Kankama forum posts in last 60 days

I am not sure what you mean by a narrow groove. In my experience there is no such thing. The boat will have a groove that you decide. You can go high mode - which is when you pull sheets on a little and go for pointing, vmg - both telltales flowing and low groove - to get her rolling along. Each mode requires adjustments in sheet tension and maybe traveller and vang. There is an ability to have a narrow groove to windward if your genoa is built with a very fine entry. For cruising a headsail should be more rounded in the luff so that it is easier to sail to.
What boat and what exactly is the problem?

At the risk of going down my own very deep rabbit hole - don't be a Seadog. There is an absolute old fool who has a Youtube channel by that name that shows that an idiot can circumnavigate. He almost ended up on the coral near Fraser in a well forecast blow and sailed tens of thousands of miles without learning how to trim a headsail or main - hopefully he resists the call now he has finished and stays at home. I am not sure why the sirens seem to call out to over 60 singlehanders there but they are piling up quicker than a pod of pilot whales around Fraser.

Go offshore for sure, but get fit and strong, and open your mind to learning from anyone else out there. Otherwise the government will start keeping closer tabs on us if old blokes keep on getting into trouble and piling up on the hard.

I just finished reading Harry Heckel's book and he seriously was a liability when he got older (over 85 or so). He couldn't maintain his boat properly and had old sails that blew out, he had no way of repairing them, and he got so infirm that the ship that saved him with food had to lower crew to get the food package on his deck. All the time his family are saying to the Coastguard - "Where is my dad - you gotta look for him" and they did, so he was costing everyone else, except him, lots of money and hassle. Anyone going offshore should be fit and experienced enough to not cause anyone else to look for you unless conditions are truly frightful and all ages and competence would need assistance.

I like people getting out sailing, but like those who anchor for years in Airlie and cause issues when their boats pile up during well forecast blows, I don't think that all sailors reflect well on the majority, and we should try to always leave a clean wake. Don't be one who causes issues for others.

My mum used to own a C10 and I anchored that many many times as we cruised the east coast. She had 10mm chain and a 35lb CQR. It was a good but heavy setup, I used to pull that up by hand because the winch was so slow.

Now I have a 38ft cat which has slighty more windage and weight. I have 8mm chain (about 35m) and nylon led to an electric anchor winch. For 20 years I had a manual muir winch - it was good too.

A Danforth is a great anchor - to get you off a sandbank or for a stern anchor but you should never use it as a night hook. I am currently using a 45 lb Manson CQR. It is a great anchor. We also have a Manson Supreme which is good in the Whitsundays but not in Tassie's rocky bottoms. So a good secondhand CQR is fine.

I would not recommend 10mm chain - it is too heavy. Add on a nylon anchor bridle instead of a poly roep one to get extra stretch. Go about 30m of 8mm chain and a secondhand Manson CQR or Sarca if you can find them. A manual winch will be useful if you want to anchor in McCarrs creek or Jerusalem Bay which is deepish.

I am with those above that recommend upgrading your gear. I almost lost my new to me Twiggy on its delivery voyage decades ago because it only had Danforths and 5 metres of chain - I ended up metres from rocks in Wollongong harbour in a gale - not fun to get her off as the wind built. Much better to get good gear you can trust.

There is a lot of silly stuff written by racers about light anchoring gear being okay. I am a racer (racing my laser in a few hours) and you will need at least a 35lb anchor as your go to anchor with good chain. I wouldn't bugger about with small lengths of chain - again look through Aussie yachties - there is a lot of 8mm going on that - I am about to buy new stuff for mine after a decade or so. Cats have SO much windage that you do need some way of smoothing out the gusts and loads and light anchoring gear is not good - epsecially if your C10 does not have twins - if you have a single Yammie 9.9 then you really want a good setup so that you can go for a nice bushwalk and come back to see your boat in the same position. A quick dragging anchor on a cat in a breeze will have you swishing along sideways with no way of getting her head back into the wind unless you have twins - this is not good when you have a lee shore coming up. Get good anchor gear and you will have much more fun.

What is the name of your C10? Where does she live?

cheers

Phil

Select to expand quote

Quixotic said..

Kankama said..
..Getting it down in a blow takes some technical tricks though with no main to blanket the douse..

Have you thought about putting a sock on it? A light but strong cloth tube with a reinforced circular opening, as long as the spinnaker is tall, you launch the spinnaker in the sock, then use an endless line to the top of the spinnaker to pull the sock up to the top of the spinnaker and it sits there scrunched up. To dowse you use the endless line to pull the sock down over the spinnaker, and then lower the spinnaker in the sock.

I don't like socks much and I don't get how they can help much. I have seen lots of people have problems pulling the sock down in a fair bit of wind so I prefer to just get the kite down. I have worked out a great way to drop the kite with no main based on how skiffs do it. But it works best on a cat.

