Time to Start Packing

Its time to start preparing for a 4 night camping trip. I just finished my new deck. It has several purposes. First is a strong watertight deck that will keep more water out than the canvas cover while also being able to walk on it. Second is a as a place for to sleep above deck. The hatch lid is built slightly larger than the actual opening to fit a one man tent. I have about $200 in material and about 20 hours invested so hopefully it will hold up to my abuse.

I still have a couple minor projects still to finish. First is to get the PVC that is raising the Bulwinkles (ears on top of posts) that hold masts to stay there with out falling over. I am having trouble finding the right material or making something fit. The mast tubes are schedule 40 PVC and the inside diameter is about 2 3/4 inches. I can not find an off the shelf product that fits so I may have make some sort of spacer rings.

Other stuff
- Oar Holders
- Route My Solar Panel
- Fix a Couple Canvas Snaps

Then I still have to shop for food and pack. One thing I am kind of excited about is the amount of room. So far the biggest boat I have taken camping is a Gheenoe which is a little larger than a canoe. I love my Gheenoes (1,2,3,4) and the places it gets me but the biggest difference is that I will sleeping aboard the the Sea Pearl and the amount of storage below deck. Especially since I don't have water blasts.

Look for my link on the top right of this page called SPOT Satellite Personal Tracker. You will be able too watch our progress live starting around 10 AM tomorrow.

Tell Tails and a Tiller Extension

Yesterday was another Wednesday night Rum Race with the Lake Monroe Sailing Association (check out their new web site). I was holding off installing tell tails thinking I would be buying new sails soon but that hasn't happened yet so I went ahead and installed them on my old yellow sails. I put 3 on each sail about 10" off of the luff and spread out evenly. Then two about 2/3 out on the sail for when I reef.

I also picked up a Forespar 27" - 48" adjustable tiller extension. I was tired of steering with my foot as I hiked out further on the rail. The tiller extension would hopefully mean that I could move forward and further out on the rail when sailing in heavier winds.

I have been recently tracking wind speed and direction with windalert.com. Great web site and iPhone app. The data seems to be more accurate than other wind sites I have been monitoring. The winds on Lake Monroe were brisk but favorable today. Around 14 MPH out of the NE.

The Rum Race begins between 6:00 and 6:30 PM and you record your own time. I started at 6:00 PM reefed with two turns on the main and one on the mizzen but as I crossed the line I felt I could carry the whole mizzen sail so I unreefed it. The start of the race is usually a down wind leg and last night was no exception. Only slightly more out of the north so no one (that I noticed) flew a spinnaker or went wing on wing. I was the first one to the mark but a Flying Scot was closing in on me. I made a decision to unreef the main before the mark. Sailing solo this is no small task. I wanted to get the sail out before I rounded the mark because I thought I would continue with some downwind speed as I fiddled with the main mast. As you can guess that didn't go as planned. As I went forward the boat rounded up. I stayed committed and unfurreled the mast with a few hang ups trying to unhook the down hull. I raced back to the tiller. I then realized that the out hull had released and the main sail was not deployed properly. It took two more attempts going forward and rounding up (not on purpose) to get the main set. I drifted off course during the mishap and the Flying Scot was next to me by the time I rounded the mark. When I finally got back into position and started sailing I noticed I bent my tiller extension about 5 - 10 degrees right where it connects to the tiller. It must have gotten stuck somewhere flopping around as I rounded up. Luckily it was still working with the slight bend because it was extremely valuable when reaching.

On the return leg I was able to point high enough to head back to the start/finish. The Flying Scott stayed above me and at the time I though he was to high but he was on the correct line and I got pinched when I arrived at the start/finish with a time of 40:01. After time correction I finished 7th out of 8 boats but I was only 5 min 15 sec off of the leader which was an improvement for me over past races.

