Sailing at Night

Night Sailing

If the conditions are right, sailing at night is just plain neat.  A full (or nearly full) moon, thousands (millions) of stars, perhaps even the northern lights, all make for a wonderful evening of sailing.  But with all this beauty, there is an imperative that the trip be well planned.  The boat needs to be properly outfitted and maintained.  The running lights must work.  All crew who are on deck must wear safety harnesses with tethers.  Any lights below that can be seen from the cockpit should be red in color to prevent night blindness.  (I cover the main cabin lights with red cellophane held in place with a rubber band.)

If you are planning an overnight sail, you must plan for a night watch system that insures that the crew on deck is alert and functional at all times.  The time period between midnight and dawn is the most critical time for the crew on deck.  Choosing a smaller number of crew members from 2000 hrs (8 PM) until midnight; and a larger number of crew members from midnight till 0400 (4 AM) and from 0400 till 0800 (8 AM) might be smarter than trying to have an equal number of crew on deck during all watches.  The reason for this is that most of us are easily able to stay awake and alert till midnight.  But, many people find that trying to stay awake after midnight is very difficult.  If there are more crew from midnight till 0400, there will be a better chance that everyone helps keep each other awake and alert.  There is an old saying that “two experienced crew who are used to night watches may be far stronger than three times the number if inexperienced.”  And remember, that steering the boat does not insure that the person steering stays awake.

Remember to try to get the crew who are not on deck (on watch) to rest or – better yet – to sleep.  This recharges their “batteries” and helps them stay awake during the night watches.

Plan the night watches in advance, and write down the instructions for each watch.  Make sure that the crew know where things  might be when needed.  Make sure that there is a good supply of snacks, and hot coffee or tea.  Insure that there are jobs to do during the watches and a check list for putting the crew member’s initials for jobs completed… not just sitting in the cockpit for four hours.  What are some of the jobs?  Here’s some ideas:

Of course, steering the boat.  But, steering should be in one-hour or less “stints”.  If it’s stormy, fifteen minutes might be plenty of “exercise”.  Rotate the crew steering the boat.  Later in the watch it might be prudent to shorten the steering “stints”.

Trimming the sails.  This is an as needed job that might require one or several crew members.  Include in this – reefing or shaking out reefs; and changing sails (especially head sails).

Plotting the boat’s progress on the chart every fifteen minutes.  Use a hand-bearing compass to find lines of position to aids to navigation, landmarks, etc.  Record the compass bearings and then plot the fix on the chart.  Train all crew to do this job so that (like steering) each member of the watch performs this job.

Maintain a Dead Reckoning Log with updates every fifteen minutes or anytime there is a course change.  The “DR” log should contain information for:  time, magnetic course, boat speed, distance run since the last DR, wind velocity, wind direction, barometer reading, barometer trend (up or down), sails in use, and comments.

Checking the running lights.  This should be done every hour.  Remember that if you are using the boat’s engine, the boat is considered a motor boat and the running light scheme changes.  Sailboats which are sailing show red/green bow lights and a white stern light.  Motor boats show those same lights plus a “masthead” steaming light that shows ahead.  The stern light plus the steaming light provide for 360 degrees of white light.

Making hot coffee or tea.  This requires knowledge regarding the stove and its operation… AND, knowledge regarding how to prepare these beverages.  Even during the summer, the nights can be pretty chilly.  A hot cup of coffee or tea tastes wonderful.

There must be maintained a shipping watch.  Someone on deck must have the job to keep a lookout for ships and boats. In busy waters, this person must check in every direction at least every few minutes.  If it’s foggy or hazy, this person likewise must check every direction every few minutes.  If another vessel is seen, the shipping watch crew must keep track of that other vessel until it is absolutely certain that there is no danger.  This requires knowledge of how to interpret the running lights on the other vessel; and whether the other vessel is crossing or converging with your boat.

