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I am a single handing GOD!

7K views 24 replies 20 participants last post by  chucklesR 
#1 ·
ok, well, maybe not a God per se, but I did go out, fly my 150 and main, and get rail in the water for a bit before bringing her back in safe and sound. Was my first time single handing, had a blast, and I wanted to brag to someone, but couldnt find anyone that would apreciate it, so I figgured that even if you guys dont care, you might empathise.

Woot. Go me! next step, crossing the channel and overnighting at the islands... as soon as I have a VHF and a portahead.

=)

-- James
 
#2 ·
James,

As a long-time singlehander, welcome to the club! The first time is always the worst. My knees were knocking together so hard I thought I''d fall down the first time I took my boat out alone. Once away from the slip it was easy. Soon enough you won''t even hesitate. So good for you, and keep it up!
 
#3 ·
What do you want a cookie? Now you know why the rest of us do it!

10. Have stimulating conversation with your autopilot, it never argues back
9. The person getting the food and drinks fixes it just the way you like it
8. Cockpit can be as messy or neat as you like
7. You don''t have to shower or shave for your guests
6. No deodorant necessary
5. Belching and farting are encouraged
4. Never brush your teeth or use mouthwash, halitosis...yes
3. One pair of deck shoes is enough
2. You can pick your nose, you can pick your friends but you can''t pick your friends nose
1. Letting it hang out over the side is never questioned, the world is your urinal!
 
#24 ·
What do you want a cookie? Now you know why the rest of us do it!

10. Have stimulating conversation with your autopilot, it never argues back
9. The person getting the food and drinks fixes it just the way you like it
8. Cockpit can be as messy or neat as you like
7. You don''t have to shower or shave for your guests
6. No deodorant necessary
5. Belching and farting are encouraged
4. Never brush your teeth or use mouthwash, halitosis...yes
3. One pair of deck shoes is enough
2. You can pick your nose, you can pick your friends but you can''t pick your friends nose
1. Letting it hang out over the side is never questioned, the world is your urinal!
Hey , and don't forget the sex .......:rolleyes:

Oh and Charlie Cobra..........I'm a great fan of night sailing but what I love most is how fast you seem to go........it really is amazing, no idea why it is but I like it. Illusion is all. :)
 
#4 ·
Good for you!! I was out yesterday too, single handed. Did not have the rail in the water, barely had wind to sail but... well better than sitting in the office at this computer.

I do remember my first time out alone, was very cautious, never even put up the main.

Enjoy the summer.
 
#5 ·
last year I took my boat out singlehanded for the first time. Well....the first time was one to forget. It ws blowing like stink but I figured that if I just stayed near my yacht club and went in circles I''d be ok. NOT.... I was scared sh..less and ran for cover within 20 minutes. I dropped the sailes, turned on the motor and went back in. Then about 2 weeks later, I couldn''t find anyone who wanted to go out for a sail with me and decided even though I wasn''t prepared for the 1st try, I''d be ready for this one. Not as windy as my 1st time but a good 15-20kts. and a strong current. I was focused and did everything slowly at first. As my boat stared to gety going I again got a bit scared but that passed. I felt one with the boat and the wind. I was loving every moment of the sail. Now, a year later, I''m happier alone on my boat than with friends. Contemplating life, enjoying some music, feeling the wind on the face, not having to talk to anyone except myself, being lost in my own thoughts. I still bring friends on board and I have a crew when I race, but singlehandling is a completely different world which I now love.

mike C.
s/v "Maestro"
 
#6 ·
>What do you want a cookie?

Yes please. Chocklate chip or snickerdoodle are acceptable forms of sacrafice. =)

> Now you know why the rest of us do it!

Oh, you cant find crew either? They''re all flakes. Dont let it bug you.

>10. Have stimulating conversation with your autopilot, it never argues back

Autopilot, yhea, I need to get one of those soon. VHF and portahead first.


>9. The person getting the food and drinks fixes it just the way you like it

After I get some self stearing mechanisim I may be able to spend more time fixing food on the boat, as it is I just brown bag it.

>8. Cockpit can be as messy or neat as you like

My boat ;) I get that anyway.

>7. You don''t have to shower or shave for your guests

I generaly shower for me. I dont shave for anyone.

