaking up behind the sails (I think that this lesson is going to have to get bumped back up to River Sailing 101 as it gets a bit complicated as does 'VHF radio etiquette. What channels to monitor.", "GPS 100- what is it?", "So it's raining hard upstream from me for 3 days, what does that mean to me/What the heck is a 'freshet'?, "What does that dark line of clouds with a greenish hue signify/I hear thunder, so now what?".)

The more I think about it this is going to be a difficult course to structure from 100 - 12X or so. When is 'Independent Study' applicable to each student? It has taken me a lifetime on different kinds of boats to learn what I think I know and I still learn something nearly every time out.
'Situational Awareness 100' should be the basis of the whole program in my humble opinion.

deniseO30 · #4 (**permalink**) 08-27-2010

One of the guys in my YC sailed his ketch all the way to Philly last week. From Bristol to there with the tide and motor usually takes about 6 hrs. I've never been able to sail that far and long on the river. Yesterday I did an easy 20 miles up and back was lots of fun for a change and I wasn't near passing out from the heat either!