Interestingly, there are many people who have color blindness to one degree or another.  Many people cannot distinguish between the colors red and green.  This condition is a real problem at night if the crew member is watching the running lights on another boat.  It would be prudent for a skipper planning a night sail to test his crew ahead of time to know who does and who does not have color blindness.

There is a “golden rule” in which calling the next watch (waking them up) includes having hot coffee or tea ready five minutes before the new watch is on duty.  This isn’t just kindness.  Some people take a while to wake up and the coffee or tea helps measurably.   The off-going watch must inform the new watch – explicitly – of several things:  where the boat is on the chart; if land is close; if the weather is changing; present course and speed; any other vessels in sight and their status.

Finally, when should the skipper be called?  The skipper might have issued specific orders to be called at a certain time, or if there is a change in course, for shipping, etc.  The watch must remember that the skipper is responsible for the boat and everyone aboard.  If anything worries the watch, or seems to threaten the ship in the slightest, the skipper must be called right away.

So, take a look at this year’s almanac to determine when there is a full moon each month.  A night sail on or near the full moon might be great fun.  Pick your crew, plan ahead, do some training.  And get ready for an incredible experience.

Tuning Your Mast

Basic Mast Tuning For A Catalina 25 - And Other Masthead Rigged Sloops

By Bill Holcomb

Basic Concept

            Over the past several years, I have been asked many time in both the Mainsheet magazine, on the C25/C250 website, and around the marina to comment on the proper way to tune a mast.  Of course, the type of boat and the specific rig will be big determining factors.  So, here’s a step-by-step method to get your mast tuned properly and keep it that way - if your boat is like Snickerdoodle with a masthead rig and two lower shrouds on each side of the mast.

            The basic idea of mast tuning is to adjust the standing rigging (the stays and shrouds) in such a way so as to make sure that the mast is vertical with regard to its starboard/port relationship and raked forward or aft in such a way that proper feel on the helm is achieved.  From a practical point of view, the mast will usually be straight up when the boat is floating on her lines.

What You’re Working With

            Snickerdoodle has eight wires that support the mast and make up the standing rigging.  These eight wires are:

            The Forestay (secured at the stem fitting on the bow and to the masthead fitting)

            The Backstay (secured to the transom and to the masthead fitting)

            The Two Upper Shrouds (sometimes called "cap" shrouds)

            The Two Forward Lower Shrouds (forward of the upper shrouds - one to port and one to starboard secured to the chainplates on the boat's deck and to a fitting just below the spreaders)

            The Two Aft Lower Shrouds (similarly to the forward shrouds but aft of the upper shrouds)

Marine eyes (swaged to the wires) attach these shrouds and stays to fittings on the mast with clevis pins.  The clevis pins are secured with cotter pins or split rings.  Turnbuckles attach the shrouds and stays to fittings (chainplates and stem fitting) at the stem, transom, and sides of the boat.  Turnbuckles are rigging screws that have a barrel in the middle of two screw in bolts.  One bolt end has left handed threads while the other has right-handed threads.  By turning the barrel, the tension on the wire can be increased or decreased.

Safety & Inspecting

            It is very dangerous (not to mention expensive) to have your mast collapse.  The mast is relatively heavy, hard and can do considerable damage to anything it hits while falling.  For this reason, it is important to inspect the standing rigging at least annually.  Make sure that the shrouds and stays don’t have any little broken wires or rust.  Insure that all clevis pins are secured with either cotter pins or split rings.  Never use kinked wires for stays or shrouds or bent turnbuckles.  Kinks and bends significantly reduce the strength of the standing rigging.  Replace immediately any shrouds or stays that show bent, broken, or cracked swaged fittings and/or any rust.

            How long does rigging last?  That depends on how often the boat is used; if the boat is raced, cruised or only day-sailed; how often the boat is trailered; if the boat is stored outside during freezing weather; and many other factors.  Sometimes standing rigging will last many years.  Other times, a turnbuckle bolt will become bent the first time the mast is raised and will need to be replaced immediately for safety sake.  At the very least though, the standing rigging needs to be completely inspected annually and any part of the rig that is not 100% needs to be immediately replaced before going out again.

