"Flying Pig" wrote in message
...
The REAL solution is to get rid of the wind-up sails. Sad tale of woe
after sad tail of woe is due to malfunctions of wind-ups. One NEVER hears
of such a thing with real, hanked-on headsails.

Going downwind in a sloop requires the use of a spinnaker or cruising
chute. Messing with poled out genoas is stupid and lubberly.

Get a clue Skippy! Stop worshipping that motor and learn how to sail.

Wilbur Hubbard


Nice to see you back :{))

I've been lurking but, for the most part, there is little of worth to
respond to lately. That phony at the Bangkok dock, most notably.


Of course, I'd not have been on the foredeck otherwise, whereas those
fabulous hankers would have required it every time I wanted to do some
adjustment to the headsail. Corralling a large sail in fair seas,
required in such circumstances, isn't high on my list.


Sailors who whine and complain about going forward and install one
expensive, complicated and trouble-prone system after another to keep from
going forward are a bunch of wimps and pussies in my opinion. If you don't
wish to go forward then don't sail. Going forward and changing out headsails
to suit the conditions of wind and sea as the need arises is one of the more
enjoyable aspects of sailing. Fear of or being too lazy to go forward is
just plain clownish and lubberly.

Incompetence when working forward is a sign of a lubberly, sailor wannabe.
You should be as comfortable working on the foredeck as in the cockpit. You
can be just as safe as well. Just clip in your harness to the jackline in
heavy weather if you have a weak constitution.

Unless you're a fanatic you need only 4 headsails for most cruises. 150%
genny, working jib, 50% (storm) jib plus a cruising chute or spinnaker if
you wish to make a little better time downwind. This inventory generally
involves not too many trips forward depending upon the time of the year you
sail.

If you insist upon sailing in the summertime you will have to make more
trips forward as there are many wind shifts and many wind speed changes
mostly due to the proximity of thunderstorms, land masses etc. In the trades
and wintertime fewer sail changes are called for. But, the key is to never
dread changing a headsail. Do it soon and do it often. Never wait until
conditions have deterioated so much that it becomes a chore. And, remember,
even a large headsail or spinnaker becomes mostly docile when blanketed by
the mainsail when running. Never forsake working in the lee of the mainsail
when the winds pipe up unexpectedly. But, for this you need a competent
helmsman (probably not Lydia) or a good autopilot that can accomplish the
task while running.


And, until we were beating unreasonably, Perky stayed listless (well,
moribund, even).

I admit I'm still learning how to sail. I hope I never get to the point
where I think I know it all, as in complacency lies danger...

The only real way to learn to sail it to do it without an engine. Oh, you
can have your engine but don't run the damned thing. One of the stupidest
and most disgusting things I see is lubberly sailors who use their motors
like a binky. When the weather gets rowdy, even if they're still sailing and
have the proper sails for the conditions, on comes the motor - just in case.
Freaking stupid! Like Lionel and his security blanket. This is no way to
sail!

The ONLY time to run your engine is when the wind dies and dies completely.
That's how you learn to sail. Many's the time I've sailed back and forth
from the Bahamas with my engine removed from the transom and placed in the
cockpit locker. But, the summertime is not the time to do it unless you
enjoy an exercise in frustration as you'll be lucky to enjoy enough wind to
get you in and out of inlets against the current or even with the current if
you wait until it changes. You still need some little wind to have steerage.
Drifting with the current without steerage way is not seamanlike.


L8R

Skip, still trying to get Tropica Marine to stand up and take the heat for
their misinstallation of our radar (wrong cable for the application)

Lose the radar! Sailboats don't need radar. Real sailors won't abide radar.


Wilbur Hubbard