Greetings all,
This is probably a seriously lame question, but hey... if I don't knock out one a week I may forget that I don't know anything.
Bear in mind that I have yet to get my boat actually in the water, but I've been doing a great deal of driveway sailing this late summer as I've worked on making my boat (what I hope is) water-worthy for next spring.
So regarding furling jib sails, first it sounds like if one is going to frequently sail alone (which I expect to be doing), furling the jib removes a couple of challanges from the process of getting started and stopped (and many points between).
From what I've read and seen in ads, it seems like nearly all commercial (and expensive) jib furlers are just a spooling device on the bottom of the jib, and possibly a spinning counterpart connection on the top of the jib. (Right/Wrong/Something in between?) Also from what I've read and seen on this and other boards, nearly all homemade jib furlers seem to have a piece of PVC pipe or other "tube" that either rotates on the headstay or on a seperate line running parallel to it. (again Right/Wrong/Something in between?)
So I think I've figured out the actual process one uses that furls and unfurls the sail (watching videos), and I can see why the homemade furlers work, it's like a big paper towel roller with a spindle on one end... but if my premise is correct that commercial devices don't have a tube, how do they work?
Thanks for your ongoing patience for us new and confused "almost" sailers.