A change of pace... in a different place...

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A change of pace... in a different place...

Postby Breakin Wind » Wed Mar 13, 2013 6:44 pm

Greetings all,
I had an interesting pair of experiences to share from last week while vacationing in Florida.

We stayed 6 days on Fort Myers Beach on the Gulf side, and as I was soaking up some rays on the beach, I noticed a couple masts about a block down on the sand. I wandered over and found a beach booth renting small Hobie Cats (12 foot maybe?) for a reasonable rate (reasonable for a tourist) and so to knock off one of my bucket list items (sail in the Gulf), I rented one for an hour to take a spin.

For all of you who beach launch, I tip my hat. The rental guy basically dragged the cat out to the water about 4 feet from shore, parallel to the shore, I climbed on the trampoline and he gave it a general sideways shove outward, and told me to have a good time. The wind was blowing in, the waves were pushing in, and I'd never been on a catamaran sailboat before. Not a good way to start. There is no boom and all I really had was a clew end hook mounted sheet through a 4:1 block setup which was twisted so bad the lines didn’t really run clean, and here I was trying to figure out how move into tack with no forward motion or room to work. With my family watching, camera's poised for my crash, I simply refused to get off, pull the boat back to shore and figure it out, so I sort of worked the rudders back and forth furiously from hard to port toward center kind of driving the stern of the boat around and forward until I was pointed “generally” out at an angle, hauled in on the mainsheet (the only sheet) and finally started slowly breaking through the waves at an angle trying to ignore the very audible snap of the stays slapping (very loose). Once I got out a couple hundred feet, I was able to let out the sheet, disconnect the hook from the clew and untwist the lines. (rentals… argh…) After that, it was a pretty enjoyable, albeit wet sail with the waves periodically breaking over the bow(s).

1482

I did come to appreciate how stable a catamaran is, although was windy, it wasn’t enough for any close calls. Coming in was a no brainer, except I wasn’t sure how to stop when I got to shore, can’t drop the sail (or at least I didn’t think I was supposed to) so I just ran a ground… they seemed fine with it.

After our days on the beach, we drove to Orlando to take my grandson to see Mickey Mouse, and much to my pleasure, the resort we were staying at had a small pond/lake, and they too rented sailboats. This time it was a SunFish. Wow… talk about a different world that was… For as stable as the cat was, even in a pretty good wind, the Sunfish seemed ultra sensitive and tippy with just a moderate breeze. It didn’t help that the wind was shifting a lot, but I had major control problems on this one. The mainsheet was down through a single ratchet block (very nice how those work) but there was no cleat or anyplace to tie it off requiring me to hold the sheet all the time in one hand and the rudder in the other. With no way to heave to without a jib, again with the shifting and changing wind (lull to good blow in a few seconds) I couldn’t really just let out the sheet to let the sail luff, it kept coming around on me. I finally had to settle for sailing into a quiet spot to make some adjustments.

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That was a much less enjoyable sail, but after 15 minutes or so I finally got the hang of it. I’ve seen pictures on the internet with 3-4 people in a Sunfish and I just cannot imagine how that would work. I can see where it would be a very fast boat in a good wind, but it seemed more like what I would expect wind surfing to be than sailing. Of course I've never tried wind surfing so it's easy for me to make that comparison.

Having survived and retaining my no spills record (but very very close on the SunFish), I’m back now in the cold and snow of Minnesota, and the countdown is on until Ice-Out in early April, then I can get back out in my old but much more now appreciated, DaySailer. Com'on spring
Breakin Wind
 
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Re: A change of pace... in a different place...

Postby TIM WEBB » Wed Mar 13, 2013 10:27 pm

Welcome to FL sailing in Winter! Gusty/shifty is the name of the game my friend ... :D
Tim Webb
1979 DS2 10099 The Red Witch
(I used to be Her "staff", in the way dogs have owners and cats have staff, but alas no longer ... <pout>)
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Re: A change of pace... in a different place...

Postby ChrisB » Thu Mar 14, 2013 11:13 am

Amen to that. Today, north wind at 20, gusting to 30. By the weekend it will be southerly around 5. Wish we could balance the two winds a little.

Sounds like you enjoyed your "sailing" vacation Scott. I owned both Hobie and a Sunfish in my younger days and I miss both boats sometimes. Days like today when the wind is really howling and I wouldn't venture out in my DS, the Sunfish would be an absolute blast! I'd be on a plane the whole time but man would my abs be sore later! Capsizing a Sunfish was never a problem; pull down on the CB and the boat pops back up. Climb back aboard your "surfboard on steoids" and off you go.
Chris B.
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Re: A change of pace... in a different place...