Because the race went quickly most of the boats competed in an unofficial second race. This time I started with the sails fully deployed. I felt like my downwind leg was a little slower but the tail tells were flying properly so I was confident that I made decent time. When I tacked at the mark I was caught off guard by my sails catching the breeze a little to well and the boat started to roll over. It was so bad that I had to try and release the sails, abandon the sheet lines and start climbing over the rail to try and get the boat to right itself. As I looked over the rail I saw two thirds of the centerboard out of the water. I was sure I was going over but the boat somehow came back upright. I didn't dwell on that mishap too long. When the boat came back up I immediately began trimming the sails and was off. The wind direction stayed favorable out of the NE and I was able to sail strait back to the start/finish again. This time I tried to follow the better course used by the Flying Scot in the previous race. The Sea Pearl was over powered but I was able to control it fairly well since I was sitting way out on the rail and slightly forward of the mizzen mast. I was very happy with my right foot on the mizzen mast and my left foot hooked under the rim of the hatch. Several times I was able to lay all the way out to keep the boat from healing over any further than I wanted.

I crossed the finish line in a time of 34:23. A new personal best that shattered what I had done in any previous race. Show Me, a Precision 23, sailed by Andy Forest came in with a 32:45. My corrected time was 35:35. His was 34:06. I was only 1:29 off of the leader and fished a respectable 3rd. Another personal best and reason to celebrate last night. I finally feel competitive. (At least when I don't have to try and point with the sloops).

Could I have done better? Probably. I defiantly could have improved my overall time with an additional person. With experienced crew I could have unreefed and trimmed sails much better. I also would have benefited from extra weight on the rail and not been so over powered at times. But crew is a difficult thing. I am overly competitive. I can be ornery when things don't go my way. Not many many people want to deal with that. (Ok, nobody that I know) Who knows maybe one day I will get someone else on the boat. Until then I am sailing solo and continue to test my skills.

So close.........

I almost couldn't bring myself to post an update from this past Wednesday but the club sent this out and it summarizes the night for me very well.


On Fri, Aug 20, 2010 at 9:24 AM, Lake Monroe Sailing Assocation wrote:

Another dry and windy evening on Lake Monroe on Wednesday.

Seven boats participated this week under good and challenging wind conditions. At the 6 p.m. starting time the winds were WSW at 7k as predicted.

It looked like a reach, reach simple Rum Race. By 6:15 we had east winds at 7k for a dead run to the first mark. At 6:30 we had a west wind at 12k. This was fine for the early starters who had rounded the mark before the 180 degree shift. Tom Dyll in his Sea Pearl 21 was first around the mark and in good form. For those who hadn't reached the mark the challenges began. Many tacks into a wind line gusting to 15k. By 7:30 it had returned to an easy WSW as it was when we started. Of the seven boats that started 4 turned in times due to various equipment and wind related issues. The Sea Pearl may have sailed to her first Rum reward but lost the time when Tom's I- Phone got waterlogged in the squall line.

Results;

Show Me Andy F. 38:09 39:31 net
Fisky Business Steve Heyden 33:27 41:18 net
Hobie 16 Byron/ DJ 34:50 46:49 net
Free Spirit Don H. 52:36 58:57 net
Sea Pearl Tom D. DNF Timer trouble
Miss P Mike P. DNF Wind Trouble
Dutchman Jeff H. DNS Furler trouble

Motor Sailing

One last hurrah for the summer before the kids go back to school on Monday. My wife wanted to do something as a family and the Sea Pearl 21 is our family boat. I looked at the weather for Titusville. Things were not that promising. I really didn't want to go to the Indian River or Mosquito Lagoon on a wind that was starting out of the NW and turning NE. I couldn't think of a boat ramp and sailing destination that would work with those winds.

Instead I took a look at the west coast. Tarpons Springs and Anclote Key looked promising. The weather service aka liars club was saying WNW 6 - 8 all day. That sounded pretty good. Its a 3 1/2 hour drive to Anclote Park boat ramp but it was an area that my wife liked so what the heck.

