One of the really neat things that you can do is to create a Logbook for your boat to record a history of your sailing experiences. If you take photos while sailing, it is easy to insert the photos into the logbook at the end of the season (or right after you take the photos). Below is a copy of the Logbook that I keep aboard Snickerdoodle. 2015 will be Kathy and my 31st year aboard... and we can look back at logbooks from year 1 and remember the neat adventures that we have had over the years.
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LOG OF THE SNICKERDOODLE

For the year 2015

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Name of Yacht: SNICKERDOODLE

Owner: Bill & Kathy Holcomb

Type of Yacht: Catalina 25

Hailing Port: Bayview, Idaho

Designer: Frank Butler

Builder: Catalina Yachts, California

Year Built: 1984/85 Year Purchased: 1985

Registration Number: 4839

Length: 25 feet Beam: 8 feet Draft: 4 feet

Vertical Clearance: 35 feet

Sails: Main, Storm Jib, 97% Blade jib, 105%, 135%, 150%, 150% Drifter, Cruising (asymmetrical) spinnaker

Engine: Torqeedo 2.0 Tiller 24 VDC electric motor – including 2 12-VDC deep-

cycle marine batteries and a dedicated “smart” charger

Tankage: Water 22 gal

Auxiliary Equipment: VHF radio, Hand held VHF, Depth Sounder, Tiller Pilot, Compass, Garman GPS 420 Chart Plotter, Magma BBQ, Origo 2-Burner Stove

Hull Color: White with Red and Blue Waterline stripe and Red cove stripe

Radio Call Sign: WSE 8015

Insurance: Brian Strong, State Farm Agent, Bonners Ferry, Idaho

Other: Fatty Knees dinghy, OMC motor bracket, Micro Wave, 110 shore AC, porta-potty

Start of Log: January 1, 2015 Log of Daily Experiences, 31st year.

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TODAY’S CRUISE

Day & Date ________________________________

Planned Destination ______________________________________

Time From Time ___________________

Time Till _____________________

Skipper & Crew _________________________________________________

Guests _______________________________________________________

Weather Conditions_________________________________Temp_____________

Wind______________Humidity____________Barometer_________________

What We Ate ________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

Who We Met __________________________________________________________

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Comments ____________________________________________________________

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Comments Cont _______________________________________________________

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Besides looking nice, new sails have some big advantages.

Here’s a photo of Snickerdoodle with both sails looking pretty old. Notice the stretch wrinkles on both sails. There was no way that I could tighten lines to eliminate the wrinkles. The both sails had stretched far enough that making them smooth again was impossible.

This year I bought two new jib sails (a 135% and a 150%). These match up really well with my three-year-old mainsail. Here are a couple photos with the “new” mainsail and the NEW 135%. See you smooth the sails look.

When your sails get blown out like in the earlier photo, they only work ok for downwind legs. When you try to sail upwind close hauled, the wrinkles disturb air flowing over the sails and the sails loose lift. To help correct this, most skippers fall off to a close reach. This works – but the boat ends up sailing farther than in should. When the wind pipes up, the old sails cannot be flattened appropriately and the boat heels more than you want. The passengers are nervous. The boat heels over and wind spills out of the sails… OR you sheet out in order to spill wind and decrease the heeling. Either way, now the boat is sailing slowly in a sideways direction because the keel no longer grips as efficiently.

When all this is going on, the pressure on the tiller is often times immense. You might have to hold on to the tiller with both hands in order to control the boat. Even with both hands though, the boat still has too much weather helm and rounds up uncontrollably.

Barnacle Bill Holcomb's Sailing

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

A Logbook For Your Boat

LOG OF THE SNICKERDOODLE

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Some Advantages of New Sails