Relative Tensions

            Like everything that has to do with sailboats, compromise and judgement are important factors when you are tuning your rig.  Some sailors don’t want to “over-tension” the rig; others want to make sure that the rig is very tight; and there are lots of folks who fall somewhere in between these extremes.  However, the relative tension between the shrouds and stays are as follows:

            Forestay and Backstay have the greatest tension

            Upper Shrouds have nearly as much tension as the forestay and backstay

            Forward Lower Shrouds have less tension than uppers, but more tension than Aft Lower Shrouds

  

OK, let’s get started with the mast raised and all of the shrouds and stays loosely adjusted -

Start At the Dock:

Step One – Forestay/Backstay

            Rake or Not Rake Is The First Question – Raking the mast (tipping it forward or aft from vertical) will directly influence the feel of the helm.  Generally, raking the mast aft increases weather helm while raking the mast forward reduces weather helm and can lead to lee helm.  Most sailors like a little bit of weather helm for the “feel” this give while steering.  Too much weather helm though makes steering the boat difficult and can quickly tire out the boat steerer. 

            Adjust the Forestay and Backstay – Start by using your main halyard’s headboard shackle to make a plumb bob.  Secure the headboard shackle to a large wrench or crescent wrench - making a plumb-bob.  Set the halyard so that the headboard shackle/plumb-bob is at the level that the boom gooseneck will be while sailing.  If you want the mast straight up and down, adjust the turnbuckles on the forestay and backstay until the plumb-bob is just touching the back of the mast.  If you want the mast raked aft a couple inches, loosen the turnbuckle on the forestay and tighten the turnbuckle on the backstay until the plumb bob is the desired distance aft of the mast. Once the desired amount of mast rake has been set, tighten the turnbuckles on both forestay and backstay one turn at a time until the amount of tension you want is “dialed in”.  Remember that these two wires need to have the greatest tension; so, make sure that these two wires have considerable tension.  I know that this is vague, but each rigger/skipper will have a different “feel” for this tension.  Check other boats where you sail by pulling on their forestays.  Racers will often have much more tension than casual daysailers.

            Loos Gauge – There are shroud/stay tension adjustment gauges available that will give you a numerical method to adjust the wires.  You can check with others to see if your tensions are greater or less than the wires on other boats you are comparing to.

Step Two – Upper Shrouds     

            Adjust the Upper Shrouds to insure that the mast is straight up with respect to tipping either to port or starboard (left or right).  The easy way to do this is to tape a steel tape measure to your main halyard’s headboard shackle.  Hoist the halyard and extend the tape measure aloft.  You can now measure the distance from the masthead to the toe-rail outside the upper shroud chainplate with the tape measure.  Adjust the turnbuckles so that you get the same measurement to both sides of the boat. 

            Now tension both turnbuckles so that you end up with the mast straight up and nearly as much tension on the upper shrouds as you have on the forestay/backstay.  Turn the turnbuckle barrels either one or ½ turn at a time until you get the tension you want.

The Kerf is the slot in the back of the mast.  Your mainsail’s bolt rope or slugs fit into the kerf so that the mainsail’s luff is fully supported by the mast.  By looking up the kerf you can see if the mast is bending – either bowing or bending in an “S” - curve.

 Step Three – Forward Lowers

            The two Considerations that you have now are Is The Kerf Bent and Do You Want To Pre-Bend The Mast.

            Look up the Kerf to determine if the mast is bent, bowed or in an “S”-curve.  Usually, there will be a bow, if anything.  If you see one, increase the tension on one of the forward lower shrouds until the bow has been straightened out.  Tension the opposite side now to balance the previously tensioned forward lower shroud.  At this point, the mast should be raked the amount that you want and exactly straight up and down with relation to a starboard/port lean.

