We hit our 126 40′ West turn around point. We’re on our way back home. It was not without a bit of drama.
First I decided to shake the third reef. As usual the lazy backstay was in the wrong post. In an effort to release I ended up tacking Changabang. And so I had to sort that out too. All was well, and a little later I went to the first reef.
I also lifted out the hydrogenerator as it was doing the rumbling noise that indicates that the batteries are full.
Then, when I tacked at the turn around point, I forgot to empty the ballast to port. A couple tacks later we were on our way. Less banging but still some, less wet but still some. We have about 16 kts on the beam. I’m still a little queasy and in my berth.
We’re a little slow as I should have another sail up forward. Maybe later …
Well, the email to blog feature of my website provider doesn’t seem to work all the time. The text below was supposed to be first in line. Things may make more sense now 🙂
Shakedown cruise, version 1
It is time to spend time offshore for several days. Wednesday morning I left the marina mentally prepared to sail upwind in 15-25 kts, with the starboard ballast loaded. But it was not to be. It was blowing a mere 3-6 kts. I motored for a while trying to catch the offshore winds but ultimately abandoned the idea as I did not have much fuel. In the sloppy swell we were barely doing 3 kts with the genoa and full mainsail, not quite going West. Arguably I could have used a bigger headsail, such as the gennaker but I was still expecting a stronger breeze so decided against. It was a long morning. For the first time, I moved weight around the boat, trying to get the weight of the sails above the keel. I think the French refer to this as “matossage”. By noon I started seeing small and rare white caps on the horizon. All the while a couple of flies hitched a ride. Five minutes later we saw our first steady 10 kts of wind, and a sunfish. I don’t like knowing they’re around. Last Sunday, sailing back from an overnight in San Francisco Bay, we hit one of these. It almost stopped us: we went from doing 8 kts to 2. We stayed like that for a few minutes, not sure what was going on. I decided to lift the hydrogenerator out of the water and that’s when we saw it drifting away. We only caught sight of its tail. The keel probably did not like the hit, and I’m sure so did the fish. We came across a big cargo ship. My plan for this cruise is to sail past the shipping lane, then sail up North. After a few days I will turn around and sail back home. By 1pm we were firmly in the offshore winds, seeing 13-17 kts now. Two more ships passed astern. My ballast system is a little leaky, so I had to bail water out a few times. And I’m now in my salopette. At 1:45 pm I decided to put one reef in the mainsail, still carrying the genoa, as we started seeing wind at at 18 kts. If it climbs above 20 it’ll probably be time to switch to the staysail. We’re about 60 degrees off true wind, doing 7.9 kts. As usual the polars say that I should be doing a little more than 9 kts. I wonder if that’s because of sail choice, or things like sail trim, sail quality (the mainsail is old). At 2:08pm batteries show 12.43 V (autopilot, AIS/VHF are on). With the wind reaching into 20 kts I decided to drop the genoa. I turned downwind, dropped the sail, zipped itin the bag, and hoisted the staysail. Then came back to the wind. Of course the wind was only teasing me, and it remains under 20 kts. And so we’re down to 7+ kts of boat speed. The sea is much more choppy, and we’re banging quite a bit. The cockpit is getting wet every so often too. I started feeling a little queasy. Wind continued to increase. We’re now in 30 kts, and I dropped to the third reef and staysail. That’s it for now. Dinner time soon.
It’s almost 7am. After a long night spent tossing around in my”bed”, it was time for a morning chocolate croissant. Not quite the way I like them but it’ll do just fine out here. Maybe I should fit an oven? Warm cookies? Nah …
I’m back in my berth, writing this. Throughout the night the situation remained stable, which means we were sailing in 25-30+ kts, mostly going West, banging waves and with the occasional drenching of the cockpit. Around 2am I got out of my foulies and into my sleeping bag as I was getting a little cold.
A fish did land on deck, flapping madly to return to his element. So I got out to check on him. He wasn’t much successful so I helped him back in the water, getting sprayed myself in the process.
Seeing that we were bending our course a little North I eased 10 degrees off the wind, also hoping for a more comfortable ride. But it’s pretty much the same. Bang bang, drench, drench ..
