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Engineless?

9K views 48 replies 20 participants last post by  limpyweta 
#1 ·
Hi, I have a (new to me) Columbia 31 with a Atomic 4 that is not running at the moment. I am new to sailing and want to get some time under sail, practice and learn the boat. What difficulties would I have taking her out with auxiliary power? or should I just wait until I get the motor up and running?

Thanks

Ed
 
#35 ·
You refer to International Rule 9 and Rule 10 of the Navigation Rules:

RULE 9
Narrow Channels


(b) A vessel of less than 20 meters in length or a sailing vessel shall not impede the passage of a vessel which can safely navigate only within a narrow channel or fairway.

and it's repeated again in International Rule 10, where the rules talk about Traffic Separation Schemes:

RULE 10
Traffic Separation Schemes


(j) A vessel of less than 20 meters in length or a sailing vessel shall not
impede the safe passage of a power-driven vessel following a traffic lane.

In my mind, that means you had better have a good backup plan when sailing near busy channels or traffic schemes. Hefty ground tackle with several hundred feet of rode is a must. The Pardeys, who cruised for years without an engine, recommend carrying a skulling oar. They state that they can propel their heavy displacement boat at a knot or so. Good enough to slide over to the side of a channel in a pinch.

Captain John
 
#36 ·
I used to crew for an old friend on his Etchel, and he always sailed with no motor. He carried an oar for those occasions when there was not a breath of air.

Also, he taught me to not use the jib when returning to his slip in light air, because, if you had a gust of wind as you were entering the slip, you couldn't smother the jib quickly or fully enough, and it propelled the boat into the dock. He used the mainsail, but he lowered it until most of it was flaked down on the boom. Only a small triangle of the mainsail was raised above the boom.

If we were entering the slip downwind, we only had enough sail area exposed to add slightly to the effect of the wind on the bare hull and pole. That was enough to provide steerageway and control, but not so much that it would accelerate significantly if there was a sudden gust, and it could be smothered fairly easily.

If we were entering the slip to windward, the mainsail, lowered in that manner, allowed us to drive to windward, while providing us enormous control in the event of a sudden gust. If you're trying to sail to windward with a jib, it's much more difficult to limit boatspeed in a sudden gust, because, to a large extent, the whole sail area of the jib is either trimmed and driving the boat too fast, or it's luffed and providing no drive at all. It's like driving a car that only has two speeds - either full idle, or pedal to the metal.
 
#37 ·
Sailormon,
That's very close to the procedure we used. The mainsail gives much more control. We lowered the main a bit at a time as the boat entered the canal. This de-powered the sail, but still gave enough momentum for bare steerage.

Headsails may have their place in some docking maneuvers, but I dislike how the sail and sheets get in the way of the foredeck crew tending the bow springs.
 
#38 ·
skippertips, when you mentioned sailing into a slip under bare poles, it reminded me that, at one time I experimented with sailing under bare poles, just to see how much control you can get by it. I found that you don't need a full gale to sail under bare poles. You can do it, even in moderate winds. Also, under favorable circumstances (especially in smooth water), you can even tack to windward to a certain extent, although it obviously takes patience. It surprised me how much control you can have under bare poles. I was sailing a 25' keel boat at the time, and haven't tried it with my present 35' cruising boat, but don't know why it wouldn't work with a bigger, heavier boat. I'm sure that one reason why it worked so well for me is that I was an active racer, and my bottom and keel were always clean and fast, so there wasn't much drag to resist the small amount of driving force the wind has on the hull.

Sailing a 31' boat into a slip isn't something I'd recommend to a novice, because it takes skill novices don't have, and some slips really aren't amenable to it, depending on their location and the wind direction, but there are lots of ways you can get a boat into a slip if you practice some of the alternative methods before you actually have to do it.
 
#39 ·
Sailormon, great points. One thing that I passed on to folks was the art of "feathering the rudder" to turn a boat under bare poles--or with bare steerageway--90 degrees or more into the slip. Feathering also slows momentum. Here's a blurb from an article I wrote:

How to Feather the Rudder

Use hard sweeps to turn your boat in a sharp turn. With a sailboat wheel, throw the wheel hard in the direction of the turn. Bring it back amidships smooth and easy. Then, throw it hard again in the direction of the turn. Continue this method until you bring the boat around.

With a sailboat tiller, use this same process, but push the tiller hard away from the direction of your turn. Then bring it back smooth and easy and repeat the feathering technique. Continue this method until you bring the boat around.

When you have the bow pointed toward the slip, drop your speed if necessary with a "quick-feather" technique. Sweep the wheel or tiller from side to side fast, without the smooth return motion described for turning. This slows your boat to a crawl for an easy, controlled docking.
 
