Reefer Madness

[goldenstate]

I have delayed, not for any good reason, implementing Christian's reef-tack-downhauls-led-to-cockpit solution that permits a sailor to avoid going to the mast to set the tack ring for a reef. I finally got around to it - I'm using New England Rope 8mm - 5/16" VPC cored lines from Defender. I should have done this a year ago.

I do the same dumb thing over and over again. I make it out of Richardson Bay with the wind is blowing about 15 knots. Perfect for all of the canvas, so I roll it out and hoist it up. I sail about 5 minutes farther south past the headlands, and then the wind bumps to 20, gusting to 25. (Like, of course it does, dude. What did you think was going to happen?) Why don't I set the sail reefed to begin with? When I do, it seems boring. So 20 minutes into my sail I usually wind up with a dog fight where the boat is unhappy, I am unhappy that the boat is unhappy and things start flapping and flogging around and I have to clamber up and get the tack dogbone set.

Today, it was easy as pie. Stay in the cockpit, bring the bow up close to the wind, loosen the mainsheet, drop the halyard, politely cleat off the new downhaul, pull the clew down, raise the halyard, bring the mainsheet in. Totally calm, totally controlled, no dancing up near the mast while no one is at the helm. So good.

IMHO any other novice singlehanders/doublehanders who encounter reefing challenges should do this update ASAP. $80 in rope, a couple of turning blocks at the mast base and your boat is much safer, much easier to handle. All of a sudden, slab reefing the main feels much closer to furling the jib in terms of ease of completion.

6.9kts in 20



If you squint you can see some fancy SailGP catamarans practicing for races this weekend. I didn't want to intimidate them, so I stayed back.



Obligatory stare-down with an oil tanker. I blinked.

 

[Loren Beach]

Sounds like you added a turning block, and then a cleat or clutch back at the rear of the house top.(?)

 

[goldenstate]

Sounds like you added a turning block, and then a cleat or clutch back at the rear of the house top.(?)

For version 1.0 I am using one of the two traditional horn cleats that I inherited.

I may add a clutch, but it may not be merited for another set of holes and another object on top of the cabin. The cleat seemed to work well.

 

[David Grimm]

Yes, I too have been putting this off. Maybe a project for next winter. Hope thats just a temporary doger I see in the pictures! JK.

 

[southofvictor]

Ok so here’s a noob question - I have only one double clutch port side on the cabin top. I’ve been trying to figure out how to use a horn cleat to take a line off a winch but keep it under tension while under load? All the bigger boats I’ve been on have had all lines coming to the cabin top led through clutches. Eventually I see adding some clutches to the cabin top but for now is there a way to do this cleanly and safely?

 

[Christian Williams]

I don't see why a cleat wouldn't work for the downhauls. All they do is hold tight as the luff is tensioned.

But my new clutches make things neat, and were very easy to install.

Hmmm. I say "new" but it was 2018. Wow, time breaks into a gallop like it was heading for the, uh, barn.

E381 - Replace Line Clutches, Thelonious II

Ericson 38 sailboat deck gear line clutches Christian Williams Thelonious II

ericsonyachts.org

 

[toddster]

When I had the boat hauled, I installed a Garhauer mast plate under the mast step, to allow playing with this sort of thing in the future.
But I have to say, when I’ve had wind (as it does here) go from 8 to 30 in a heartbeat, with the rocks 30 yards off… somehow I made it up to the mast and back before I had time to get scared. Or maybe it was before I had time to think about it.

I can’t figure out what the POs had in mind. They put cheek blocks at the base of the mast … no way they’d lead fair to anything. And put an array of neatly labeled clam cleats behind the cabin-top winch. Maybe the flux capacitor had to be engaged to make that work…?

 

[goldenstate]

Ok so here’s a noob question - I have only one double clutch port side on the cabin top. I’ve been trying to figure out how to use a horn cleat to take a line off a winch but keep it under tension while under load? All the bigger boats I’ve been on have had all lines coming to the cabin top led through clutches. Eventually I see adding some clutches to the cabin top but for now is there a way to do this cleanly and safely?

I don’t think there is a way to keep a line winch-tight and transition off the winch.

Cleats are normally mounted diagonally vs. the load so I find I can add some tension before hitching, but there is usually slackening if you are going from one to the other.

Clutches go ahead of the winch so the same winch can serve multiple lines to solve this problem.

 

[Bolo]

Of the top five improvements I've made to my boat over the years, in-cockpit reefing was probably the best one. The question is, "Why did you wait so long to do it, Bob?" Well, I can't come up with a good answer but the looks from my first mate's (wife) face when I would go to the mast to set the new tack point while the wind was up and the thoughts of my mortality probably spurred me on to change things. Whatever the reasons I too consider in cockpit reefing a must for anyone who solos or short hands especially with a crew that are novices.

As with all of us who own boats from the "ghost fleets" we inherit the good and bad ideas that were done to our boats from previous owners. When I took ownership of my E32-3 it had, on the port side cabin top, a Barient 21 self-tailing winch and three ancient (at least to me) "Sophus Berendsen" (???) rope clutches. One line was the head sail halyard with the other two being the 1st and 2nd clew reefing lines. I had to go to the mast to attach the 1st and 2nd reef line tacks. I can only assume that the head sail halyard ran through a rope clutch and then to a self-tailing winch at a time before the head sail furler? Who knows. I only used the halyard twice a year. To raise the sail in the spring and to take it down in the winer. A change was definitely needed.


