AIR How light is to light to sail in?

[Gator81]

... I should add, tho, it's important to have some idea what the winds are going to do after you leave the dock (even lake sailors need the weather report!). I spent an entire afternoon in dead calm once, after setting out in light winds. I got suckered into sailing about as far out as I was willing to go before it quit. That was OK for awhile... until the beer ran out, and I began to calculate how fast I could push that boat with the paddle (no "iron jib" here!) vis-a-vis how long I had until the sun went down. My relaxing afternoon turned into a one-paddle race with the dark. We made it back to the dock in twilight without getting run over by a powerboat (no lights) but still had to deal with packing up in the dark. No fun there.

[Jackstee]

Hi all
In my early days of "BIG" boats I had an old wooden Allan Buchanan design. Mahog on Oak with teak decks. If I remember correctly , around 19 foot with a drop keel and a Stewart Turner that only worked at home.
We cruised Scotland( Based there)and would always outperform everything with a sail in apparant no winds. (No monitor onboard) But I can remember one sail with my dad, he couldn't believe how we ever so slowly passed modern 30 footers, could relax, hand on sheet, foot on tiller, bit of Scotish folk music and of course a beer.
Never failed to amuse him and now he is 88 and still participating in the Isl of Man, ( Although on shore side)
Best boat I ever had for light winds and I still don't know why. She disapeared on moorings in around 76.

Steve

[Morgan Paul]

I got suckered into sailing about as far out as I was willing to go before it quit.

Man I have been there before. I bet most sailors have also.

Paul

[cooper]

...late at night with a warm waft blowing, gentle music with the glass saying somthing good and a glass of somthing good, ghosting under a full moon is one of lifes ...........well I guess you just have to be there ...!

[ughmo2000]

While helping deliver a Morgan 462 to Bayfield WI, our transmission failed half way thru the river bisecting the Keweenaw Peninsula.

Next morning, not a ripple on the water. After coffee, with the wind guage showing 0, the annometer barely spinning if at all, we unfurled the jib. Holding it out by hand, we ghosted along at 1/2 - 1 1/2kts for hours. Even kayaks were pulling up talking to us while passing then going their way!

We made it back to the lake though! One of the most impressive displays of sailing I'd ever seen. Thanks Dale!

[CharlieCobra]

My wife and I launched and tied off the V-21, took the truck and trailer over to the other end of the lake (18 miles) and drove back in her ride. We cast off, blasted out in 15 knots of wind for about a mile and then it died. It took eight hours to go the rest of the way using lifts and puffs. Along the way, two Solings came out to play and got dusted over the next two hours. While it was maddening at times, it was also a great sail and we only dipped the oars for about 5 minutes once to get us to a windline. Now the big yawl usually needs at least 2 knots of wind to move and will cruise along at 3.5 in 5 knots on a beam reach and about 4 knots with the chute up. Not too shabby for a 46 year old 7 ton woodie.

[Auspicious]

All depends on what you want to accomplish. If you are making passage, you have to consider the amount of fuel you have, the food you have on board, and the company you keep. I've never done the hair-washing thing from "Dead Calm" (skip the psycho bit), but that might be a nice way to spend some time.

For daysailing, as long as I can keep the sails full it is fine to go sail -- I can always motor home, and a day out (as long as sails are not slatting) is a good day.

On my 40' , 22,000 lb boat I'll go out in 6 - 7 kts.

[Sesame]

I sailed for 60 years and I can only say, "It all depends...." Even a rank beginner can usually figure out how to get from point A to point B in a sailboat. It is the extremes that require skill -- very heavy air and very light air. If you aren't in a hurry to get somewhere (Why would you own a sailboat if you were?), there are few things more pleasurable than working with Mother Nature in very light air to figure out how to move the boat in the direction you want to go. I remember many wonderful cruises in which we would beat against the current in light air, doing everything possible to make forward progress. We wouldn't "give up" and start the "iron gennie" unless we were obviously going backwards. Often, instead of resorting to the engine, we would change our destination to make it downwind or down current. There's an old saying that says: "For sailors, the joy is in the voyage. For powerboaters, it's the destination." True sailors are "there" already, powerboaters are always trying to GET "there".

That said, we are now in the powerboat we bought 3 years ago on our second trip down the ICW. For the first few weeks, we were trying to get south fairly quickly (at 7 knots since we still have a sailboat BUDGET) because it was COLD! Once we got to warrmer weather, we reverted to "voyage" mode. We are now at anchor off St. Augustine, FL doing absolutely nothing -- and doing it darned well!

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by Sesame

I
We are now at anchor off St. Augustine, FL doing absolutely nothing -- and doing it darned well!

Good for you!!

My girl friend (now wife) once went for a day sail.
We went to windward against current in a channel for 2+ hours, got to a nice spot, had lunch and sailed back..........in about 20min.

It was a good exercise but now I would just change the destination.

[MarkJ]

Light wind is just an attitude.
I have crewed on boats where the skipper turns on the engine as soon as boat speed goes under 4 kts.
You never learn to sail then.

But I have also raced many times off shore where you're just hauling the drifter up and down. Seems boring to some but you can see the sails in a different way, see them to the fiber of every ripple. And the swells too, how they affect your sail. You just get the damn thing moving just so you see the tiniest ripple on the bow and a wave knocks all the air out. Thump, crash. Stopped again. So its back to square one, sitting at the clew holding it by hand willing the sail to sit and draw. Watching. Feeling. Sailing.

When you find the enjoyment of 5kts, 4kts, 2 kts and just a zepher you will love your sailing even more.




Mark

[Joli]

I always new it would be a long race when the daisy made its way to the deck. But you do learn an awful lot in the light stuff.

Our favorite phrase "it's gonna be a hog roast". Yours?

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Light wind is just an attitude.
I have crewed on boats where the skipper turns on the engine as soon as boat speed goes under 4 kts.
You never learn to sail then.

But I have also raced many times off shore where you're just hauling the drifter up and down. Seems boring to some but you can see the sails in a different way, see them to the fiber of every ripple. And the swells too, how they affect your sail. You just get the damn thing moving just so you see the tiniest ripple on the bow and a wave knocks all the air out. Thump, crash. Stopped again. So its back to square one, sitting at the clew holding it by hand willing the sail to sit and draw. Watching. Feeling. Sailing.

When you find the enjoyment of 5kts, 4kts, 2 kts and just a zepher you will love your sailing even more.




Mark

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by Joli

Our favorite phrase "it's gonna be a hog roast". Yours?

Don't have one, but when I used to race in the harbour and everyone would be drifting along close together we used to tell jokes loud to put the other crews off.
That could backfire on us if someone said one we didn't know