We left at 7:00 AM and on the way I started seeing several flags just lying there. No wind. I didn't worry about it too much because we were still inland and it was still early. I figured that a light sea breeze would eventually kick in.

Nope. We ended up motor sailing all the way out to Anclote Key. We had a great time out there. Tommy Jr enjoyed snorkeling which is going to lead to a Sea Pearl Keys trip one day soon. When it was time to leave we actually had wind for about 15 minutes which allowed us to sail from the middle of the island over to the southern tip. When it was time to turn around and head for the ramp it immediately dropped to 2 - 3 MPH. We were making no progress so I fired up the little 2 HP Honda again. At least the little motor did its job flawlessly. I would estimate that I used around 1/4 of a gallon to get out and back. Sure beats rowing. Especially in the inlet with the weekend big boat clowns running you over every 2 minutes.

Overall this was a great trip for the Sea Pearl 21. Sailing up to Anclote Key there was a big sand bar with about 2 feet of water. The center board kicked up a little indicating that we were shallow. It took a second to pull up the centerboard and sail into the beach. The first pic is in 6 " of water. The whole family could jump in and out of the boat with no problems. When returning to the ramp the tide was ripping from low to high. There was a good 3 - 4 knot current ripping past the ramp while several boats were trying to pull in at once. I let a couple of the big motor boats crash into the dock then motored into the current and eased into a spot with no trouble at all. Another nice feature of the Sea Pearl 21. Very stable and predictable while motoring. The shallow draft can make for a lively ride but when docking you are not overly affected by the current.

I have named my boat Endurance

I also ordered the graphics.

I did a little checking and I didn't find Endurance being used on a previous Sea Pearl. I like names with multiple references. Reasons for the name:

1. Simplicity in case of emergency communications on a marine radio
2. Clean and Positive
3. Past personal athletics
4. My interest in doing longer distances sailing
5. My adventures relative to the other people in my own life. I frequently do trips beyond what most want to attempt.
6. The boat is 25 years old and I keep getting comments that its in amazing shape. While I know there are some minor issues I have to agree. Sea Pearls are exceptionally well built boats.
7. Shackleton reference where they sailed out of Antartica and some came back on a lifeboat loosely similar to a sea pearl. There were 3 lifeboats on the Endurance. The paragraph below from Wikipedia is about the most famous one.


"Of the three boats, Shackleton selected the heaviest and strongest, the James Caird, The 22.5-foot (6.9 m) long James Caird had been built as a whaleboat in London to Worsley's orders, designed on the "double-ended" principle devised by Norwegian shipbuilder Colin Archer. Shackleton asked the expedition's carpenter, Harry McNish, if he could make the vessel more seaworthy. McNish, with improvised tools and materials, immediately set about adapting the boat, raising its sides and building a makeshift deck of wood and canvas, sealing the work with oil paints, lamp wick, and seal blood. The craft was further strengthened by having the mast of the Dudley Docker lashed inside, along the length of her keel. She was then fitted with a mainmast and a mizzenmast, rigged to carry lugsails and a jib. The weight of the boat was increased by the addition of approximately 1 long ton (1,016 kg) of ballast, to lessen the risk of capsizing in the high seas that Shackleton knew would be encountered."