The old, not quite adequate, reefing setup.

First I removed the Barient 21 self-tailing winch (now sitting in my work shop) and and moved the head sail halyard to the mast which required me to install a mounting plate and smaller winch because the Barient was too big to be re-used. This turned out to be a much better location when raising the genoa because I'm closer to the sail to guide it up the furler. Next I removed the three old rope clutches, which I had to sometimes use a pair of pliers to open, and replaced them with four Spinlock clutches that would service the four reefing lines. I then added a Lewmar 24 winch that I positioned farther aft then the old Barient and directly behind the rope clutches.


The new and improved reefing setup.

This set up now makes it a lot easier and, more importantly, safer to reef. Before I would hesitate or try and ride out a big blow but now I reef more often with a lot less hassle. I now plan to add two more rope clutches to the starboard side of the cabin top where now I have two winches. One is a Barient 17 self-tailing for the main halyard and another smaller Barient winch for the main sheet which ties off to a cleat. With two new rope clutches and the repositioning of the the Barient 17, or replacing it with a newer winch in a better location and removal of the smaller Barient along with it's cleat I'll make the handling of the main much easier and quicker....I think.

 

[goldenstate]

I agree with Bob. A top 5 improvement, right up there with a furling jib, a wheel pilot for motoring, windvane for sailing.

One other small issue to consider is that hanging more lines (the downhauls) off your sail adds a bit of weight to your main. I have never been as impressed as some others have with the performance gain of the Tides SailTrack I installed. Others have celebrated that the sail drops easily with the track installed, but (with my stiff dacron cruising main) I never really found that to be true. It would drop a couple of feet and then hesitate and I would sometimes have to clamber up on the cabintop to get enough mainsail fabric down to de-power the boat.

When I dropped my main yesterday with the reefing downhauls attached, it came down smoothly and of its own accord. I suspect that having the few feet of line weighing down the main in near perfect aligment with the luff groove sail slides contributes to this quick-and-easy drop-ability.

I'll accept the incremental hoisting weight on the sail knowing I can take my foot off the gas (drop the main) more easily now.

 

[goldenstate]

Yes, I too have been putting this off. Maybe a project for next winter. Hope thats just a temporary doger I see in the pictures! JK.

Yep, dodger is back on. Not good for battling in the bay, but I am in T-minus prep for a long summer sail (fingers-crossed). Two @ hundred-watt flexible solar panels are going on the dodger. Plus the shade and comfort afforded by the structure is significant.

 

[goldenstate]

I'm belaboring this point.

I don't recall the specific thread, but were recently having the "how do I deal with weather helm" discussion that comes up every 6-8 months, and someone made the point that if our 1980's style masthead/fractional sloop boats get over-canvassed in heavy wind, to avoid weather helm the logical move is to take the first reef out of the main (as opposed to rolling away jib).

I always rolled away jib first, because it was easier. Now, the main can be shortened first, more easily.

 

[Christian Williams]

It would drop a couple of feet and then hesitate

If the halyard runs free, something isn't right. Even with full-length battens pressuring the track, the sail should drop like a stone. Try to identify the point of hesitation and check the connection of the Tides slides to the sail. Worth checking out because lowering sail is what Tides system does well.

 

[Kenneth K]

First I removed the Barient 21 self-tailing winch (now sitting in my work shop)...

A Barient 21 sounds large for a cabin-top winch on a E323. I wonder if that was original equipment. Mine came with a Barient 17ST (port) and a 10 & 18 (stbd).

If the one in your shop happens to be a 17ST, I'll make you an offer on it. Id like another one to replace my 18 non-self-tailer.

 

[Bolo]

A Barient 21 sounds large for a cabin-top winch on a E323. I wonder if that was original equipment. Mine came with a Barient 17ST (port) and a 10 & 18 (stbd).

If the one in your shop happens to be a 17ST, I'll make you an offer on it. Id like another one to replace my 18 non-self-tailer.

I thought so too, "A Barient 21 sounds large for a cabin-top winch on a E323", but it was there and didn't make sense to have it there. I can only surmise that one of the POs decided it would be a good thing to have to raise a head sail. I did use it a few times to tighten up a reefing line but it was really positioned wrong and over kill. And yes it's definitely a Barient 21 which is in pieces. I've go to clean it up and then offer it for sale since I don't think I have a use for it any more.

 

[Bolo]

Yep, dodger is back on. Not good for battling in the bay, but I am in T-minus prep for a long summer sail (fingers-crossed). Two @ hundred-watt flexible solar panels are going on the dodger. Plus the shade and comfort afforded by the structure is significant.

Goldenstate, I'm with you on the dodger and I too eventually want to add some solar panels to it since..it's there. Have a "permanent" bimini also for the shade during those lazy hot Chesapeake summer months and because I had skin cancer once already. But the really big reason is because the "admiral" (wife) demands it.