Instead of easing off sheet and guy and trying to pull the kite down on the foredeck I run the cat almost square but about 5 degrees on the wind. Then I totally release the leeward sheet and pull the "windward" sheet on. Keep pulling it on until the kite leech is just about touching the sidestay - for my swept back sidestays this is about 70 percent of the way aft. Then I go forward and just drop the kite on the deck of the cat, most of it lands on the deck and I scoop up the rest. THis is how skiffs get large kites down - release leeward sheet and pull windward sheet hard back to the shrouds. I like the fact that it keeps the kite in control in a much better way than trying to pull the kite down from the foredeck with loose sheets - and I don't need the sock. I don't like trying to wrestle a kite down with my weight and strength - this technique uses the windage to get it to drop on the bow - you just have to be quick at scooping nylon. in a skiff and much less so on a cat.

cheers

Phil

A square sail, I want to see that. Actually I am with Ramona, go extra up front on a square run. Our cat loves running square with a symmetrical kite only. Autopilot hardly works at all. Getting it down in a blow takes some technical tricks though with no main to blanket the douse.
As for the square sail, Alan Lucas writes of putting one on his first boat the 30 something Rendezvous. He loved it until he had to pull it down, it almost killed him and it got put in the bin. Running with twins would be better for your health.

You may have no interest in racing but for learning how to sail well very quickly there is absolutely nothing so effective. You don't have to get worked up competitively, just listen, do the tasks set and ask questions later. You won't find a better or cheaper way to learn how to cruise your own boat well.

I agree with lots of what Scruzin says. 38ft is fine to singlehand. I also love a remote for the autopilot. When I singlehand I use the autopilot as my helm with constant corrections as I change trim. Interestingly, my 38ft cat doesn't have reefing lines led to the cockpit, I am not a fan of the singlhander staying in the cockpit and halyards and reefs work much better on my boat worked at the mast. Going to a smaller 32 footer would be reasonable if no one is going to cruise long term with you. A nice 32 ish yacht will have all the amenities you need but with far lower loads. But a 38 ft yacht will cover more miles if you long distance cruise.
As for a tutor. Become a hussy at your local yacht clubs. Sail Saturdays and Sundays and do twilights oon racing boats. You will learn from a range of skippers and be able to choose tips that work for you. Even though it is not single-handed you will learn vast amounts about boat handling.

Yeah - the "how many reefs do I reeve?" problem.

I often would reeve the first leech reef but never did the second - too much rope flopping around offended me. I used to think of running a little mouseline which would have been better. Ultimate would be a little pocket on the leech secured with velcro. Leave the mouse in all the time and when needed rip it out of the velcro and haul away. I haven't thought about ending the mouseline properly, it would need to tied off at the forward end of the boom at both ends.

On the few times we used the second reef- we were already on the first reef when we started (so it was like putting in the first reef) or we started out with it.

Maybe we would be better with stainless rings with clam cleats just near the full batten pocket. When you want a reef in you haul up the reef line to the ring, which then cleats or clips , through the full batten, onto the luff and back down the mast. It means you have a little extra spectra near the mast which would not make me as grumpy. Someone has probably done this somewhere - I haven;t needed to think about it much. cheers

Phil

A lot of Schionnings have a Code zero track for sheets running about 1 metre outside of the headsail sheets. I don't push mine that high so I lead my sheets outside everything, but if I wanted to use it sailing high in light winds I would have to put it inside the shrouds. It aint rocket science, lead it inside for tight angles and outside to the gunwale for deep angles. If it has a torque rope luff then it is probably a Code zero thing, it doesn't really matter what it is - as long as it is extra sail area for sailing at beam or broad reaches then almost anything triangluar shaoped like a genoa will do. I met some people from NZ on a Tennant who just used recut old light number one genoas for code zeroes - it worked well.

A couple of photos would be good.

Gday comrades,

I have just oulled out my old Waeco/Danfoss fridge unit - it worked okay but is noisy and I put it in a bad spot. It is 23 years old and I don't want to go to the trouble of putting it back in as it is near the end of its life. I talked to Ozefridge and they quoted me north of $3000 for a new setup. I don't think the Ozefridge idea is that clever (the eutectic tank storing "cold" overnight) in the new world of cheap solar (I will soon have 880 watts) and our new 400 AH of lithium. It is much cheaper to generate more power on our cat than get an efficient fridge. So my issue is - 1 - I am getting tired of needing to know stuff about the boat. I can strip the engines and built all the rest of the boat. I can do everything and I could install a new fridge but it will be a hassle to get it properly charged and running well.
- 2 - Getting someone out to look at an installed fridge is hard. When I made the new fridge compartment I took the Waeco unit and compressor as one to the locak fridge shop. I asked them to test it and they didn't know what to do. So I don't know if my very amateur job of putting the kit together is any good. A fridge mechanic said he would deign to look at it if I had the boat at the wharf during work. He would only charge me about $250 to show up and $200 an hour to work on it. So getting anyone to tune my installed fridge is impossible.

So what are people's thoughts on just going to Anaconda and getting a plastic camping fridge? I have one in the 4wd and it is silent, works dependably and draws little power. You just don't know it is there. I could get a 95litre version in the cat pretty easily. It will mean less space than the current box but we never fill that up at the moment. A 95 litre Dune 4wd will cost $899 at the moment. Sometimes cheaper.

www.anacondastores.com/camping-hiking/fridges-coolers/camping-fridge-freezers/dune-4wd-95l-dual-zone-fridgefreezer/BP90221918-multicoloured

Or I talk to DC fridge and they send me a new BD50 with a plate and I pop it in. dcfridge.com.au/products/isotherm-classic-diy-400-140-kit-400l-fridge-or-140l-freezer-381516

It will cost more double and I will never be able to take it out if it goes bad.

I am at analysis paralysis stage.

cheers

Phil