It’s cloudy; it’s cold; it’s wet; I’ve seen nothing on AIS … Reminds me of the SHTP. Moving about inside requires care as it’d be easy to get knocked off!
I will have to think about organizing the living space so it’s easier to do day to day tasks. With that I’m back to waiting for my LongPac turnaround point at 126 40′ West. What I’ll do then I’m not sure yet. Tack and go North? Carry on to Hanalei?
Yesterday I sailed Changabang to Richmond, where she will get a couple aluminium brackets implanted on her stern. These will be used for the hydrogenerators. I am fairly excited about this because once that is in place, I’ll be ready to go out for a first “shakedown” cruise, with the hope of testing as much as I can.
The forecast for the sail up to Richmond called for 20 kts. But as usual it was +/- 10 kts, and this time it was “-“. Around 11 am noon, the wind picked up and started shifting so I hoisted the gennaker. We were heeled quite a bit (i.e. overpowered) when I noticed a rip in the foot of the sail. After I struggled a little to furl the sail back in (and learned something new in the process) we carried on with staysail and mainsail only thereafter, with the wind continuing to build up to 27 kts when I came under the Golden Gate Bridge. We were sailing against an ebb so progress wasn’t very fast. We did enjoy a few surfs, sometimes burrowing into the wave ahead. Top average GPS speed over ground was 12.8 kts (in 1.5 kts of adverse current I think at that time).
Once in the Bay I took the gennaker down, hoisted the code 0’ish and moved towards my destination. What else happened? We didn’t hit anything. I tried to prepare a hot chocolate. As the conditions were benign at the time I was not keeping a hand on the JetBoil; unfortunately a little wave came along, heeled us little more, and the top heavy setup spilled over me. Glad the water wasn’t much hot yet. Lesson learned: always boil with my hand holding that thing! I will also look into a gimballed setup. I did finish preparing that hot chocolate drink!
All credits to Jackie 🙂
In Richmond I was welcomed with cookies by my friend Jackie, who also helped me home. We discussed the boat, the plans, and not the least the pharmacy kit aka “how to put Humpty Dumpty back together” box.
Last Friday was a day with light winds off the coast of Half Moon Bay. It was a good opportunity to finally try the big spinnaker. And try we did, and more!
The last time the big spinnaker was on deck, it went (partially mind you) in the water: the foot of the sail spilled overboard and caught loads of water. Well, I didn’t learn my lesson. It happened again. I did recall what I did to fix it so recovery was a little faster. Once that was sorted out then, finally, the big white spinnaker went up without a hitch. Here’s a small video about that:
Before the big guy went up I also got the gennaker out. Like this:
And I ended the day with a run with the code 0’ish.
So that’s two days of practice where I went through the sails. I think these two days had something in common: lighter winds and smaller seas. It remains to be seen if I’ll be this bold/strong when the winds/sea build up.
I think I have my sailing buddy NB to thank, as well as the monkey on my back, and maybe a bit of lackadaisical fitness work I’m doing.
Now there is a catch: I am well below the boat’s capability. I have actual polars for the boat (see here for a quick explanation) so I can easily compare. The instruments may need calibration but still that’s a bummer. I’m not sure how I’ll harvest those last 10-20% of boat speed.
Keel work
I have started discussion around the keel and some of the concerns I have about that. I tried filming the keel like I was with Double Espresso, and the result is not really useful. That’s all for this blog post …
One of the tough things with a Class40 boat for me is that sail evolutions (changing sail) are hard work. It is one of the big obstacles to make a fast boat go fast. So I’m happy to report that yesterday was a busy day: mainsail up, staysail up, reefed spinnaker up, staysail down, spinnaker down, reef removed, spinnaker up, spinnaker down, staysail up, back upwind to HMB, another run downwind, staysail down, spinnaker up, spinnaker down, spinnaker up, spinnaker down, staysail up, one reef, two reefs, three reefs, shake one reef, staysail down, mainsail down. How’s that!
Sorry for the very poor audio.
