I sail my Alberg 35 singlehanded sometimes. Halyard and reef lines at the mast; roller furling 135% jib. I have an electric autopilot on the wheel with a wired remote. ALWAYS tethered, PFD also. I'm working on a ladder deployable from the water and just bought a water proof hand held vHF that will be clipped to me (Standard Horizon HX 851). The biggest thing is that everything must be planned ahead, I probably sail more conservatively alone. Docking is the biggest challenge of all; I'm out of Anchorage Marina and there is generally no one to help. I basically try to get into the slip and stop and then get a line on instead of trying to get there and tie off at the same time. Mostly sail the Patapsco so far, hoping to cruise for a few days singlehanded this summer.
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Any Solo Sailors?
Hi All,
Are there any "regular" solo sailors lurking about? I'd like to pick your brains about solo sailing - inshore, coastal and off shore.
Dave
Are there any "regular" solo sailors lurking about? I'd like to pick your brains about solo sailing - inshore, coastal and off shore.
Dave
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Mark, what really amazes me is when you come back from a Florida Keys or Bahamas cruise, those same people all say "WOW! I wish I could do that." My usual response to them is "Hell, I gave you the opportunity - you said you had something better to do."
Nuff said,
Gary
Agreed. ONE of the reasons I converted my single line reefing to regular Jiffy reefing. (aside from the fact that single line reefing sux)EXACTLY, I couldn't agree more...
For a solo sailor, the desire to be able to do everything without ever leaving the cockpit is counter-intuitive, and precisely the wrong approach, in general terms... Anyone uncomfortable with leaving the cockpit or going forward shouldn't be sailing alone, to begin with...
As sailors age, if anything they should be making a concerted effort to move MORE around their boats, instead of less...
If I ever get a'feared of going forward then I might as well get a powerboat.
And I can put in a reef in less than 90 seconds, even on a bad day.
Thanks for the replies all!
The wife and I are 58 and her joints are starting to go and I see a time (possibly in the next few years) where she just doesn't want to go out. I'm still the monkey I always have been, very fit and in excellent health. I have never solo sailed... ever. I did all the work aboard, but there was always a wife, the kids, visitors - other people on board. I got to thinking about how I have already been "solo" sailing. The wife is on the bow... but what is she REALLY doing besides standing there looking pretty and being another set of eyes? When we dock, she has been there to help fend off the other boats that just keep wanting to bump into us. (Never could understand why folks don't train there boats to be more sociable).
How old were you when you started going out ALONE?
The wife and I are 58 and her joints are starting to go and I see a time (possibly in the next few years) where she just doesn't want to go out. I'm still the monkey I always have been, very fit and in excellent health. I have never solo sailed... ever. I did all the work aboard, but there was always a wife, the kids, visitors - other people on board. I got to thinking about how I have already been "solo" sailing. The wife is on the bow... but what is she REALLY doing besides standing there looking pretty and being another set of eyes? When we dock, she has been there to help fend off the other boats that just keep wanting to bump into us. (Never could understand why folks don't train there boats to be more sociable)
.How old were you when you started going out ALONE?
This is like beating a dead horse, but here goes.EXACTLY, I couldn't agree more...
For a solo sailor, the desire to be able to do everything without ever leaving the cockpit is counter-intuitive, and precisely the wrong approach, in general terms... Anyone uncomfortable with leaving the cockpit or going forward shouldn't be sailing alone, to begin with...
As sailors age, if anything they should be making a concerted effort to move MORE around their boats, instead of less...
Deciding how to handle your own boat that makes sense for you is a personal preference and you have to figure out what works for you when there's no one around to lend you a hand. Being scared is a whole 'nother animal that you would need to assess than how you might lead your lines.
Post Script: I started single handing almost a year after I got my boat at age 48. It's interesting to start sailing late in life because I can research every different opinion without much inherent bias and then figure out what works best, though the old salts might find this a crazy trial-and-error sort of way to learn.
When I first went cruising I had a racing background where we needed all 10 people to do the easiest task.
Then I sailed trans atlantic on a Swan 651 with only 5 on board. Oh the horror of it! OK it wasnt horror because one was a cook
We did it fine and after hoisting or dousing the spinniker on a 65 with only 5 it became easy.The horror came again when we started cruising wit just 2 of us. Soon enough i was easy.
When we split up I was really worried about how to get into a fuel dock and how to anchor... The sailing seemed easy as with only 2 you do everything by yourself anyway unless you want to wake them.
At some time past I watched this guy on a big boat come in to anchor and he so nonchalantly wandered up from the wheel towards the foredeck, stopped for a burp, fart and scratch, then slowly grabbed the remote and lowered the anchor. I thought I wanna be just like him!!
So first time I anchored by myself I did exactly the same. And it worked!
Same with docking.
Same with everything.
Just pretend you are relaxed and comfortable and indeed you will be.
Go sail by yourself. Its easy. Its liberating
Seems most of the responses are about local sailing and since you asked, local day-sailing and even coastal hops from place to place are one thing.Hi All,
Are there any "regular" solo sailors lurking about? I'd like to pick your brains about solo sailing - inshore, coastal and off shore.
Dave
Solo off-shore voyaging is another thing entirely.
In the first instance, single-handed voyaging implies over-night sailing even on the first day and that implies eventually sailing with nobody on watch. You can't stay awake forever. So again by implication you'll be breaking COLREGs and just because you're a little sailor on a little boat doesn't mean you get any concessions in this regard. You're going to be breaking the law and the consequences are entirely yours.
Be that as it may, I sailed west to east across the Indian Ocean from Seychelles to Indonesia on my own, not by choice, against the SE trades and equatorial currents. It was an arduous 5 weeks slog that never wants to be repeated. In fact, even going east to west is something I would not do alone unless there was no other choice.
I sail for fun and beating into 20 knots for 5 weeks, doing 160 miles a day to get 60 miles up your course, sleeping for an hour, awake for ten minutes, sleeping for another hour in a seemingly endless cycle does not fit into my definition of fun.
Yes, I suppose there is a sense of satisfaction at such an achievement and it does give some bragging rights. There is a very small percentage of sailors in the world that say they enjoy single handed voyaging. Half of them are crazy. The other half are liars.
Just my opinion - if you feel insulted, move to the other group.
When sailing stops being fun, that's the time I'll quit sailing. Same goes with playing music, which I do every day for a living. I'll be 75 in mid October, so I guess I'm one of the old codgers on this forum. However, I've only been sailing for 9 years, but have been fishing aboard powerboats for more than a half century. In retrospect, my sailing time is relatively short in comparison to my time on the water aboard powerboats. And, I would venture a guess that 95 percent of my sailing time, which amounts to about 70 days a year, has been as a solo sailor. I figure I'll keep sailing until my body tells me to quit. My mind would never tell me to quit!
Gary
Gary
Ummmmmmmmmmmm I did 14 days upwind. And 3,000 nms on another passage downwindish. I enjoyed them.Yes, I suppose there is a sense of satisfaction at such an achievement and it does give some bragging rights. There is a very small percentage of sailors in the world that say they enjoy single handed voyaging. Half of them are crazy. The other half are liars.
Just my opinion - if you feel insulted, move to the other group.
I could prefer sitting in a bar with a hot blonde on my lap...
Are you sure theres nothing between crazy and lying? Maybe 5 weeks upwind would make you right but a few weeks is fine.
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