More practice required
Even though we’re still without a properly-functioning, non-leaking raw water pump, we still ventured out of the harbor yesterday to do some sailing. With some consistent trade winds to propel us, we sailed off our anchor at Mt. Hartman Bay, out of the channel, and south to the drop off to do some fishing. As it turns out, our guests have been getting a lot more practice with sailing skills than they would have if we had left the island to sail to Carriacou. Instead of a one-tack passage, we spent several hours tacking and gybing back and forth across the drop, looking for fish. Sadly, after half the day trying, and enjoying a fish-free lunch on board, we admitted our defeat and set sail back to Prickly Bay to anchor under sail.
Both Aurora and Dennis did a great job helming Frost.
Rebecca captured this shot of a megayacht anchored outside St. Georges.
A couple of notes about leaving and anchoring under sail:
- Even though I would have liked to have left our anchor spot on a port tack, when the anchor broke free, the bow sailed off to port, placing us on a starboard tack. Backing the jib didn’t prevent that from occurring. In this case it didn’t matter, but in a more crowded spot, it may have. More work is definitely needed on this maneuver.
- After returning from our sail, we successfully anchored without starting the engine. After accessing our final resting spot, even though we would have been perfectly safe for the night, we decided that we would have liked to have gotten in a bit closer to shore, out of the swell. We started the engine, raised anchor, and redeployed it further in. Again, more practice is needed.
Because we didn’t see any green flash, I gave last night’s sunset shot a bit of St. Patrick’s Day bling.
Your motor issues are making you much better sailors. 🙂
The silver lining to that cloud. Always learning! 🙂
It’s impressive that you are going out sailing, effectively w/o engine. It’s one thing to attempt this in a wide open anchorage, with plenty of room for error, and quite another to pull it off where there are so many obstacles (i.e. – boats!) nearby.
If worse came to worst, we could have used the engine. That was Plan B.
If you have room behind you, here;s another option. Hoist only the main while at anchor. Haul in the anchor, and when it’s free of the bottom, you will start to drift back. Once you have a bit of steerage-way in reverse, turn the wheel OPPOSITE the direction you want to go. The bow will swing over, and you should be able to start sailing under the main. Once you’re moving, it should be a simple matter to unfurl the jib when you’re ready. The plus side of this is that your sailing will be a little more gentle until the anchor is fully up and stowed, and there’s no chance of someone being caught behind the sail and thrown overboard while on the fore-deck.
I’ve done this many times.
Thanks, Doug.
When we sailed in the BVIs with our friend Tom on his cat Break ‘n Win he only hoisted the main letting it flag, then raised anchor, hardened the main and sailed off. Jib came last.
That alone won’t determine what tack to sail off on.
Hi Mike,
I’ve been away for a while and am catching up. I like Doug’s recommendation. That’s what I would do if backing a smaller boat.
Perhaps another additional option would be to rig a preventer on the mizzen so that it’s catching wind and acting like an airplane tail to pre-turn the boat in the direction that you want to go.
Just a thought…
– Dave
That would work similar to one of the other recommendations we received which was to push the mizzen out to the side that we want to sail off on. We still need to test all this.