>6. No deodorant necessary

Yhea, thats a for me thing too. ew.

>5. Belching and farting are encouraged

outside of the cabin, ok. inside, hey, I know my stuff stinks, I dont need to reenforce my views.

>4. Never brush your teeth or use mouthwash, halitosis...yes

See point 6.


3. One pair of deck shoes is enough

It''s not otherwise?

2. You can pick your nose, you can pick your friends but you can''t pick your friends nose

um.. . yhea.

1. Letting it hang out over the side is never questioned, the world is your urinal!

yhea, I do need to get a portahead.

;)


oh, and Maestro, rock on.

-- James
 
#7 ·
James,

Can''t help smiling (re-living) when reading your post: I remember those salad days, as well. Congratulations! You''ve made it over a big hurdle. Don''t it feel great?

Now you have your eyes on more distant horizons, and your enthusiasm and new skills will take you there. But a word of caution:

Along with the port-a-head, find some way to lash that tiller in place so that you can leave it for at least a short while. Otherwise you are stuck on the stick every minute (I don''t know how far that island is, but imagine relaxing a bit as you cross). From a store-bought "Tiller-tamer" to more pedestrian lashing with line and/or shock cord, anything that will give you a break will be worth its weight in gold.

I learned this when I buried my rails of my C22 in the water so far (on the first day of my very first shore-hopping multi-day cruise) that the battery jumped out of its box and I lost all my electricity (no autopilot). I rigged a line to keep the tiller centered and steered by small sail-trimming adjustments (learned a lot about balanced sailplans that day that had only been theory before).

Have at it, but think ahead!
 
#8 ·
Yay!!! Isn''t it grand??? I took our Tartan 30 out solo (or with my 5-yr-old daughter, which is like less than solo since you also have to be babysitting while sailing!) and it was wonderful.

now we have a 39-footer and I am kinda sad because I probably won''t be singlehanding her for a while.... much more boat to handle, learn, etc. On the T30 it was EEEAAASSSYYYY.......

Anyway, have a GREAT time. This is what it''s allll about.....

Stacey
www.sailnamaste.com
 
#10 ·
oh, we have no illusions of who''s in charge. My dad was a sport fisher, and I''ve been on the 30 foot boat in 30 foot seas 300 miles off of Mexico. No, I know the oceans bigger than you, regardless of who you are. That, and, well, people in kayaks arent intimidated by Josie. :(

-- James
 
#12 ·
Nightsailing is great Tom, with no moon you just have to not think about wayward shipping containers, I've been spooked by Pelicans flying low across the bow (thought they were am unlit boat out of nowhere), dolphins suddenly surfacing and blowing so close you jump etc. More stars, shooting stars, milky way and such than you thought possible. With a clear night and full moon and nice breeze its as good as it gets.
 
#13 ·
The big problem at night here is the lobster pots. I have one of those cheap million candlepower spotlights from Wal-Mart, and scan around every once in a while when I'm in an area that I know has pots. Which is pretty much everywhere here in southern Maine.

I've thought about mounting some kind of foglight on the bow pulpit with a button in the cockpit.
 
#15 ·
Single-handed sailing doesn't intimidate me. (Most of the time that I'm single-handing with a crew!) But single-handed picking up the mooring does. When I had a 19 footer, I could see getting up to the bow quickly enough, but not in a 32'er with not the clearest path forward. Does anyone have any tips on how to do this? How about in a blow?

I thought about running a dock line outside the stanchions from stem to stern. I could pull alongside the pennant (pickup stick) and dock line thru the loop. Then she could fall back with the wind and the loop would slide to the bow, where I could transfer it to the bow cleat. A friend discouraged me from this saying that it wouldn't tajke much to foul the rudder or prop with a mooring line in that position. Thoughts?

TIA
 
#17 ·
I thought about running a dock line outside the stanchions from stem to stern. I could pull alongside the pennant (pickup stick) and dock line thru the loop. Then she could fall back with the wind and the loop would slide to the bow, where I could transfer it to the bow cleat. A friend discouraged me from this saying that it wouldn't tajke much to foul the rudder or prop with a mooring line in that position. Thoughts?