I only saw one whale, no fishing boat, no crab pot, some weird signal, but ocean sunfishes are now the problem. There’s nothing I can do to avoid them. They show up at last minute. I had a large one hit the keel then the starboard rudder, and another one hit the port rudder, all while I was doing 9-10 kts under spinnaker. It can’t be a fun event for these guys. I’m sorry.
Stray currents
They eat away at my stuff!
The propeller’s zinc anode before and after a few months in the water.
And more
I’m hopeful that next week I’ll have the hydrogenerator brackets installed. Once these and the hydrogenerators are in place the plan is to venture a little further offshore and see how they perform.
That’s all for now … One last video for the road …
I think this is the third time trying the spinnaker alone. Still quite a dramatic undertaking but getting better. Videos ensue, including a time lapse of the dousing drama. Upwind work first, then spinnaker up, last dousing.
I’ve seen lots of good (but slow) progress over the past couple of weeks. I did some sailing up the Coast, into San Francisco Bay and back home. I took out, repaired, and re-installed the code 0 halyard; these repairs are temporary at best, and I’m likely going to need to replace some of these halyards.
The solo mast climbing gear from ATN, Inc. is really paying for itself (it’s my 6th trip up). I also used it to install a Windex windvane (the old one had gone AWOL).
Going up the mast is much easier.
Sorting out a viable electrical system
I also started putting my teeth into the electrical system. In particular, I’ve made progress on the solar panel front; once a bunch of orders arrive I should be able to mount a bus, run a few cables, and have 3 mobile solar panels (i.e. I’m not going to permanently fix them).
As far as the hydrogenerators go, we’ve finalized the design for the bracket, which we’ll use to mount the hydrogenerators to the sugar scoop. Fabrication will start soon. In parallel I ran some testing on the possibly damaged hydrogenerator and converter (I’ll be sending the HG to France for fixing/revision but we think the converter is good).
Noodles of cables!
Big!
I’ve started playing with the big headsails. I doublehanded Changabang with someone who knows what he’s talking about. In about two hours we hoisted the gennaker, the code O and the heavy spinnaker. Back home, I tried the gennaker with success. See video below and a screenshot of the electronics. This is still without using the internal ballast.
This is with the gennaker. We were doing steady 9-11 kts with true wind at 110. With 1 reef we were able to put true wind abeam.
But today I wanted to try the big spinnaker. It was much trouble to get set up for the hoist, what with the foot catching water, lots of water. In the end, when I pulled on the spinnaker sock halyard, it was really hard to pull it up. So I bailed out, sorted the sail at home; and now we wait for the next opportunity (that is, after a small tear is fixed).
Obstacle course
I somehow thought that sailing out of Pillar Point Harbor was going to be easy. I’m learning that it’s a bit of an obstacle course out there. As I exit the marina I have to contend with reefs (well signaled), crab pots, fishing boats, whales, kelp patches, and further cargo ships. When I come back docking is fairly straightforward. Except that lately, with the wind blowing from the South, I had to develop new techniques. Live and learn, and use fenders!
Wear and tear
As I start to get familiar with Changabang, she shows me plenty of little things that need attention. It really never stops! On a good note my partnership with the good fellows at PredictWind is being extended to include the hardware for tracking (YB3i); I’m down for the monthly bill. Good stuff. On this good note, stay safe!
As I shared yesterday I went out to try out one of the two spinnakers. The hull had just received a clean up job, so we were pretty as could be, Changabang and I. She’s been in much more competent hands before, so I hope she’s all right with my foolish beginnings!
Getting ready for a hoist!
And so, I hooked up the main halyard, started the engine, slipped in reverse to spring off the docks, then powering forward. I raised the mainsail as we passed green buoy #3. Every time I raise that mainsail, and it has to slide just right between the lazy jacks lines and the running backstays, I wonder what it’ll be like if one day I have to raise it without the engine.
Getting ready
Changabang came with two spinnakers: a light one and a heavy one (reef-able). A few days ago I got the heavy one out of the bag and hoisted it in its sock to see what it looked like: it was reefed. I got the spinnaker sheets out as well, and started rigging the whole thing:
Rig the sheets (I passed them through the eye of the block instead of the sheave!);
Attach the tack line, the sheets and the halyard to the spinnaker;
Secure tack to the end of the bowsprit;
Trim the active sheet all the way in and the lazy one loose.
