Dinghy Painter And The Propeller

 
I remember my brother Bob relating to me a story about anchoring in the San Juan Islands once.  The boat was over the spot where he wanted the anchor dropped.  The anchor was on the bottom and the boat was backing away from the anchor; when the dinghy painter (tow rope) fouled the propeller and shaft - - stopping the engine dead.  One of the fellow sailors aboard ran below and grabbed a butcher knife.  Holding the knife - pirate fashion in his teeth - this sailor jumped overboard to cut away the painter... only to discover that the water temperature was about 45 degrees F...... Can you say "BRRRRRRR"?????

Needless to say, the first attempt at cutting the painter didn't go well... and it was sometime later that the painter had been removed from the propeller and the shaft.

Here's a good way to cut the painter if the same situation happens to you.

Secure a sharp knife (with a serrated blade - like a bread knife) to your boat hook with a couple of hose clamps.  You might be able to lean over the side far enough to cut away the painter - - or simply get into the dinghy to do the job.  This is way better than playing "pirate".

Sailing In The Fog

Sailing in the fog is one of the scariest things to do.  Distances are difficult to determine.  Sounds seem to come from unexpected directions.  Sometimes you can hear engine noises from boats that seem to be way too close for comfort.  And, the only way to know what direction your boat is heading is with the compass.  Hopefully, you have a compass and it is in good working order.

Whenever I've been in fog while sailing in salt water, the boats are all sounding fog horns.  Oddly, I've never heard a fog horn while sailing on a fresh water lake.  Do you have a fog horn on your boat?  If your fog horn is one of those little horns with the compressed gas canister - - the gas doesn't last for very long.  When the gas runs out, the fog horn stops signalling.  Several years ago I bought a SOLAS lung powered fog horn.  All I have to do is blow into the fog horn and a loud blast sounds.  

What is the proper signal for sounding your fog horn?  You should know the signals... they could save your bacon some day.  Here they are:  
Sailboats (sailing) and fishing vessels sound one long and two short blasts every two minutes while underway.
Powerboats (including sailboats while motoring) sound one long blast every two minutes.
A powerboat stopped sounds two long blasts every two minutes.
A vessel in tow sounds one long and three short blasts soon after the towing boats makes its fog signal.
And, deep draft vessels with maneuvering difficulty sound one long and two short blasts every two minutes.
An anchored vessel (any vessel) shorter than 328 feet long sounds a bell rapidly for five seconds every minute.  The anchored vessel might also sound her horn with one short blast followed by one long blast followed by one short blast at intervals to alert approaching vessels.
If you are aground in the fog, ring your bell three distinct times followed by five seconds of rapid ringing every minute.  You might also sound your horn with Morse code letter "F" (short-short-long-short) which means; "I am disabled; communicate with me".   Or Morse code letter "U" (short-short-long) meaning; "You are running into danger".... or "V" (3 shorts and a long) meaning; "I require assistance".

The first sign of fog building is often the disappearance of the coast or land.  If there is no time to put in to a harbor or marina, you must immediately determine your position and mark it on your chart.  Then determine the safest place to wait for the fog to clear.  AND, determine the correct compass course to reach that safe place.  Post a lookout at the bow and insure that the lookout is alert continuously - - whether your are underway or at anchor.

Avoid shipping channels; and anchor close to shore where larger vessels probably won't go because of their restricted draft.  If you cannot anchor, proceed slowly and be ready to take evasive action with little warning.

Tethers for Safety Harnesses

I recently heard some good advice regarding the tether between your safety harness and the jacklines.  The end of the tether that secures to the safety harness should be a snap shackle - NOT a carabiner.  The reason is that if you had to release the tether from the safety harness while the tether is under load, it will be virtually impossible to do this with a carabiner.  However, a snap shackle CAN be released while under load.  One of the things that I want to check on Snickerdoodle next time I'm out is the fittings on the ends of the safety tethers (I've got three of 'em).  And I cannot remember if any have a snap shackle for the harness end.

Sail Safe.  
Barnacle Bill

Jacklines For Safety Aboard

Jacklines generally refer to lines that run from the stern quarter of your boat to the stem.  These are rigged for rough weather and there should be one jackline to port and another to starboard.  Over the years, different materials have been used.  These include: rope, wire rope, plastic coated wire rope, and flat nylon webbing.

I prefer the flat nylon webbing because it lies flat and won’t roll underfoot if stepped on.  The setup on Snickerdoodle that I use is a continuous length of one-inch nylon webbing that is 47 feet long.  Each end of the webbing has a 9-inch loop with a 9-inch triple stitched end for extra strength.  I use a carabineer to secure one end of the jackline to a stern mooring cleat.  The other end is carried forward and looped through the eye-holes in the bow cleats.  Then I take the end back to the stern cleat on the opposite side from where I started and secure that end with a second carabineer. 

With the jacklines in place, it’s a simple thing to clip your safety harness’ tether to the jackline with the tether’s snaphook.  The jackline allows you to move forward and aft on deck and still be continuously connected to the boat.  If you fall overboard, the harness and tether will keep you from being lost overboard. 

Of course, everyone on deck during rough weather must have their own safety harness and tether for this system to do its job.  Does your boat have enough safety harnesses and tethers aboard?

Setting the Boat Up For Single Handed Sail Work

Setting Your Boat Up For Single Handed Sailing

Anyone can single hand their sailboat… just as it is rigged now.   However, many of us who single hand often have an aversion to “tap dancing” around on the cabin top while hoisting, dousing, and/or reefing the sails.  We prefer to do all this sail work from the relatively safer confines of the cockpit.  Even when I have a crew to help with sail handling, I still like everyone to do these jobs from the cockpit.  To handle the sails from the cockpit requires that the lines be within easy reach from the cockpit by skipper or crew.

If your boat doesn’t have the lines lead aft for easy single handing… maybe this would be a good winter project.

All of Snickerdoodle’s sail control lines are easily handled from the cockpit.  A list of those lines are:

Main Halyard

Main Sheet

Main Topping Lift

Cunningham

Boom Vang

Clew Outhaul Adjustment Line

Flattening Reef Line

First and Second Reefing Lines (I use a single-line reefing setup to simplify reefing)

Jib Halyard

Jib Sheets

Spinnaker Halyard

Spinnaker Sheets

All three halyards and the main topping lift are rove through blocks at the base of the mast; then through deck organizer blocks; then to appropriate cleats.  There is a small winch on both port and starboard side of the cabin top to assist with increasing line tensions if needed.  The sheets for the sails are in “normal” placements.  The rest of the lines (all for the mainsail) are rove through swivel blocks with cam cleats that are secured near the base of the mast.   These lines are then tied to the handle on the main hatch and are easily reached.

The setup on Snickerdoodle is only one of many that could be used.  Walk around your marina and take a look at the various methods for rigging these lines aft to the cockpit.  And, remember that having the halyard running back to the cockpit doesn’t make a lot of sense if the reefing has to be done at the mast.

This photo shows the base of Snickerdoodle's mast.   You can see the mast base plate with holes for easily securing blocks (the base plate only works if you have a deck stepped mast).  The boom vang is secured to a boom bale so that the vang can move more easily port and starboard with the boom's movements.  You can also see the swivel blocks that are used for reefing lines, outhaul adjustment line, etc.  Since this photo was taken, I've added two more swivel blocks.

An additional benefit from rigging the lines aft for single handing is that it is much easier to make adjustments to sail shape for the mainsail.  The clew outhaul adjustment line is easy to ease to tension.  The same is true for the Cunningham.