What we have to learn to do, we learn by doing

Another night of club racing at LMSA. Everything was trying to stop me from making it on time. Work has been ultra busy. The family was out of town and I had to attend to the pets. The boat wasn't ready. I needed gas for the outboard. Still, I made it to the ramp and quickly set up before dipping it in the water and heading to the start/finish. I arrived at about 6:30 and was the last boat over the line. No big deal because its a self timed course. The wind was ENE setting up an almost perfect down wind leg. I set my Sea Pearl 21 wing on wing and over took one boat about 1/2 way down the course. I came up next to a second at the mark. That was fun! The Sea Pearl definitely makes time down wind. I had maintained about a 5 - 6 MPH speed down the course and the breeze felt pretty light but that's normal sailing downwind. As I rounded the mark I was in the 2nd boats bad air. It was a significantly bigger sailboat than mine and I felt like I was standing still. I made the decision to tack and set my own course. I tried to point as high as I could and maintain good speed then tack again when I had separation from the other boat. It was soon apparent that I could not hold the same course as the sloops that were out there. With their jibs and main sails sheeted in tight they were able to point much higher and were on their way back to the mark much more efficiently than I could with my main and mizzen. The wind steadily picked up to around 12 -14 MPH (Just a guess). My centerboard Sea Pearl 21 has no ballast and I was sailing alone so it quickly became a handful. I was already sailing with the rail in the water. When the gusts came I had to ease out the main or even dump it to avoid going over. As the winds continued to blow easing out the main didn't achieve the desired results. The boat stayed healed over and the main boom would be in the water. So I elected to reef the mizzen two turns. This helped with being over powered but after talking to many of the members of the Sea Pearl Yahoo Group I now realize that I should have reefed the main in order to not further hurt my pointing ability. I didn't know it at the time and it was a frustrating leg back to the start/finish. The boat that I passed downwind easily over took me 1/2 way back. I didn't buy my Sea Pearl 21 with the intention of racing it against sloops on courses that favor those types of boats but I have a desire to learn how to sail my boat to the best of its ability. The centerboard Sea Pearl 21 Portsmouth Number is 96.6. I sail against Precision 23 (96.0), a Sirius 21 (96.7) and a Mac Gregor 21 (100) among others so I have reasonably accurate handicap system that allows me to gauge my own results against others even though they are in different boats. If I am getting beat badly by a Mac Gregor 21 then I need to work on my sailing skills which is the case right now. So it was another day on the water where I learned a little more. Some of the suggestions that I received were to quit trying to race a Sea Pearl 21 solo. Get at least one crew and train them to reef the main. Unfortunately, most of my friends and family are as busy as me so consistent crew is pipe dream. I will most likely be sailing alone or with non-sailing guest which a previous sailboat captain like to refer to as TMB or tactical movable ballast. Meaning that there main value is in movable ballast when tacking vs as trained sailors who can work the sails or drive the boat. More than likely I will have to figure out how to reef the main myself. Another suggestion was to reef it prior to crossing the start/finish. That would work for strong winds but would be hard to anticipate when the winds are varying through out the course. There was more good advice too. Another recommendation was to ad some weight to the boat. Most newer Sea Pearl 21s have water ballast tanks. Mine is an older model and was built before that option existed. I have seen how much room the tanks take up and I have no interest in adding them to my boat. I am considering putting in a couple of sandbags towards the bow. The hope is that the boat will settle down while reaching in stronger winds. The additional weight will keep the boat steady as the waves and chop get bigger. Also it might be time to buy new sails. Mine are in serviceable condition but are not in good enough condition to try and sail the boat to its optimal level. As soon as I have the additional funds I will be buying new sails. And the title. “For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.” Its a quote from Aristotle that seems appropriate.

LMSA Rum Race

This week's Wednesday night rum race was almost perfect. The wind was cooperating both in speed and direction making for a pleasant downwind leg and almost a strait shot back to the start/finish. I only had to tack once to come up to the finish mark and probably could have avoided that if I had sailed a little better. Even with the 8 - 10 MPH winds I could have used more ballast in the boat. Reaching, the boat was healed all the way over and I spent much of the return leg with the rail buried in water trying to maintain speed. In those moderate winds the Sea Pearl performed excellent and I had no indications that the boat was on the verge of going over but without an ballast in the boat I was not as fast as I could have been.

I had forgot my GPS so I probably didn't reach or maintain optimal speed but when the race was over I had come within 6 minutes of the winner on corrected time. I was very pleased with that since my previous best was 10 minutes behind the leader. Not too bad considering its a 25 year old used boat with its original sails and I have not done a thing to it since I bought it.