More gearing up

I needed to discover how many ways there are to be intelligent, how many ways of being open to the world.

–Abbott Gleason

I enjoy the getting ready part of a trip, perhaps as much as the trip itself. It's part of the adventure, especially if you need, as we do, to make changes to your rig and re-orient for a different climate. We learned a lot of things about our rig in Mexico that we are trying now to fine tune. Before I talk gear, I'll show you some maps of where we are headed.

My friend Andrea asked me to post a chart of the area where we will be sailing in August. She, too, is a sailor and wants to see where we'll be. It's fun to ponder the difficulties of a new area, the tides and currents, anchorages, crossings, and shipping lanes. The basic idea, as of 10:45 PM Tuesday May 11 (could change tomorrow or the next day), is to start in Bellingham and sail to Lopez Island, stopping perhaps at Lummi Island, and Sinclair and Cypress Islands. From a base on Lopez, in Mud Bay (south of Spencer Spit), we'll hopefully do some circumnavigations, of Lopez and San Juan and Orcas, with side trips out to Patos and Sucia and Matia. And there are some other interesting outer islands, Stuart and Waldron. We might explore part the Inside Passage as well, but I need to explore routes some more.



Map from yachtpals.com

Here is a link to an interactive chart of the islands where you can zoom in and sail around and look at all the navigational aids and the shipping lanes. I'll try later to upload another interactive map that shows landforms.

I have been devouring books on sailmaking and rigging, learning how to splice double-braid rope and how to rig a spar catcher for the gunter, the stick of wood that holds up the top of the mainsail. That stick of wood tends to bat you on the head whenever you lower the sail in a breeze. This trick will make sure it stays upright and out of the way when we reef or scandalize the main (a slick way of saying dropping the main in a hurry). Today, I rigged brass thimbles on the luff of the main, which is to say the edge that abuts the mast. I want to try lacing the sail to the mast in lieu of the hoops we have been using. I found a way to lash the main that makes it easier to raise and lower the sail, which has been a problem not only with the hoops but also with a basic lacing. It's hell when the wind is blasting and you have to reef but you can't get the bloody sail down. So you get out the boat hook and push on the hoops or the laces and try to get them moving. Swearing all the while like a buccaneer.


Spar catcher
Photo (and rig) by Jerry Barnett

My plan for the lacing comes from a great old book by Colin O'Brien called 'Sea Boats, Oars, and Sails.' This method allows you to pull the sail off the spars easily so that you can store them away in a warm dry place. This should be useful in the Pacific northwest. Sails are particularly vulnerable to rainwater. It makes them rot. This method also reduces the turbulence created by air flow around the mast. You get a better airfoil if the sail is not cinched in tight; O'Brien says several inches between the sail and mast are fine, even a foot. And the sail tends to make a nice smooth surface instead of wrinkling at every grommet. The ease of raising and lowering means that we'll also be able to adjust the downhaul for light airs and stiff breezes. This kind of fiddling can make your boat go a lot faster, important not only in racing but in light airs, which we expect to see many days in the San Juan Islands.

Our new sail with the thimble and whipping, ready to be laced to the spar.