Postby brucybaby » Wed Mar 20, 2013 12:46 pm

Nice story Scott. You must have a very understanding family too. I get groans and moans from the fam when I even look at sailboats while on vacation, they think I'm an addict. Well, I do tend to gravitate a bit to the subject now and then, LOL ...and these OTHER boats, they look like they may be fun, but where do you put your cooler and radio? :lol:
Bruce
'71 Oday DS2-Dashaway: Hull# 25873 Class# 4842
Ray Twp., MI
Pics: http://s1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa4 ... =slideshow
Vids: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL60647F9C03EAE28A
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Re: A change of pace... in a different place...

Postby navahoIII » Thu Mar 21, 2013 8:26 am

I also enjoyed your story, though I have never been on a multi-hull. I have, however, had the pleasure (exhilaration more like it!) of sailing a Laser. That is fun! Just you and the boat, tiller and mainsheet, hiking straps and constant alertness -- AND no wife on board worrying about capsizing!!! Those boats are so fast! First time out I capsized five times, second time only once, and that was towards the end. I must do that again!
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Re: A change of pace... in a different place...

Postby Breakin Wind » Wed Mar 27, 2013 1:34 pm

brucybaby wrote:Nice story Scott. You must have a very understanding family too. I get groans and moans from the fam when I even look at sailboats while on vacation, they think I'm an addict. Well, I do tend to gravitate a bit to the subject now and then, LOL ...and these OTHER boats, they look like they may be fun, but where do you put your cooler and radio? :lol:


Last summer was my first for sailing, and I did much of that on weekday evenings. My cabin (and the associated lake) is only 45 minutes from my house and I leave my Daysailer docked, rigged and furled. I work from home several days each week and so those days I can start at 6 AM, by noon I have 6 hours in and I've made a deal with my boss for me to take 2 hours of vacation every Wednesday afternoon. By 1PM I'm on the dock and either untieing my lines or if the weather isn't supporting, taking some part off the boat to work on.

That leaves my cabin "weekends" for family and other projects of more importance to others than my sailing. I'll still monitor the weather for Saturday and Sunday morning and if it's good early on, I'll go out for an hour before breakfast too. Beyond that, my weekend sailing is restricted to taking company out for a ride, or when there is nothing on the "honey-do" list, which is still years long but sometimes needs some purchases or lenghty prep to continue.

The bottom line is, my wife hasn't actually figured out that I'm obsessed with sailing yet. The longer I can stay in the closet, the more I'll be able to sail with her OK on special occasions.

Thanks,
Breakin Wind
 
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Re: A change of pace... in a different place...

Postby GreenLake » Wed Mar 27, 2013 3:47 pm

Looks like you have a great setup going. I'm closer to water but don't get away that often.

Breakin Wind wrote:The bottom line is, my wife hasn't actually figured out that I'm obsessed with sailing yet. The longer I can stay in the closet, the more I'll be able to sail with her OK on special occasions.


She may be more perceptive than you think :)
~ green ~ lake ~ ~
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Re: A change of pace... in a different place...

Postby brucybaby » Wed Mar 27, 2013 4:44 pm

The bottom line is, my wife hasn't actually figured out that I'm obsessed with sailing yet. The longer I can stay in the closet, the more I'll be able to sail with her OK on special occasions.


Stay in the closet as long as you can Scott. Stay AWAY from Craigslist too. I made my mistake after going from a 13' Oday Widgeon to a $500 Chysler C-20 in great shape (I just couldn't resist). I tried to break the upgrade gently to the wif, but the cat jumped out of the bag on the first day of ownership when I backed it into a neighbor's brick mail box AND my daughter's boyfriends car BEFORE she even had a chance to take a gander at that beautiful boat. It was then she knew I had 'issues'.

My DS2 came along after the 'C-20', for practical reasons, ' driveway space'. A compromise was struck. The DS2 was parkable on the side on the house. But,... when the planets align, and I see the right O'Day Mariner ( 19' ) on CL :lol: ....... Unless I hit the lotto, then I'll be draggin' home something else. It wont be an issue if that happens, 'cause I'll be sailin' to Tahiti with an all girl crew! http://youtu.be/T_9lxzvL5_A :twisted: (just kidding)

BTW, Good luck to you!
Bruce
'71 Oday DS2-Dashaway: Hull# 25873 Class# 4842
Ray Twp., MI
Pics: http://s1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa4 ... =slideshow
Vids: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL60647F9C03EAE28A
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