TIA
I have both the spring lines drawn outside the boat and prepared. I run them to center of deck. Once the boat's stern (I usually back in) is 1/4 the way down the slip, a quick burst forward to stop the boat, then I turn off engines grab both spring lines jump off, tie off the aft spring line (prevents the boat from going back), then pull in the bow spring line (which prevents it from being blown out away from the slip). That usually gets me were I can use the boat hook to grab the bow line, and can at that point adjust everything.
 
#16 ·
I do a lot more single handing than soloing, taking the kids out. They may ask for a turn at the tiller or to haul on a sheet every now and then, but it usually isn't all that long before they want to go back to being passengers.

I want to do some solo sailing. It would be nice to have a few days to myself evey now and then.
 
#18 ·
Joel,

I would not run the lines like you mention. I single hand my 32 most of the time, and I too am on a mooring. I have 6' pick up stick that comes to the first life line level on my boat. This enables me to see the end of the line quite well. I have pulled in 20+ blows and the approach is the key. I come in on a slight angle to the wind to hold the stick against / bounce down my rub rail as I pull in. by watching the stick an the boats around me I can judge my rate of approach / drift. I take it slow, don't rush it. in heavy blows I wait until the stick is mid beam. Then I head forward to grab it, and I am pulling in the line as I move forward, by the time I get to the bow, I have the loop in hand to feed through and cleat. In lighter winds I don't wait until it is a beam. Eventually, it becomes second nature and I have different spot along the boat based upon differnt wind / drift. I part that makes this more fun is 90% of the time the tender is also tied off to the pendant, so I have to drag it forward while heading forward. Just relax, and head around again if you need to.

best of luck
 
#20 ·
Where's SD with his bumped-thread discipline stick?

Anyway, I certainly agree with "just relax, and head around again if you need to". Deploy extra fenders if you are in a tight spot mooring. People mind if you ding their topsides, but not if you just moosh their boat with fenders...particularly on a mooring where the hit boat will just start moving slowly itself.
 
#21 ·
In terms of simple docking single-hand in a strange slip, I use a Halpern MK III docker. The Halpern MK III Docker consists of an old wire halyard run the length of the boat outboard of everything. Riding on that wire is a small Harken wire block. Tied through the shackle of the block is a loop of line slightly longer in length than the beam of the boat so that the loop when folded is slightly longer than roughly half the beam of the boat.

Before starting in I rig the bow, stern and spring lines.
<O:p
When the Halpern MK III Docker is deployed the halyard is run tightly along the windward or up-current side (which ever is stronger) of the boat, outboard of everything and is cleated at the bow cleat and stern cleats. The block is pulled aft to the helmsmen's station and the loop is held in the helmsman's hand. As the outer most windward or up current piling passes by the helmsman, the loop is dropped over the piling. As the boat continues to back in the block runs up the length of the wire. Meanwhile the helmsman focuses on steering towards and catching an aft piling with a dock line. The loop of line prevents the bow from paying off to leeward. Once the stern is tied off you can rig springs and breast lines as necessary.


Jeff
 
#23 ·
Interesting idea... :)
In terms of simple docking single-hand in a strange slip, I use a Halpern MK III docker. The Halpern MK III Docker consists of an old wire halyard run the length of the boat outboard of everything. Riding on that wire is a small Harken wire block. Tied through the shackle of the block is a loop of line slightly longer in length than the beam of the boat so that the loop when folded is slightly longer than roughly half the beam of the boat.

Before starting in I rig the bow, stern and spring lines.
<o>:p</o>
When the Halpern MK III Docker is deployed the halyard is run tightly along the windward or up-current side (which ever is stronger) of the boat, outboard of everything and is cleated at the bow cleat and stern cleats. The block is pulled aft to the helmsmen's station and the loop is held in the helmsman's hand. As the outer most windward or up current piling passes by the helmsman, the loop is dropped over the piling. As the boat continues to back in the block runs up the length of the wire. Meanwhile the helmsman focuses on steering towards and catching an aft piling with a dock line. The loop of line prevents the bow from paying off to leeward. Once the stern is tied off you can rig springs and breast lines as necessary.

Jeff
 
#22 ·
Piratesoul's a n00b...so I'm being nice. :)

Piratesoul should probably read the post in my signature though. :) He should also pay attention to post dates before replying. :)
 
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