​Tip-toeing Around Monsters

When you picture a cloud, you probably see the white puffy part hovering high in the sky. The base is clearly visible above the horizon and the top of the cloud is also in view. These are happy clouds that grace you with shade on a hot ocean day!

Monster clouds are the ones that rise up over the horizon with no visible base. These clouds are so massive that they are located somewhere beyond the curvature of the Earth yet they still take up almost half of the visible sky! These are pressure systems, so massive that they have a different air pressure than their surroundings.

If you are in a high pressure with clear blue skies, these low pressure monsters will look like massive white hazes in the distance. If they are far enough they will look like a white dome, if they are closer, just a hazy white horizon. The winds in these creatures can be quite powerful, so it is best to avoid them.

To do this, you choose your course based on where they are going and stay out of their way. You are a literal ant in a room full of elephants when you are sailing the ocean blue. Don't get stepped on!

The Power of a Sail

When people think of powerful boats, they probably picture something with a motor, something that can easily be quantified by a number written on the motor cover. There is no doubt how much power a center console has when it has three 300hp outboards bolted to the back of it!

I would like to propose a different illustration of power, the simple sail.

We have found ourselves at times in the ocean with considerable chip and no wind. We attempted for a moment to motor with the seas, but to no avail. Each wave felt like a wall, slamming into it would cease all forward motion, if not set you back! If we caught a break between seas, our speed would get up to 2 knots before the next wave struck. We were using 8hp of our motors 20hp, and it was hopeless.

Then the winds came and with our tiny staysail and double reefed mainsail, we were doing 5 knots steady, and at times reaching 7 knots! When a wave would come, the bow would plow through the wave making the sea erupt into a world of mists and spray.

This made me wonder, how much power does it take to pull a boat through these seas at these speeds? What number should be printed on the sail bag to let you know the power that lays inside?

This is an 18 ton, 45 foot full keel boat blasting through 12 foot seas under its small sails. Imagine the power available in the larger sails.

I think that when we imagine a powerful boat, instead of picturing a sporty speed boat, we should imagine those old pictures of square riggers and schooners with every sail they had available set in the wind! Stuffing sails, water sails, anything and everything they had was presented to the wind to pull them forward!

Headsail Trimming in the Dark

On night watch, you will inevitably have to trim a headsail in total darkness. The moon has either not risen or is new, offering no illumination on the matter at hand. Stars, while bright and beautiful, will not grant you vision of your headsails either.

You could shine a flashlight at the sail, but this will only destroy your night vision making the remainder of the process even harder.

So how do you trim a headsail in the dark? By feel.

If the headsail is too eased, it will flutter and that fluttering can be felt in the sheet as it approaches the winch. Simply ease the sail until you feel it start to flutter, then winch it in until this damaging vibration ceases. At this point, the sail is trimmed in as little as possible so you don't risk being over-trimmed either.

Next time you can't see your sail, simply touch the sheet and let your fingers see for you.

Easy Headsail Change with Staysail

I would say that the staysail on a cutter is the most useful sail aboard. Not only does it help balance the sailplan, but it also facilitates headsail changes.

If the wind picks up and you need to lower your jib, genoa, or drifter onto the deck, having a staysail set will make your life easier.

Without a staysail, the wind will pull the sail off the deck and into the water. Now you have to wrestle with a wet sail in building winds!

With a staysail present, all you need to do is pull the headsails lazy sheet under the foot of the staysail as you lower the halyard.

The headsail will be pulled up against the staysail and get sucked to the leeward side of it, completely de-powering the sail as it is lowered. As you pull the sail down and under the foot, the sail will come to rest on the deck. Once you have enough of the sail under the staysail's foot, you can drop the rest of the sail with ease and it will fall squarely on the deck and be ready to be tied and bagged.

Bimini Boom Gallows

When your mainsail is lowered, the task of holding your boom up usually falls to the topping lift. This piece of running rigging can support the vertical load of your boom, but it offers little to keep the boom from swaying laterally. Tightening the mainsheet will help reduce the swing from the boom, but it will still jostle back and forth.

if you are leaving your boat in a marina for the week, a little noise from the traveler and mainsheet is inconsequential. If you are passagemaking and the off-watch crew is trying to sleep, the rattling of the boom could keep them awake.

How do you hold the boom steady when it is lowered?  The old answer was to rest the boom in its gallow. This was a support that would hold the boom in its place when the mainsail was lowered in lieu of a topping lift. Boom gallows can be readily found on historical yachts but are less commonplace on modern production yachts.

If you don't have a boom gallow, like me, and don't have the time to spend fabricating and installing a boom gallow, there is an alternative: your Bimini.

A well made Bimini will be made of stainless steel pipes that can easily support a lot of extra weight. Think about it, the Bimini and dodger need to withstand a boarding wave crashing hundreds of pounds onto your boat. A boom (on a boat below 50 feet in length) is not going to weigh that much, and it can safely be supported for the night while your crew sleeps.

Another great advantage to resting the boom on the Bimini is there is no movement, and therefore, no chafe! The sound of a mainsail sliding back and forth on the Bimini is not only annoying, but it is the sound of damage being done to both parties! Minimizing chafe usually entails raising the boom and tying the sail up nice and tight. This is effective, but also takes time, effort, and a lot of work. The alternative is to lower the topping lift to rest the boom on the Bimini and call it a night!

If you don't have a gallow and need to silence a noisy boom for the night, try resting the boom on your Bimini by easing the topping lift until the boom rests securely in place.