NE Sailboat wrote:
I also disagree completely with your opinion. Single hand sailing is
hard
work, dangerous, lonely, etc. Just leaving whatever mooring, dock
you might be attached to is tough. Unless you have more than two
arms?

It's not my opinion you are disagreing with, it is my experience. For you,
it may be hard, lonely, dangerous, work but I find it relaxing, stimulating,
and even medative. This applies to docking as well. My landings in the
slip from hell are almost always smoother and better when I'm alone because
I'm fully focused and able to act with exact timing instead of worrying
whether the crew will step off at the right moment, remember to put a turn
on the cleat instead of pulling from chest height in a panic, etc.

I do a lot of things slower and the preplanning required makes for a lot of
the enjoyable mental exercise. Where I might just cast off and back out
with a crew, I will move the boat to a different position, double lines back
short enough that they can't foul the prop but will just fall off the horn
of the cleats when I start moving. As I back out, there is almost always
some helpful person on the dock yelling, "You forgot your dock lines!" but I
just motor out into the open and walk around calmly retrieving them.

Try buying two bow and stern lines each about 3/4 the length of your boat.
Take time to lead them outside everything with the ends tied together. You
can then step ashore with the ability to control both ends of the boat.
After making on line fast, the other will be right there without falling in
the water or being on the deck of the boat that has blown just out of reach.

I do all this with two arms and, as I said, it is easier than with any but a
very experienced crew.

Then, once released, the project of putting up the main, getting
everything together ,, et all.

It's not a project. It's seamanship. It's why we spend all this money to
be able to enjoy this.

And the big issue is the helm! Unless you are the first person on
earth who can be in two places at once. Someone, must steer.

You are not doing this right. I sometimes have to go back and make a helm
adjustment but it's not a big deal. I usually get everything ready to
hoist, go back and position the boat, and then haul away. My boat is as
quick turning as any when unattended. If I can do this, you should easily
be able to manage it in your long keel Bristol 32.

Little things learned over 43 years help. Are you overhauling your sheets
before hoisting? The drag of a partially hoisted sail pulling the sheets
through the blocks will accellerate and turn the boat. If the sail can
swing freely, it will have less effect on the boat.

I get very frustrated. One minute I'm pulling on a sheet, next I'm
back resetting the helm

This gets close to the core problem. Attitude is important. Once you get
frustrated, the parts of the mind that anticipate, stratagize, and react
constructively to unexpected problems begin to shut down. This is above
all, a mental exercise. Nothing will help as much as learning to get into a
"zone" where snags are just something you deal with.

But :::: the helm! That rotten helm.

Come on, the Bristol 32 has about as sweet a helm as you are ever going to
find on a sailboat. My E32 has marvelous control authority but her least
attractive trait is that she turns instantly and quickly as soon as you let
go. If I can do all this stuff calmly on an E32, you can do it on a B32.
Do you have a wheel? If so learn how to use the brake. Sometimes setting
it so it just drags works better than locking it. If you have a tiller, look
at one of those "Tiller Tamers".


At the end of the day .... the docking, mooring. I hate this.

There's the nub of the problem. Have you considered golf? You'll never do
it right unless you enjoy it, even when it isn't going right.

I'd rather have a crewmate. Someone to help out.

Well, as to why you don't have a crewmate, I just won't touch that with a
ten foot pole. I will say however, that you are much more likely to find or
retain a crewmate if you learn how to do everything calmly by yourself and
project a reassuring sense of competence and control. My current number one
crew detested boating up until last spring. Sailing or boating with her
former husband was like being in a storm at sea. It was a constant crisis
from the time they left the dock until they returned during which everything
she did was wrong. Now she is completely in love with cruising and looking
forward eagerly to going to Newfoundland, Labrador, and even beyond.

One thing I brought with me from aviation was the concept of practice. If
you are going out and just starting to cruise, as it sounds like you did
last summer, you are setting yourself up for frustration. Now that you know
the boat, plan on a few days next spring with no goals other than practice.
Put the sails up and down, dock and undock. Try different things. Think
ahead. Think of the snags not as frustraging interruptions but as the keys
to doing it smoothly by anticipating them.

Experience helps but none of this can be done by rote. Attitude and getting
in to a zone of calm and creative problem solving is vital.
The brain also has a way of processing lessons over time when you get away.
The improvement in my handling of the boat this summer over the first was
amazing, right from the first day. You'll find next season much easier.
But, only if you get your attitude adjusted.

--
Roger Long