Option for sleeping aboard

[seandwyer]

Hey, Guys,

Yeah, I remember the article / boat jeadstx is talking about. The Marsh Hawk--does that sound familiar? Here's the link to that guys website.
http://s_v_lefty.tripod.com/id18.html

[jeadstx]

Yes, that's the article.

John

[TIM WEBB]

Well, as it turns out, I won't find out about the tent/cot or the anchoring thing this weekend, as I'm not going after all.

Wife and daughter are both sick, and it wouldn't be right to leave them for three days to go on a trip that I might very well have come home from sick as well!

Chris Behnke and crew are still planning on sailing, but most of the others have bailed out due to the forecast (NASTY! Rain, cold, high winds). The event is more or less "officially postponed" until later in the Spring ...

[GreenLake]

Bummer for you.

[TIM WEBB]

Yeah, bummer, but honestly, I don't think I own enough warm clothes to have kept me warm this weekend anyways!

When I get a chance I'll measure that forward clearance of the cot legs over the CB trunk, and maybe then DS1 owners can try it as well. It's a Kamp Rite Collapsible Combo Tent Cot. Folds up to 40" x 8" x 8", so fits nicely in the cuddy ...

[TIM WEBB]

Well, finally got a chance to try it out on a little Saturday/Sunday overnighter.

Put in at Crescent Lake about 5 PM, took a little cruise down to the South end of the lake and back in about 5-10 kts wind, then about an hour before sunset I anchored about 200 yds off the lee side of the island that's in the middle of the lake.

Once I was satisfied the anchor was holding, I proceeded to prepare the boat for overnighting: used the jib halyard hooked to the reef hook to hoist the boom up and out of the way. I just wrapped the topping lift around the aft end of the boom a few times to raise that end. I also tied off the reef line to the tiller tamer on the raised up tiller to get that out of the way, and to keep the boom from swinging around. For an anchor light, using the main halyard, I hoisted an LED lantern up the topping lift, stopping just short of the top of the mast so it wouldn't bang against it.

Proceeded to enjoy a nice warm bowl of beef stew while watching a beautiful sunset, and that's when the no-see-ums decided to come out and ambush us! I have no idea what kind of bugs these are, but they don't sting or bite, they just seem to be attracted to the white topsides. They weren't even attracted to the anchor light. What a mess! They were everywhere. This had happened to me once before, but it was while I was un-rigging the boat after sunset, and they went away after a half hour or so. Not so Sat night ... At least I was able to keep them out of the tent/cot.

That was really the only downer of the whole trip. After dinner, I stashed the rest of the gear in the cuddy, and set up the tent/cot. The wind was still blowing 5-10 out of the west, and the boat was rocking around pretty well at anchor, but it was still easy to set up. By the time I turned in it had settled down tho. Then I checked the anchor one last time - I knew it was holding because there was a bright orange crab trap float right off the starboard gunwale that had not moved since I first anchored.

I also got the chance to test out the map area feature on my GPS that I wanted to use as a "dragging anchor alarm". I set up a perimeter of about 350 sq yds with my location in the center. My anchor line is about 100 ft long, so I figured that was enough wiggle room. But sure enough, about 4 in the morning I was woken up by the GPS beeping, and it showed that I was outside the perimeter. Took a peek outside, and my little orange friend had moved. The wind had picked up again, but out of the south, and the boat had swung around. The anchor was still holding tho. I reset the perimeter and went back to sleep.

Woke up about 7, wondering why it was light out but not really light out. Took another peek outside, and there was fog so thick that the island was invisible. Talk about surreal! Figured I wasn't going anywhere any time soon, so took my time breaking down the tent/cot, making coffee/breakfast, and getting the boat back into sailing configuration. The fog finally burned off about 10 and I had a nice leisurely sail back to the ramp.

All in all, with the exception of the bugs, I was very happy with this arrangement, and am looking forward to the next chance I get to try it out again.

[THOMAS BONTE]

HEY TIM HOW DID IT WORK OUT? I'm planning a camping/sailing trip Memorial Day to a lake in the Sierra; I've done this before but sleeping in the open is just TOO COLD with the downcanyon breeze all night long rolling off the snow at high elevations. This looks like a fine solution... DID IT WORK?

[TIM WEBB]

Worked great! It was a really nice overnighter, with the exception of the bugs. It wasn't *really* cold that night, lows in the low 60's if I recall. I used a self-inflating air mattress and a heavy quilt for bedding, and it was quite comfy!

I have not had a chance to try it out again since then, so still don't know how well it will work if it rains ...

[THOMAS BONTE]

Thanks, Tim, I'll give those tents a serious look.

[THOMAS BONTE]

Tim, I forgot to ask you about what you did with the boom. Looks to me that if you used a topping lift the boom would have to be pretty well vertical--or way up there, anyway. My thought would be to furl the main on the boom and take it off and stick it in the cuddy. What worked for you?

[TIM WEBB]

TB, here's the link to the tent/cot:

http://store.kamprite.com/catalog/Kamp-Rite-Collapsible-Combo-Tent-Cot-CCTC-p-16138.html

As to the boom, I simply furl the main on the boom/secure with bungee balls, disconnect the vang and mainsheet (these have snap shackles for quick connect/disconnect), use the jib halyard to raise the gooseneck (main halyard is used to hoist anchor light), and put a few wraps of the topping lift around the aft end to get that up out of the way. I also raise the tiller to almost vertical and tie the jiffy reef line to it in order to keep the boom and rudder from swinging around. The tent/cot won't fit with the tiller down. Didn't think to just remove the boom, but the cuddy was pretty full of gear/supplies, so not sure it would fit in there, and it might stick out too far to allow tent/cot setup? Will have to give that a try next time anyway ...

[THOMAS BONTE]

Got it, THANKS!

[efoconnor]

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[GreenLake]

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