It looked like everything was ready for the show. And so I proceeded. I went back to the cockpit to start hoisting the spinnaker, only to find out that the sock got stuck in the shrouds. So I move to the mast to guide the sock as I hoist it up. As I was doing so … The sock’s bucket started going up too. I had forgotten about the sock halyard: it was still all bundled up and going up with the bucket. So now there was no way to get the sock down and, more troublesome, no way to stop it from going up!
Drama unfolds
I’m now at the mast with a spinnaker 2/3 up and half out of the sock. I’m still holding onto the halyard. Although this spinnaker is as small as can be and it’s only blowing 8-10 kts, it soon proves too much and the halyard starts slipping from my hand. On my bottom I move back to the halyard’s clutch, while the line keeps on slipping from my hand. Finally I manage to secure the halyard: the spinnaker’s foot is dragging in the water but we’re fine.
Puree de pois!
Recovery
Ok, so time to finish the hoist. Man, winching these lines is a lot of work! Like I wrote last week … the skipper’s physique is not up to the task! We’ll figure out dousing this sail later on. Let’s put it to work. Ease the sheet; come up a little (we were sailing for the Half Moon Bay beach!): ah, the boat starts powering up, nice! But … Better get this puppy down now quickly! The forecast was calling for >15 kts. Just like the code 0 it didn’t fly much.
Dousing
I figured I might as well try a letterbox drop. I trim the sheet back in tight and blow the tack. That’s when the magic of gravity happened! The sock, under the spell of the bucket’s weight, came back down. Oh, oh, maybe we can try this again! And try we did: secure the tack and hoist the bucket the proper way. Come up a little, apparent wind forward, we start heeling. Good stuff! But what’s this, the wind is climbing past 11 kts. As the forecast was calling for >15 kts, I decide to take no risk and to douse for good. Trim the sheet tight, blanket the spinnaker behind the mainsail, blow the tack, pull the bucket down. Ouch, it gets stuck in the shrouds up there. That wouldn’t be good. A bit of puzzling around and finally it comes down. Halyard down, and the spinnaker goes back into the bag.
Home run
During all that time I had the engine on, just in case. I turned around, got the solent out of the bag and sailed back up to port. As a thick fog settles in, the promise of 15 kts evaporates; the wind dwindles to 6 kts, 4, then 2. All the sails come down, and I’m back on the iron genny. Practicing is not only about sailing: I go down to cook some food (i.e. boil water and pour it down a bag). Lunch time is:
From our friends at Backpacker’s Pantry!
Docking back into port went well. So next I tidy up the boat, and back home it is. Here’s a little movie to close:
Spinnaker up
On other fronts
I think I may have the satellite communication sorted out. Changabang came with a handheld sat phone (Iridium 9555), which I’ve tested to work. There’s also a fixed sat terminal (BEAM RST100), which also works. It has an external antenna. I bought a used Iridium GO on eBay. That also tested positively; with a cable adapter I hooked it up to the external antenna: I then was able to download a small (tiny, 0.6 KB) grib file. Hurray: that was one big ticket on the list. I’m now pondering whether I should sell the BEAM RST100 for another Iridum GO. I’m being advised to keep the handheld for the ditch bag.
The one piece of puzzle is the SIM card. They rarely fail but it’s a risk; the only back up here is having a few other SIM cards. This also means that I would need to be able to activate it while at sea. So basically, I need to leave with two active SIM cards!
There were other small jobs I took care of, such as doing winch maintenance (2 down, 3 to go), refueling, figuring out a bracket for the hydrogenerators (work in progress), etc.
The weather seemed to cooperate, with winds in the 8-11 kts so I decided to give the spinnaker a go. Things went sideways in unexpected ways. Nothing broke so check out these pictures and tell me what’s wrong. I’ll provide the answers in a few days.
That one should be easy.This is a little harder: what line do you not see?If you can figure out this one … The picture doesn’t really show the whole problem.
