Our final sail (of the season)
Back at the end of July we ventured out when the wind was up to 20 or so knots, and I remember at that time we were afraid to even raise our main sail. Today, with even stronger winds forecast, there was no way we were staying tied to the dock.
In fact, it was a perfect day to invite a couple of our friends, Peter and Donna, both long-time sailors, to come and spend a few hours with us on the water. The strong winds that were forecast were definitely present, running between 20-25 knots for most of the day.
Just kidding with that last pic. I found it online and thought it was awesome. Today’s winds came with sunshine, not stormclouds and lightning, and although the temperature was a bit chilly, we had a great day. We started out with one reef in the main and were still able to get some exhilarating sailing in.
The only downside to the day, and we only noticed this when we went to drop it, is our main sail ripped at one of the reefing grommets. Oh well, I guess that stuff happens sometimes. If it was ever going to happen, this is the perfect time to do it, when we were planning on taking the sails off the boat anyway.
After tying Katana safely back in her slip Rebecca and I decided to take the dinghy off, deflate it and pack it away. It was looking a tad scummy though so Rebecca gave it a good scrubbing first. The dinghy, outboard motor, and all of the sails will be moved off the boat tomorrow to a land-based storage area. We’ll be one step closer to being ready for haul-out.
Noticed that your mainsail ripped at one of the grommets. Do you mean one of the reefing cringles at the tack or clew? If not, make sure you are not tying the grommets off around the boom, but just around the foot of the sail.
Fair Winds,
Mike
It ripped in the reinforced area around the grommet, not where the reefing line attaches. We did tie them around the boom, which is what I thought we were supposed to do. No?
If you have lazy jacks for the main, you probably do not have to tie anything down beyond the tack and clew. On TabbyCat, we have a sail bag that is integral to the lazy jacks so when we reef the “unused” portion of the sail stays in the bag.
If you do not have lazy jacks, or find the “unused’ portion of the main filling with wind, then you tie the sail up by passing the line through the grommet and then under the foot of the sail, but OVER the boom. As you have just learned via the UHK (University of Hard Knocks), the movement of the boom and the sail can be at odds especially during a gust!
Fortunately, the rip looks pretty minor and should be easy to repair.
Happy Anniversary and Fair Winds,
Mike
Ahhh… yeah, that makes sense. Thanks. We tied it around the boom. Yes, we do have lazy jacks. We just did it as I remembered from our course (on a 26 footer with no lazy jacks). My memory is imperfect though!!!