#40 · (Edited)
I agree with all comments about sailing across shipping lanes. I was always conservative to a fault regarding anything slightly questionable. Two points about sailing with no engine: 1) you really need to study local conditions (tides, currents, shipping lanes, everything else) 2) sailing with no motor, you learn real fast.

The hard part is knowing your own limitations. I crewed for a skipper who thought he could sail well, but repeatedly stopped his boat head to wind through sheer incompetence, a lack of feel on the helm. He'd taken many sailing classes, but somehow just couldn't grasp the basics. That's when you're most dangerous.

We had no trouble sailing under jib alone on a beam reach back into our down wind slip. On really windy days, we'd douse the jib before the turn, to keep all the sheets clear of the dock. The main on a Folkboat typically has no reef points; letting the main down part way drops the boom in your lap.
 
#41 ·
"I found that you don't need a full gale to sail under bare poles. You can do it, even in moderate winds. Also, under favorable circumstances (especially in smooth water), you can even tack to windward to a certain extent, although it obviously takes patience"

Sailormon, you've piqued my interest with this one. How do I tack to windward with bare poles? I'm a *"Motor? We don't need no stinkin' motor!"* kind of guy, but even so hadn't considered the above possible. From what do you get the kind of lift to take you upwind? The mast? the hull shape?

'Splain please?
 
#42 ·
"I found that you don't need a full gale to sail under bare poles. You can do it, even in moderate winds. Also, under favorable circumstances (especially in smooth water), you can even tack to windward to a certain extent, although it obviously takes patience"

Sailormon, you've piqued my interest with this one. How do I tack to windward with bare poles? I'm a *"Motor? We don't need no stinkin' motor!"* kind of guy, but even so hadn't considered the above possible. From what do you get the kind of lift to take you upwind? The mast? the hull shape?

'Splain please?
I'm assuming it works the same way that it works when you use sails to sail to windward. Wind on the side of the hull provides the driving force, the keel provides lateral resistance, and the boat slides forward, in the direction of the least resistance. The wind pressure on the hull is fairly equally distributed fore and aft, so it's similar to having a balanced sailplan in that respect. The wind on the bow is trying to push the bow to leeward, and that is countered by the wind on the stern, which is holding the bow toward the wind. It obviously helps to have all the conditions in your favor, including smooth water and a clean, slippery bottom and keel, and it also helps if the boat has a little momentum to begin with.

I don't blame you if you're a little skeptical. I was stunned the first time I did it.
 
#43 ·
If it were me...

I have a 22' sailboat that I am restoring which does not have power, and I get a bit worried at the thought of sailing without power. I think its all in your confidence level. If it were me at this stage in my life I would not do it (and I would replace the atomic 4 with a diesel engine). I would love to get to the point where I can tag my mooring ball without power but I am not there yet. Overall the technique to sailing a boat without power can be different at times and you should gauge your abilities to do things like moor/dock under sail. Best of luck.

22' Sailmaster Sailboat Restoration
 
#44 ·
I dock under sail all the time. However, I tend to do so on a run in light winds. This is typical for my dock. Leaving the dock under sail would be impossible for me. I have been considering getting a 12' sweep just to experiment but have yet to do so.
 
#45 ·
"I would love to get to the point where I can tag my mooring ball without power but I am not there yet. "
In my first sailing lessons, in Solings, we tagged the mooring ball perfectly at the end of the first day, first time. So the instructor says ok, that was too easy, let it go and let's do it again. I think "again" took a good half hour to happen.<G>

An engine is like an attack dog. As long as it obeys perfectly, it can be a very good thing to have around.
 
#49 · (Edited)
Adam,

About getting out of a leeward slip, first, Jay Fitzgerald's book covers this. It's best to head out when one knows there's a calm. If it's 5 am with signs of the wind picking up later, then do it at 5 am. It helps to learn a lot about the weather and all the ways to forecast it for the given area and pricerange.

I've been in this situation on an engineless C&C 27, as a part of Sail Transport Company, which was in the works in Puget Sound a few years ago. The boat's flipped around in the early morning before the wind picks up so the bow faces out. This helps with someone on tiller as one or two on the dock bobsled her out of the slip by the stanchions and pull on the bow and stern with a couple lines, with each line around a dock cleat in the process. There was like a 15 knot southerly in the main channel of Puget Sound, and the slip opened to the south in Shilshole Bay Marina. The mainsail was set, but I don't remember how reefed it was. There was a self-casting line secured to the port bow cleat that looped around the cleat at the end of the dock across the channel between docks in the marina, so like 50 feet one way, 100 ft loop. In between puffs, one would haul that bow line as the other was on main and tiller, didn't take much muscle or a winch or handy billy, and when the bow was far enough out for the main to drive her forward in time, the casting line did it's job, and I think the loop was then pulled the other way. I guess this would really depend on the friction and shape of the cleat or piling, the angle of the loop, and the friction of the line. I don't remember if she had that yuloh sculling oar on her yet.
 
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