            The reason that you might want to have “pre-bend” in the mast has to do with the amount of draft your mainsail has.  Another way to look at this is – If your sails are old and “full” as opposed to newer and relatively “flat”, you might want to pre-bend the mast forward in the middle so that some of the fullness is pulled out for better upwind pointing.

            If you decide to Pre-Bend the mast all you have to do is increase the tension on both forward lower shroud turnbuckles until two or three inches of bend is pulled into the middle of the mast.  When you are done with this, your mast will be bowed forward in the middle and when you hoist your mainsail, the sail will be flatter than before and you’ll notice that you can sail higher on the wind than before.  Make sure that you sight up the mast as you pre-bend it to make sure that you aren’t getting an “S” or a bow left-right.

Step Four – Aft Lowers

            The Aft Lowers balance the forward lowers, fine-tune the rig, and give additional support to the mast.  All you need to do with the aft lowers is tighten the turnbuckles about one turn past “finger-tight”.  Sight up the kerf to make sure that the mast is still straight.

            With these steps complete at the dock, it’s time to set sail and make your final adjustments.

Go Sailing -

Step Five – Fine Tuning

            Fine tuning the Rig is fairly easy.  On a day with moderate breezes in the 8 to 12 knot range sail the boat on a series of upwind tacks.  What your are looking for is a couple of things:

            That there isn’t too much slack in the leeward (downwind) shrouds

            That the jib luff doesn’t sag more that a few inches in the puffs

            That the kerf stays straight on both starboard and port tacks.

Adjust the shroud turnbuckles to fine tune the standing rigging.  Remember that it’s OK to have a little bit of slack in the leeward shrouds while you are sailing.

Step Six – Securing the Turnbuckles

            When you get back to the dock, it’s time to Recheck the Tensions and the Alignment of the mast.  First, check that the relationship in tensions between the forestay/backstay and upper shrouds is still about the same.  The forestay/backstay should still be slightly tighter than the uppers.  Next, secure your tape measure to your main halyard again and hoist the tape aloft so that you can measure the distance from masthead to toe-rails again.  The measurement should be the same to both starboard and port toe-rails.  Sight up the kerf again and make sure that the kerf forms a straight line.  Make the appropriate adjustments to the turnbuckles.

            When everything is set, you will want to Secure the Turnbuckles so that they won’t back themselves off and loosen the rigging.  With closed barrel style turnbuckles, there is a locking nut on both bolts.  Turn these nuts down to the barrel and use a small wrench to secure the nuts against the barrel tightly.  With open style turnbuckles; use cotter pins, split rings, or seizing wire through the little holes in the bolt ends that you can see in the openings of the barrel.  The cotter pins, split rings, or seizing wire will prevent the bolts from turning just like the locking nuts on the closed barrel style.

Later

Step Seven – Check the System

            Over time, there is every chance that your rig will loosen somewhat.  This may be due to sailing in strong winds, or to changes in temperature, or combinations of other factors.  At any rate, you will want to check your standing rigging from time to time (at least annually) for tension and condition.  Make your checks of the system both while at the dock and while sailing.

            As your sails age and get fuller, you may want to pre-bend the mast (or pre-bend it more than you already have).  This will help your upwind pointing ability and will decrease the amount of heel your boat develops in stronger breezes (you won’t have to reef as soon).

            As your sails age, you may feel as if your boat is developing more weather helm.  If you’ve raked your mast aft, it may be time to adjust the rake forward so that the mast is straight up instead of raked aft.

            The combination of pre-band and mast rake can change the weather helm feel of the boat; the boat’s pointing ability, and the boat’s speed and efficiency through the water.  So, don’t forget to check the standing rig from time to time.

Boats with different rigs:

             Fractionally rigged boats, boats with double spreaders, etc., will have their standing rigging set up differently than masthead rigged boats.  Check with your boat's manufacturer or owner's association to see if there is information available. 

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.